LAHORE, Aug 6: Industrialists stayed away from the first meeting of the District Human Resource Board held here on Wednesday to brief the members on the new inspection regime announced by the Punjab chief minister.

Two industrialists have been nominated on the 15-member HR Board entrusted the task of monitoring the enforcement of the new inspection regime through the District Tripartite Monitoring and Consultation Committee.

District Labour Officer Javed Gill informed the board that 60 per cent of the 863 industrial units registered under the Factories Act had been provided the declaration forms containing questions about implementation of the labour laws proposed to be filled in by the managements. Only one unit had filed the declaration so far.

He added that fine for non-registration of the industrial units was being raised from Rs500 to Rs5,000.

He said declaration forms would also be distributed among the managements of shops and industrial establishments having 10 or more workers. Forms could thus be distributed among the managements of nearly 2000 units and would be received till Aug 31. Particulars received through the declarations would be fed into the computer in September and would be available on the Labour Department’s website.

According to Mr Gill, inspections under the new regime would be conducted by the Inspector of Factories after informing the industries selected for the purpose in advance. The first computer draw for selection of five per cent industrial units for inspections would be conducted in the presence of the monitoring committee in the first week of September.

He said the inspection mechanism had been overhauled under the new industrial policy announced by the chief minister.

HR Board labour member Muhammad Akbar flayed the government’s decision to restrict labour inspections to five per cent of the industrial units per annum. He was of the view that violation of the labour laws would increase with the introduction of the new inspection system.

District Councillor Farah Deeba emphasized the need for implementation of the labour laws in letter and spirit for ensuring improvement in the workers’ lot.