September 29, 2003	Monday	Sha’aban 2, 1424

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LAHORE, Sept 28: The Punjab government has issued notices to over 95 per cent of the industrial units in the city for not filing declaration in respect of compliance of the labour laws under the new industrial policy.

Of the 1,000 registered industrial units given the declaration forms, not more than 42 have returned these to the District Labour Office so far. Almost all the industrial units, which have filed declarations, are being run by the multinationals.

In the notices sent to 958 industrial units, the DLO has informed the managements that they have failed to submit the declarations by Aug 31 despite an extension of one month in the last date. The managements have been asked to ensure submission of declarations by Sept 30 positively, otherwise, their cases will be put before the District Human Resource Board for necessary action.

The new industrial policy had become controversial immediately after its announcement, as the industrialists welcomed it due to the provision for discontinuation of labour inspections, but the trade unions criticized it for certain reasons.

The trade unions were of the view that the industrialists had been hailing the policy because they considered the provision for discontinuation of labour inspections as a licence to flout the labour laws.

The apprehensions expressed by the trade unions about the new industrial policy started proving true when the industrialists began to show reluctance to accept the declaration forms. The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and trade associations asked the DLO to arrange delivery of the forms to their members through the inspectors.

The trade unions’ fears about the success of the trade policy are appearing to be right because of the continuous reluctance of an overwhelming majority of the employers to declare that they are complying with the provisions of labour laws.

The labour department plans to continue making efforts to ensure that a maximum number of industrial units file the simple declarations till February next when the provincial government will review the progress made in the implementation of the new industrial policy. Labour inspections could be restored in case the managements of industrial units continue to refuse to declare that they are implementing the labour laws.

The declaration required to be submitted by the managements of the industrial units is very simple and can be filled within minutes. The industrialists are only required to declare that they have issued appointment letters to all their employees and are paying them the minimum prescribed wages, bonus and overtime and allowing them leave under the provisions of law.