ISLAMABAD: Upgradation of OPF girls college okayed
ISLAMABAD, Jan 13: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has approved the upgradation of Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) Girls College to university level, said Secretary Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Khawaja Ijaz Sarwar on Tuesday.
Talking to mediapersons after the inaugural session of a seminar on "Issues and strategies of labour welfare in Pakistan" organized by the Pakistan Manpower Institute (PMI), he said strict action would be taken against the overseas employment promoters involved in illegal manpower export.
In reply to a question about the people who returned from Lebanon and Libya, he said primarily travelling agents were involved in these cases who sent these people on fake documents.
He said the ministry had blacklisted and annulled licences of 17 overseas employment promoters while 20 more were under investigation.-APP
OUR REPORTER ADDS: Speaking at the seminar, Mr Ijaz said a special cell had been set up at the prime minister's secretariat for immediate redressal of overseas workers' problems.
He said the government was paying full attention on solving the problems faced by the labour community. In this regard, he added, various steps were being taken which included simplification of labour laws.
At present, the focus is on equipping the labour force with proper know-how and skills so that they could compete in the world market, he added.
He said overseas Pakistanis had played an important role in the development of the country and the recent increase in remittances was a proof of this contention.
Referring to the labour policy 2002, the official said it took care of labour community's problems such as promotion of working conditions, provision of education for their children and elimination of child labour.
Considering the need of employer-employee relationship based on trust and partnership, he said the government had established a workers and employers bilateral council.
He said that the Conditions of Employment Ordinance, Wages Ordinance, Human Resource Development Ordinance, Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance and Labour Welfare and Social Protection Ordinance were being simplified whereas the Industrial Relations Ordinance 2002 had already been revised for the welfare of the labour community.
He said under an Overseas Pakistanis Foundation programme for disabled, interest-free loans up to Rs150,000 were being given for establishment of small businesses. The loan was recoverable in 60 instalments, he said, adding that an amount of Rs11.60 million had already been disbursed.
He said financial assistance to 2,800 destitute families had been provided while an amount of $300 million had been distributed among the Gulf War affected people to settle their claims. Director-general PMI Athar Mahmood Khan also spoke on the occasion.
