11 September 2004	Saturday	25 Rajab 1425

KARACHI, Sept 10: Speakers at a function on Friday stressed that a nation cannot progress in the true sense unless it gives importance to education, professional training and research.

They were speaking at the concluding ceremony of a week-long advanced training course on 'Labour and Service Laws', organized jointly by the National Institute of Labour Administration Training (NILAT) and the PIA, at the PIA's training centre.

Nilat chief Syed Hakim Ali Shah Bokhari, PIA's representative Capt Javed, and Asmatullah Khan, Syed Ghayoor-ul-Hassan, Ali Absajd, Amir Ashraf, Nazia Malik, Dr Azhar Javed, and others also spoke.

They said that unless sufficient facilities were provided for advanced training, and research etc, the population and work force cannot be properly equipped to face the challenges of the fast moving world.

They said that such trainings went a long way in understanding labour related laws, and if human resource managers and trade union officials were well-versed with the prevalent labour laws, they could work amicably in any problem.

The said that at present, most of the human resource department officials in many organizations, and trade union leaders did not know labour laws thoroughly, sometimes giving rise to an ugly situation.

They urged commercial as well as public sector organizations and trade unions to send their officers concerned and office bearers to such trainings and workshops so that they get to know about laws, which would help them understand the stand taken or point of view being presented by the other party in case of a dispute.

They said that Pakistan was one of a few countries of the post-industrial revolution era, which in a short span of nearly 45 years had experimented five labour policies one after the other, issued by successive governments between 1956 and 2002.

They said that each of these policies had claimed to provide an industrial relations structure which, according to the economic and social planners of the government, would be responsive to the country's social and economic needs.

They said that the labour policy of 1972 remained in practice for many years. Then in the year 2002, a new labour policy was introduced, but a lot of concerns were being expressed by workers regarding it. The said the policy was also under discussion among various social partners.

A labour policy could not be called a good one unless its been made keeping in view the socio-economic conditions of the country, state of industrial development, growth of trade unions, government's commitment to development, promotion of literacy, and social welfare and general standards of living in society.

Some speakers also suggested that the PIA should provide internships to NILAT's training participants so that they, besides gaining textbooks and classroom knowledge, could also get practical knowledge and experience. The airlines' representative said that such a proposal would be considered if formally sent by the NILAT. Later, certificates were distributed among the participants.