BAHAWALPUR: The Punjab government has launched a Rs200 million programme to curb the scourge of bonded labour and improve the lot of kiln workers in four districts of the province.

The news came at the launch of the programme here on Saturday. Speakers included officials of the labour and education departments, who said the programme would cover Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Gujrat and Sargodha.

District Officer (Labour) Jamshed Farooq said Rs10 million would be utilised during the current financial year.

Programme Manager Malik Nazir Ahmad said modern machines for baking bricks would be introduced to reduce the labour of the workers. He said 200 non-formal educational centres would be established in the four districts, where 6,000 children of kiln workers would study.

Forty more centres would be set up for the training of the young workers who would also be helped to acquire their CNICs from Nadra, he said.

Other speakers said a contract between the workers and owners of the kilns would be facilitated to give the work legal cover. It would be ensured that the owners of the kilns paid the minimum wages fixed by the government to their workers and the families of labourers would be provided awareness in respect of their health cover and educational right.

They said the labour and human resource departments, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and NGOs would play their role in implementation of the programme.

POLLS: The district returning officer (DCO) appointed three returning officers (ROs) to receive from Sunday (today) nomination papers by the candidates contesting the local government election in 21 union councils of the City TMA.

AC Mrs Imrana Ajmal will receive nomination forms from the candidates of UC-1 to -7, DO community Ibrahim Ghumman of UC-8 to -14 and TMO Ataullah Walha from UC-15 to -21.

ILLEGAL TELEPHONY: The police claimed on Saturday to have unearthed an illegal telephone exchange and arrested three suspects. One of their accomplices made good his escape.

District Police Officer Sohail Habib Tajik said the police arrested Jamshed Ali, Muhammad Afzal and Ali Akbar, all residents of Kehrore Pucca, who had brought hundreds of SIMs from Karachi and unlawfully activated them, causing loss of millions to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

The police recovered SIMs and mobile phone sets in large numbers. They said Muhammad Saleem, another member of the gang, escaped before the arrest.