LAHORE, Nov 11: The government will strengthen its agencies and encourage stakeholders to combat hazardous forms of child labour under the Time Bound Programme of the International Labour Organization.

Punjab Labour Minister Akhtar Rizvi stated this at a seminar on “Eliminating hazardous forms of child labour” organized by the Child Labour Resource Centre of the labour department and attended by representatives of workers, employers, ILO, NGOs and government departments.

Mr Rizvi said 29 hazardous occupations for children below the age of 18 had been identified. Children faced serious health hazards in these industries due to exposure to acid vapours, metal dust, heat, stress, cuts and bruises. Work in surgical industry, vendor units in particular, had been included in the list.

He said the ILO had agreed to provide assistance to the government for elimination of child labour under the Time Bound Programme. Surgical industry was among the industries selected for the implementation of the ILO programme.

He said industrialists would be consulted for formulating the strategy for implementation of the ILO programme.