SIALKOT, Oct 19: Around 16 welfare-oriented projects for the labour class will be completed at a cost of Rs1 billion in Punjab during the current fiscal year. While work on these projects is briskly under way on the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi.

This was stated by Punjab Labour & Human Resources Minister Syed Akhtar Husain Rizvi while talking to reporters here on Wednesday.

The minister said the two modern social security hospitals, with having a capacity of 100 beds each, would be completed in Sialkot and Shahdara, Lahore, on priority basis.

He said the provincial government would soon announce a package of incentives for the labour class, besides making sincere efforts for protecting rights of industrial workers and labourers by establishing sound working relationship between employers and employees.

The government would soon establish more labour colonies, schools and social security hospitals in areas populated mostly by industrial workers and labourers.

Mr Rizvi said labour training centres in Punjab’s different big industrial cities would be established for producing the skilled labour force.

He said the construction of 1,000 residential flats, a labour colony, a community centre and a social security hospital would soon be started at Sambrial and Sialkot.