SIALKOT, May 25: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) will launch the ‘time bound programme’ (TBP) in the surgical industry on Friday (today).

ILO project manager Mian Binyamin said on Thursday the TBP was being launched to purge the industry of child labour in collaboration with the district government and the Surgical Instruments Manufacturers Association (SIMA).

Mr Binyamin said the programme would assist the government to take concrete measures to address the issue of child labour.

He said the project, involving the community, would be launched in seven districts, including Sialkot, targeting children working in hazardous occupations.

He said a district coordination committee (DCC) had been formed to supervise implementation of the project. It held its first meeting soon after formation to review salient features of the TBP. Nazim Akmal Cheema presided over the meeting, which was attended by DCO Maj Rizwanullah Baig (retired) and ILO-IPEC officials.

demandS: The Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) has urged the government to introduce business-friendly diplomacy and discourage export of raw materials by focusing on value addition.

While talking to the press here on Thursday, PRGMEA former central chairman Ijaz A.Khokhar also urged President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to announce a special package of incentives for garments industry from the Export Development Fund (EDF) in the forthcoming federal budget.

He suggested that the government should expand the network of technical training institutes in the country with the help of EDF.