LAHORE, Sept 19: The registration process to give social security cover to kiln workers in the country began here on Tuesday District Nazim Mian Amer inaugurated the process being initiated with the assistance of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) in Union Council 148, Pajian, on Tuesday. Kiln owners and workers were also present on the occasion.

Nadra will compile a data of workers and issue them national identity cards (NICs). The data will be used for their registration by the social security department.

The nazim said kiln workers had been exempted from birth certificates to facilitate them for getting identity cards. A document by the kiln owners association would be enough for confirmation of their date of birth.

More than 1,500 kiln workers would be issued NICs under the six-day programme, he said, adding the process would continue till the registration of 150,000 workers in the district.

He said the government had taken a number of initiatives for the welfare of kiln workers, including enhancing marriage grants for their daughters up to Rs50,000 and death grant up to Rs200,000. Treatment facilities had been improved for the workers and model schools set up for their children. An information technology university was also being set up in Lahore for this purpose.

Mian Amer said educational scholarships from Rs1,000 to Rs35,000 were being provided to the children of workers for getting higher education, including education in medical and engineering sectors.

He said minimum wage for workers had been increased from Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 per month, while an amount of Rs100,000 was being provided to 10 workers for their excellent performance every year.

He said all industrial units in the city were being registered, and urged owners and workers of these units to contact officials concerned for getting the institutions registered so that they could avail social security benefits.

The nazim said a new labour colony would be set up on Raiwind Road on 46 acres, having 2,000 flats for industrial workers.

A day-care centre and a multi-storey hostel building was also being constructed in Nishtar Colony for the workers, he said.—APPs