ISLAMABAD, May 1: Federal Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Ghulam Sarwar Khan has said 29 organizations in which 80,000 workers are employed will now be able to benefit from the Workers Welfare Fund (WWF).

He was speaking at a ceremony held at the Muslim League House in connection with World Labour Day here on Sunday.

The 29 organizations, which included Pakistan Steel Mills, Heavy Mechanical Complex and Pak Arab Fertilizer, so far possessed no rights to enjoy the WWF benefits, he said.

Mr Khan said workers of these organizations would now be able to send their children to the country’s best educational institutions on scholarships, besides utilizing the dowry fund of Rs30,000 for the marriages of their daughters.

He said if a worker had even five daughters, Rs30,000 would be provided for the marriage of each girl.

He said amendments to the Industrial Relations Ordinance- 2002 would be finalized during the current financial year. The draft of the amended IRO-2002 had been completed and would be put up before the cabinet after discussing it with President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.

Mr Khan said it would be impossible for him to come up with amendments which could bring the IRO to its status of 1969. However, he said, the amended ordinance would be more labour friendly.

He said it was unfortunate that the IRO was passed during the present government’s tenure, however, now the government had realised that the law was against the interests of the working class.

Despite efforts by the government, the minister said, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was never eliminated from the scene of country’s politics because the party and its founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had always highlighted the issue of labourers. If the PML wanted to survive and mobilize the masses, it had to adopt those policies which led to the betterment of the labour class in the country, he added.

PML leader Kabir Ali Wasti said Pakistan Muslim League (PML) was the platform for the working class, adding that Quaid-i-Azam had told the industrialists during a meeting that they should give rights to the workers before the latter snatched those from them.

Unfortunately, he said, through a well-thought-out conspiracy the PML was described as a party of the elite and feudal lords.

PML Secretary-General Mushahid Hussain Syed said the PML was a party of the working class and would always strive for the rights of the labourers.

He said unemployment, poverty and inflation were the three main enemies of Pakistan and without eliminating these, it would not be able to achieve progress and improve the lives of its people.

Malik Habibur Rehman of the PTCL and a number of other labour union leaders criticized the PML government for failing to protect their rights or abolish anti-worker laws.

They warned that if the ruling party failed to change its policies, it would not be able to win support of the working class in next general elections.