LAHORE, July 8: As many as 5,200 industrial units registered under the Factories Act in the Punjab will be required to file declarations about their compliance with labour laws instead of facilitating labour inspections under the new industrial policy announced by the provincial government.

The Punjab Labour Department will start distributing the declaration forms through the chambers of commerce and industry and industrial associations this week. The factory managements will be required to return the forms within a month. It has already stopped inspections of the factories since June 24 following the announcement of the new industrial policy.

The factory managements will be required to declare the nature of their manufacturing process along with the details of the workers employed. They will also have to declare whether or not they have issued appointment letters to the workers and paying overtime, bonus and gratuity and provident fund in accordance with the provisions of the law.

Besides, the factory managements will be required to declare whether or not they are allowing annual leave and holidays to the workers and maternity leave to the female employees, and paying the prescribed minimum wages to all categories of workers. The managements will also provide necessary information about health and safety measures at their establishments.

Those employing more than 49 workers will have to declare whether or not all the workers have been insured under group insurance scheme and canteen and fair price shop facilities have been established on the factory premises.

The factory owners will not only file the declaration forms, but also display the details of the same at the factory gates for a reasonable period for the information of the workers and the general public. Those filing wrong declarations will be liable to prosecution under the provisions of the labour laws.

The labour department will computerize the data provided by the factory managements through the declaration forms, and select five per cent factories for inspection through a computerized draw every year. It will not conduct routine annual inspections of the remaining factories, but arrange inspections of the factories in the event of receipt of complaints relating to the violation of labour laws.