KARACHI, Oct 11: Federal minister for labour, manpower and overseas Pakistanis Abdus Sattar Lalika on Saturday called upon all stakeholders to build consensus among themselves and suggest improvements, if required, for valid and effective implementation of Industrial Relations Ordinance-2002.
He said that the NILAT should also conduct research on current labour issues and send recommendations to his ministry in this regard.
“I see implementation of IRO-2002 as an important issue,” Lalika remarked while speaking at the diploma award ceremony of the 42nd and 43rd course and closing ceremony of 44the Post-Graduate Diploma Course in Labour Administration and Industrial Welfare at the National Institute of Labour Administration Training here.
The minister said that the government was seriously considering updating many outdated laws.
He said that the Industrial Relations Amendment Bill-2003, Conditions of Employment Bill-2003, Wages Bill-2003, Occupational, Safety and Health Bill-2003, Human Resources and Skill Development- 2003, and Labour and Social Protection Bill 2003 would soon be tabled in the parliament.
The new labour protection policy would be announced by June 2004 while labour inspectors policy would be announced in June 2005, he added.
He said “until workers feel that their interests are safeguarded and they are ensured an ordinary life, we can not expect a better output from them.”
The minister promised that as provision of Factories Act-1934, he would ensure that while appointing welfare officers, diploma holders from NILAT would be given priority.
He lauded NILAT’s role in promoting industrial harmony and human resource development by training a competent class of labour administrators to meet the challenges of global perspective.
NILAT director-general Syed Hakim Ali Shah Bukhari pointed out that the institute was faced with financial and administrative problems. The minister assured all possible financial and material support to the NILAT, especially for research purposes.
He said he had already allocated required amount for setting up a hostel of the institution from the workers welfare fund.
To a proposal that the NILAT be provided funds to set up a faculty for evening courses, he said that for the time being this objective could be achieved by hiring a faculty building as it was very expensive to raise a new faculty. Similarly, he said, services of part time tutors could be hired for the purpose.
He said his emphasis was on technical education and improved skills of labour as in many countries, including Far-Eastern and European, needed highly skilled workers.
The labour minister announced that the government had planned to set up a state-of-the-art institute at Usta Mohammad in Balochistan to impart training to those working in the agriculture sector so that they could get maximum production through use of latest technics and information.
The NILAT DG, Syed Hakim Ali Shah Bukhari, informed the minister that the NILAT had, so far, organized 44 24-week post-graduate diploma courses in labour administration and industrial welfare, and 1,612 short duration courses while 64,032 people had, so far, participated in the courses.
Syed Hakim Ali Shah Bukhari informed the minister that the NILAT was facing shortage of staff and budget to the extent that furniture and other training-related accessories have not been replaced over years.
Others who spoke included deputy secretary Ministry of Labour, Arshad Mehmood Kiyani, Izhar Baig, Major Azam and Syed Ghayoorul Hassan.—APP