LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday announced an increase in monthly salaries of labourers by Rs1,000 starting July 1, Radio Pakistan reported.

Every labourer will now receive at least Rs14,000 a month, he said while addressing a Labour Day ceremony in Lahore.

Child labourers will be given a monthly amount of Rs1,000 through the Khidmat Card so they can stop working at brick kilns and enrol in schools, he said.

The chief minister said elimination of child labour is a high priority of the provincial government.