LAHORE, July 13: The Punjab Workers Welfare Board will develop a labour colony for industrial workers and build a school for their children in every district of the province.
Board Secretary Sohail Masood told Dawn that directive for a labour colony and a school for workers’ children in every district had been issued by the Punjab Labour Minister Muhammad Tariq, recently.
He said that the board had developed 19 labour colonies with 22 schools for the workers’ children in 14 districts of the province. Many colonies were being developed, including six at Faisalabad, three at Sheikhupra, two at Lahore — one consisting of flats in Allama Iqbal Town and the Nishtar Colony — , two at Toba Tek Singh and one each at Kamalia, Multan, Sahiwal, Jhelum, Vehari, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Jhang, Vehari and Sargodha.
The WWB Secretary said that there were 24,954 three marla plots, 1,271 houses and 481 flats in the labour colonies. Five thousand plots in colonies in different districts and flats in the colony at Gujrat awaited disposal.
He said that all the industrial workers employed in the industrial units registered with the WWB and drawing salaries up to Rs 5,000 per month were eligible for allotment of plots and flats in their respective districts.
Federal Labour Minister Owais Ghani had appreciated the allotment policy of the Punjab WWB and directed the boards in other provinces to follow it.
He said the Tripartite Workers Welfare Board would accord formal approval to the construction of 260 houses in the Rahim Yar Khan Labour Colony, another 870 in the Sher-i-Bangal Colony Phase II at Sheikhupura, two high schools — one for boys and the other for girls — at Rahim Yar Khan, another two at Joharabad and a model school at Bahawalpur for providing free education to the children of the workers at its meeting to be held at Islamabad on Monday (tomorrow) with Federal Labour Secretary in chair.
He said that two schools for workers children — one for boys and one for girls — were proposed to be built at Muzzaffargarh. A cadet school was to be built at Layyah, a primary school for girls at Nishtar Colony, Lahore and girls school at the Mian Channu Labour Colony under a directive of the Punjab Governor.
He said that private securoity agencies were being entrusted watch and ward duties at two labour colonies at Faisalabad and colonies at Sargodha, Gujrat and Sheikhupura.The decision had been taken following the theft of tubewells, poles, wires and transformers in the Faisalabad labour colonies.
He said that COMSAT had reserved 30 percent seats for free education to the workers’ children at its Raiwind Road Campus. As many as 108 workers children had qualified for admission after test and would join the BCS,MCS AND BCE classes starting in September. —Our Reporter