Karachi, Sept 29: Some 200 employees (from grade 1 to grade 17) of the Labour Department are among those who are not being paid their monthly salaries in time. In fact, the employees of the Labour Department, which is responsible for implementing labour laws in government departments, have never been paid salaries in time. According to some employees, they are not issued with timely salaries even on the occasion of Eidul Fitr. “We didn’t get our salaries on August 26, 2011, despite the fact that the chief minister had directed all government departments to release salaries (before Eidul Fitr),” said an aggrieved employee. A senior officer said that a notification had been issued some time earlier that the Labour Department should be made a part of the city government, but … [Read more...]
One step forward, and two back
ISLAMABAD, Sept 28 : More than two months after devolution, the government has managed to create two ministries where one existed earlier, when none should exist now. Within 40 days of the devolution of the Ministry of Labour and Manpower on June 30, 2011, the government created the ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) headed by Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain and a ministry of Professional & Technical Training (PTT) headed by Riaz Peerzada, PML-Q, entrants to the cabinet. Both the ministries have almost completely brought back the staff and officers which were transferred to various other departments and almost nothing has changed at the federal level. Minister for PTT, Riaz Pirzada expressed ignorance when asked if he thought the functions of his ministry might be part of the … [Read more...]
Sindh labour dept wants WWF, EOBI devolved
KARACHI, July 25: Unhappy with the half granted provincial autonomy, the Sindh government labour department has forwarded a summary to the provincial chief executive against the retention of the Employees Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) and the Workers Welfare Fund (WWF) by the federal government. Sources in the labour department said that various departments of the government in line with the decisions taken recently at a higher provincial forum were preparing their cases for a complete devolution of projects and schemes, offices, departments, activities and assets and liabilities, exactly as required under the 18th constitutional amendment. The departments through summaries would request the chief minister of Sindh to use the Council of Common Interests (CCI) for due transfer of … [Read more...]
Downside of labour devolution
LAHORE, July 15 : The Muttahida Labour Federation and Home-Net Pakistan, which deal with labour issues, jointly held a consultative meeting titled “Effects of 18th amendment on workers” here on July 14 Thursday. Labourer representatives, civil society and the departments concerned from Lahore, Kasur and Sheikhupura participated in the meeting. Federation`s secretary-general Hanif Ramay said the government didn`t hold any consultation or meeting with the labour representatives to discuss various issues before handing over the (labour) subject to the provinces under the 18th amendment. He said the government should have retained the labour ministry at the federal level rather than devolving it as it would damage the uniform national labour policy. “The labour unions and … [Read more...]
Implementing 18th amendment: Cabinet approves devolution of 7 more ministries
ISLAMABAD, June 30: The federal cabinet has approved the devolution of seven more ministries to the provinces but has decided to retain the ministers in an apparent move to keep the ruling coalition intact. The devolution marks the third and final phase of the implementation of the 18th amendment and brings the total number of devolved ministries to 17. “It has been decided to retain federal ministers of devolved ministries,” said Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan at a news conference after the special cabinet meeting. Ten federal ministries were earlier devolved to the provinces in two separate phases on the recommendation of a high-powered parliamentary commission to ensure the implementation of the 18th amendment that envisaged more administrative and financial autonomy for … [Read more...]