Punjab Minister for Labour, Haji Ehsaanuddin Qureshi, has said that the Punjab government is implementing various projects for providing modern education to the children of labourers and residential facilities to their families.
While talking to different delegations of labourers, on Tuesday, Haji Ehsaanuddin Qureshi said a labour colony consisting of 1,296 houses at a cost of Rs 2.18 billion million was being constructed for workers on the Defence Road. He said that all the basic and modern residential facilities would be available to the workers in this labour colony and workers welfare schools would be set up for their children. He said that free education, including free books, stationary, transport and uniform were also being provided to 28,000 children of in 46 workers welfare schools across the province.
He said that the Welfare Board was bearing all educational expenses in six districts of the Punjab where workers welfare schools did not exist previously.
Qureshi said that the main objective of the labour department was to provide free of cost comprehensive healthcare facilities to the workers and their family members, adding that during the last financial year, more than 6,005,265 workers were provided healthcare facilities at a cost of Rs 3.39 billion. He said that two medical colleges each would be launched by the Labour Department in Lahore and Faisalabad to make up for the shortage of doctors and for the provision of standardised facilities to the masses. In order to provide specialised treatment and diagnostic facilities near the workplace, the Labour Department has established satellite clinics at Phoolnagar, Jaranwala and Hasan Abdal, he concluded.