Child labour: Kiln workers to get stipend for sending children to school

Distribution of the Khidmat Cards will begin on May 1

SARGODHA: DCO Saqib Manan announced on Thursday that 1,071 Khidmat Cards will be issued to brick kiln workers whose children have been enrolled in school. This would be under the first phase of the project expected to begin from May 1.

The DCO was presiding over a meeting of the District Vigilance Committee. Education EDO Liaqat Ali Nasir, SP Bilal Iftikhar, EDO CD Nasir Mehmood and Labour District Officer Shahid Latif were present.

The DCO said the provincial government is committed to providing brick kiln workers relief. “Our duty is to ensure that the children of brick kiln workers are enrolled in schools…as it is illegal for them to work on brick kilns.”

He announced that under the first phase of the project, Rs2,000 per child would be given to parents. They would also get books, uniforms, stationary and other school items free of cost. He said Rs1,000 stipend will be given each month to registered children between the ages of four and 14 years. The government will also take responsibility for providing transport to the children from home to school and back, he said. The participants of the meeting were told that the Khidmat Cards would be distributed in collaboration with the Bank of Punjab and other various departments.

They will be distributed among parents between May 1 and May 14 in Sargodha district.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2016.