Poor performance: Action ordered against social security directors

Labour minister expresses concern over their failure to register new workers

LAHORE: Minister for Labour and Human Resources Raja Ashfaq Sarwar on Friday directed Punjab Employees Social Security Institute (PESSI) Commissioner Mansoor Qadir to take disciplinary action against the directors of social security who had failed to achieve their contribution targets and register new industrial workers.

He was presiding over a meeting at the PESSI headquarters.

PESSI Commissioner Mansoor Qadir and directors of social security from all Punjab districts attended the meeting.

Sarwar expressed annoyance over poor performance of some district directors, saying that an independent audit should be conducted to check their performance.

Qadir told the minister that the directors had been warned several times to improve their performance. “We have sought explanations from them for not achieving their targets but most of them have not paid heed.”

Qadir said officers with poor performance would be dealt with according to the PEEDA Act if they did not improve their performance within a month.

Minister Sarwar said, “The poor performance of these social security officers is evident in their failure to achieve contribution targets and register new industrial workers. Scores of workers have not been provided social security cards.”

The minister appreciated the performance of some directors who, he said, had achieved their contribution targets in a timely fashion.

The minister said that labour welfare was a top priority of the government. “They can only gain access to health facilities if contribution targets are met,” he said.

Addressing the directors, he urged them to work hard and boost their performance in this regard.

Social Security Director General Rana Muhammad Hanif briefed the meeting regarding the annual contribution target of year 2015-16 which was Rs10.79 billion.

He said there were 969,000 industrial workers in more than 68,000 industrial and commercial units across the province.

He said 38,000 women workers were also associated with the industrial sector.

He said the PESSI had registered 3,228 new industrial and commercial units. He said more than 28,000 workers had been registered.

“Rs328 million was distributed among workers and their family members last year,” he said

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2016.