Workers’ welfare

In a welcome move aimed at improving the lot of weaker sections, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on International Labour Day the launch of ‘Mazdoor-Ka- Ehsaas’ initiative. In his May Day message, he said, “The initiative is one of the pillars under the government’s priority social protection and poverty alleviation programme.” The initiative will be aimed at developing social protection measures for workers in the informal sector. It remains unclear what specific facilities workers will be provided with the PM only saying that his government is trying “to strengthen the labour market and have a plan to create 10 million jobs over five years in sectors like housing, SMEs, ICT, health, education, green economy and tourism.” He said the government is focused on regulating the labour market along with a job placement mechanism supported by public-private partnerships; to improve skills in demand; enforcement of minimum wage; employees’ social welfare and measures against workplace harassment. The PM highlighted the policies undertaken under the Ehsas initiative, “such as enhancing the number and quality of institutional arrangements that serve to protect migrant workers, creating online interfaces to facilitate them, negotiations with host countries aimed at increasing the duration of the first contact of migrant workers, and subsidies on air tickets for the workers who have not returned home for seven years.”

We welcome the measures announced for the betterment of workers, but we also want the prime minister to pay attention to the increasing prices of basic commodities. It is difficult to tell whether this is resulting from policies pursued by the PTI government or those of the previous governments. Irrespective of who is responsible for the present state of affairs, it remains the responsibility of the incumbent government to provide relief to the ordinary people. 


Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2019.