Sindh to issue first 'mazdoor' card on Jan 1

Saeed Ghani says smart cards will initially be issued to 625,000 SESSI manual card holders

KARACHI:

Sindh Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani announced on Thursday the issuance of the first Benazir Mazdoor Card on January 1, 2021 - nearly five years after the project was launched.

The announcement was made following a signing ceremony, where Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (SESSI) commissioner Ishaq Mehr and National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) project director Anjum Khan Durrani inked a pact pertaining to the project, on behalf of their respective institutions.

Terming it "a historical event, marking the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) taking practical steps to implement the late Benazir Bhutto's vision," Ghani said that during the first phase of the initiative, smart mazdoor cards would be disbursed among 625,000 SESSI manual card holders. "In the next phase, we hope to expand the scope of the initiative to cover 5 million labourers and workers," he added.

According to Ghani, the government also intends to bring independent workers and labourers, not working for a factory or mill, under the project's ambit.

Further, he pointed out, the issuance of smart cards would help curtail corruption that was more likely to take place with the issuance of manual cards.

He related that the project commenced in 2016 but stalled mid-way due to some difficulties. "When we began working on it again last year, we planned to issue the first Benazir Mazdoor Card on May 1," he went on. "But we couldn't do so due to the coronavirus outbreak."

The minister said the Sindh government had enacted 16 labour-related laws following the implementation of the 18th Amendment, adding that finalising the agreement for the issuance of Benazir Mazdoor Card was another step towards facilitating workers and labourers in the province.

He further revealed that the provincial government was mulling similar projects to bring the SESSI, Sindh Workers Welfare Board, Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution and Mines Welfare Organisation under one umbrella, and it intended to enact a law for the purpose.

"The step will be taken to ensure the more workers are aided and corruption is curbed," he said.

NADRA chairperson Usman Yousuf Mubeen, too, dubbed the agreement "a historic" move. "The milestone move will result in workers getting their due rights," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2020.