Grant for disabled miners raised

The Workers Welfare Board has approved an increase in the monthly assistance for disabled miners from Rs8,500 to Rs15,000.

In a meeting chaired by Mines Labour Welfare Commissioner Riaz Ahmed Chaudhry on Saturday, the board approved an amended budget of Rs715 million for the fiscal year 2023-24 and a budget of Rs1.5 billion, including Rs890 million for development, for 2024-25.

Several welfare projects for miners were approved.

A target of Rs2.3 billion was set for collection of excise duty on minerals.

In addition to increasing the financial assistance for miners who become disabled, the annual grant for medicines provided to the Dera Ghazi Khan Cement Factory was increased from Rs60,000 to Rs200,000.

Approval was also given for providing laptops and tablets to the staff for running the e-auction, financial management and school information systems.

The capacity of a solar system installed at the Mines Labour Welfare Hospital in Choa Saidan Shah will be expanded to 50 kilowatts.

The board also approved the installation of a water filtration plant at the Mines Labour Welfare Girls Higher Secondary School at Chak 119 in Sargodha and the establishment of a staffroom and daycare centre in Dandot.