Doha has vowed to end the controversial kafala system, under which foreign workers must have a Qatari sponsor -- which critics have likened to modern-day slavery. PHOTO AFP
LAHORE: The first batch of skilled labour, comprising 250 Pakistanis, will leave for Qatar in July, said Minister for Labour and Human Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwar on Thursday.
He was presiding over a meeting of the steering committee constituted by the chief minister for the provision of skilled workforce to Qatar, Dubai and other Gulf countries.
He said that an official delegation will visit Qatar from May 24 to 26 to further discuss jobs for Pakistanis there. “A total of 200,000 skilled and semi-skilled workers will be sent abroad from the Punjab over the next four years for the completion of construction projects in Qatar, Dubai and other Gulf states,” he said.
He said that a strategy was being evolved for the provision of identity cards, passports, visas, security clearance certificates and vaccination for people going abroad under a one-window operation. “A total of 1.4 million skilled workers are required for the construction of stadiums, hotels and other infrastructure for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar,” he said.
TEVTA chairman Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, USAID consultant Sajjad Mughal and Punjab Vocational Training Council Managing Director Sajid Latif Khan also attended the meeting.
Separately, the TEVTA chairman said that the authority would launch an industrial embroidery machine operating short course to meet the shortage of skilled manpower in industrial embroidery.
He was talking to a delegation of Pakistan Industrial Embroidery Association at the TEVTA secretariat.
“The TEVTA will take necessary action in coordination with Pakistan Industrial Embroidery Association to introduce new courses according to their requirements. The TEVTA will also revise the curricula,” he said.
Industrial Machine Embroidery Association president Chaudhry Muhmmad Akram said that they were facing an acute shortage of skilled manpower. “This industry is flourishing. Trained manpower is needed to speed up the sector’s growth,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2015.
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