The governing body of Workers Welfare Fund (WWF) has approved the release of around Rs 5 billion to provinces for the execution of welfare projects of industrial workers.
This amount includes regular funds of Rs 2.849 billion for 2005-06 and an additional grant of Rs 2.069, Federal Labour Minister Sarwar Khan told a news conference here on Wednesday.
Of the additional grant, Rs 0.929 billion would go to Punjab, Rs 0.834 billion to Sindh, Rs 0.139 billion to NWFP and Rs 0.165 billion to Balochistan, he said.
Rs 0.985 billion for Punjab, Rs 0.979 billion for Sindh, Rs 0.549 billion for NWFP and Rs 0.337 billion for Balochistan have also been approved under the regular funding for 2005-06, the Minister said.
Overall, the share of Punjab was Rs 1.914 billion, Sindh Rs 1.813 billion, NWFP Rs 0.688 billion and Balochistan Rs 0.502 billion out of the total regular and additional funding, details, he added.
The governing body of WWF approved the release of this amount in the light of projects it received from the provincial Workers Welfare Boards, Sarwar said.
WWF is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistan, established for the welfare of industrial workers back in 1971 through an Act of Parliament.
The industrial units that contribute up to Rs 0.1 million per annum in the form of taxes they pay to the government come under the purview of WWF.
The amounts these units contribute are collected by the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) and go to the Federal Divisible Pool before coming to WWF. The provincial boards would spend this amount on various projects for the welfare of industrial workers, the minister said. These projects include establishment of labour colonies, schools, hospitals and community centres for industrial workers, he added.
A substantial portion of these funds would also go for individual financial assistance of the workers in the form of marriage and death grants and educational scholarships for workers' children, he said.
The WWF governing body had approved establishment of a 100-house labour colony in Gwadar out of the funds allocated for Balochistan, the minister said.
Sarwar said that the federal government had already handed over a 150-unit labour colony to Balochistan Workers Welfare Board.