Sir: To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. The promulgation of a landmark ordinance by the Punjab government to ban employment of children and restrict the recruitment of adolescents for hazardous occupations is a welcome step as it will help curb child labour in the province. The declared purpose of the Punjab Restriction on Employment of Child Ordinance 2016 is to protect children and adolescents against any form of slavery. It also bans the use of children or adolescents for prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities including trafficking of drugs in particular. The ordinance also makes it unlawful for an occupier (employer) to require or permit an adolescent to work in the establishment in excess of such number of hours as may be prescribed. Children are the flowers of heaven and beauty of this world. Keeping this in mind, the government has taken immediate and timely measures to protect the future of children and necessary amendments have been made to the laws for making sentences more stringent. The other provincial governments, I think, should follow suit of Shahbaz Sharif-led government and take such initiatives to curb child labour in their respective provinces in order to let the world community know that Pakistan is endeavouring hard to protect children from the scourge of child labour. It is hoped that steps being taken with regard to the promulgation of the Punjab Restriction on Employment of Child Ordinance 2016 will yield positive results and all the stakeholders will discharge their responsibilities with the best coordination. SYED ALI QASIM Lahore Cantt