Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PMLQ) Senior Central Leader and former deputy prime minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has said that important facilities to the labourers have not been provided by any party, not even Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, nor has any party contributed to the labourers’ welfare and well-being like us. “During our chief ministership, we established free hospitals and residential projects for the labourers and provided special ambulance vehicles, besides free treatment and food, marriage grants, death grants and welfare funds allocations, which were substantially increased, free education, uniforms, stationary and transport were provided for their children,” he said this while addressing a big gathering of labour community in Gujrat on Thursday. Amidst enthusiastic slogans and applause, PMLQ Leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said, “We had added 2,500 beds in the hospitals in Punjab, established six mini hospitals under Punjab Employees Social Security Institutions, 40 medical centres, 133 dispensaries, 88 emergency centres, and additionally established in Lahore 610 beds, in Faisalabad 300 beds, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat and Multan 100 beds in each hospital, besides providing heart operation facility in Lahore Social Security Hospital. Separately, we also provided 161 ambulances to these hospitals, along with all industrial estates of the province and modern complexes comprising community centres, dispensary, training centres and schools in Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Mian Channu, Lahore and Rahim Yar Khan, labour colonies and 713 residential flats in Gujrat and Sialkot that were established and provided sui gas facility to.” He further said that the PMLQ government had increased daily diet charges by 100 percent for under treatment industrial workers in the province. “We had also increased death grants in case of sudden death from Rs 100,000 to Rs 150,000. Marriages grants for girls was raised to Rs 70,000 from Rs 30,000 whereas funds of Rs 517 million under Punjab Workers Welfare Board were distributed among deserving labourers and their families. Published in Daily Times, July 13th 2018.