Daily Times

KARACHI: The Sindh Labour and Human Resources (HR) Department has finalized all arrangements to take over the federally-run Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) in few days, Daily Times has learnt.

In this regard, the Labour and Human Resources (HR) department of the Sindh government has issued a notification (No.L-II-2-27/2016) notifying the Board of Trustees to run the EOBI in a befitting manner.

“In pursuance of Section-7 of Sub-Section (1) of the Sindh Employees’ Old-Age-Benefits Act, 2014 and with the approval of the competent authority (Chief Minister Sindh), the Government of Sindh is pleased to appoint “Board of Trustees” Sindh Employees Old-Age Benefits Institutions for a period of two years,” according to a notification available with Daily Times.

According to the notification, Labour & Human Resources Department secretary will be president while representative from finance and industries, and commerce department will be members. Vice Chairman BMG and former Chairman KCCI Haroon Farooki, Chief Executive Qaim Automotive Mfg, Pvt Ltd and former vice president FPCCI Engineer MA Jabbar, K-Electric Peoples Workers Union Latif Mughal and Chairman Peoples Workers Union Karachi Docs Labour Board Hussain Badshah will be the members of the Board of Trustees.

According to sources, the EOBI Act, 1976 was enforced with effect from April, 1976 with an aim to achieve the objective of Article 38 (C) of the Constitution of Pakistan, for providing compulsory social insurances. It extends Old-Age Benefits to insured persons of their survivors. However, the EOBI was shifted to the control of Sindh province after the 18th Constitutional Amendment.

Prior to the devolution, the Federal Board of Revenue was collecting six percent of salaries out of which 5 percent was from the employers and one percent was from the employees, securing the workers, sources said. The FBR collects the amount, forwards it to the Ministry of Finance, and the provinces are supposed to furnish schemes aimed at welfare of the labourers and the amount used to be transferred to provincial governments.

Now the Sindh government has authorized the Sindh Revenue Board to collect the funds from the employers and employees and maintain the data of the workers and the funds, sources added. Sindh used to get Rs 1.5 billion, while Punjab Rs 3 billion. Rs 3 billion was given to Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtonkhawa on a yearly basis as the EOBI share from the federal government. Interestingly, sources lamented that the FBR has never shared the collection details with any province.

The sources said that the funds – which are to be collected by Sindh’s authorities – would be larger in share and they would be utilized to establish labour colonies and register maximum number of workers to enhance existing facilities of the labors etc. When contacted, Labour and Human Resources Department Secretary Abdul Rasheed Solangi told Daily Times that the members of Board of Trustees have been notified and the department will take over the EOBI in few days.

“We have worked out the plan for takeover and all the employees working in the EOBI and will continue to further improve the performance of the institutions”, he added.