Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that elimination of child labour from brick kilns is his mission and this menace would be removed at any cost.

He said that all out resources would be provided for resolving the problems of the children working at brick kilns. The chief minister said that he personally monitors the steps taken for removing child labour.

He was addressing a meeting of the steering committee set up for curbing child labour from brick kilns on Tuesday.

Shahbaz Sharif said that the children working at brick kilns would be given a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000 on admission in schools while their educational expenditure would also be borne by the government of the Punjab, adding that free textbooks, stationery and uniform would also be given to the children.

He said that a sum of Rs 2,000 per family would also be given to the parents of the children going to school. The chief minister said that the campaign for elimination of child labour should be continued vigorously and in case of child labour, the brick kilns should be sealed and the owners should be arrested.

He said that all concerned departments should work with mutual coordination for elimination of child labour. “The concerned institutions will have to work with commitment for eradicating child labour from brick kilns. Committees have been set up at district level for checking of brick kilns,” he added.

The chief minister directed that the 100% enrolment of children working at brick kilns should be ensured in schools. Shahbaz also directed that DCOs and DPOs should personally visit brick kilns for controlling child labour.

The Labour secretary gave a briefing regarding the steps taken for child labour from brick kilns. Provincial Ministers Rana Sanaullah, Raja Ishfaq Sarwar, Punjab Spokesman Zaeem Hussain Qadri, chief secretary, additional chief secretary, inspector general and concerned officers were present in the meeting.

Reviewing law and order: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif presided over a high level meeting, which reviewed the overall law and order situation and the measures taken under National Action Plan for elimination of terrorism.

The meeting expressed satisfaction over the steps taken under NAP for curbing terrorism, extremism and sectarianism. Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that protection of life and property of people is the top priority of the government and the Punjab government is taking all out measures for this purpose.

He said that police should perform his duties efficiently for curbing criminal elements, adding that supremacy of law should be ensured in the province and no effort should be spared for the provision of justice. Shahbaz said that the steps taken for routing out terrorism and extremism under the NAP are yielding positive results, adding that in order to eliminate terrorism, amendments have been made in the law and punishments have been made more stringent.

The chief minister directed concerned institutions to continue indiscriminate action against banned organisations and the activities should be completely checked. He further directed that action should be continued indiscriminately against the publication and distribution of literature spreading religious hatred.