950821

Cabinet committee for applying

labour laws to

agri occupations

TANVIR ZAHID

LAHORE: The Cabinet Committee on Labour has recommended that the scope of the Industrial Relations Ordinance 1969 be extended to agricultural occupations as well.

The Committee, which examined and reviewed the recommendations and report of the Task Force on Labour in detail, has also proposed to substitute the existing definition of the term "industry" by the following definition:

"Industry" means any business, trade, manufacturing, calling service or occupation including an agricultural occupation or a vocation or employment of workmen in a corporate farming.

According to the information available from well-informed sources to Business Recorder in Lahore on Monday, the Committee observed that Pakistan had long ago ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention II that guaranteed the right of association to agricultural workers at per with workers of industrial sector and noted that so far Pakistan had not been able to fulfil its obligations under this Convention.

The sources pointed out that some of the Committee members were of the view that formation of trade unions in the agricultural sector was possible only in the case of corporate farming.

Accordingly, the Committee has recommended extension of the Standing Order Ordinance 1968 to mechanized and corporate farming of the agriculture sector.

The Committee while recommending extension of the scope of this law also to mechanized and corporate farming of agricultural sector noted that presently, industrial and commercial establishment and construction industry were covered by this law provided they fulfilled the condition of the prescribed limit of workers.

The Cabinet Committee comprised Federal Minister for Industries and Production Brig (Retd) Mohammad Asghar, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Anwar Saifullah Khan, Minister for Commerce Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar, Minister of State for Labour Akbar Lassi, Chairman Privatization Commission and MNA Syed Naveed Qamar had also co-opted Media Consultant to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and former Federal Labour Minister Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Awan besides Federal Secretary Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Division and Additional Secretary (E&F) Prime Minister's Secretariat Islamabad.

The Cabinet Committee has since submitted its recommendations to the Federal Cabinet for consideration and approval.