Karachi: The Sindh government has formally launched the Benazir Mazdoor Smart Card (BMSC) to register over 2.5 million labourers in the province. It will provide them with their due rights and social security privileges.
A ceremony was held here at Sindh Chief Minister House on the occasion of the Labour Day to formally launch the BMSC. Chairman of Pakistan Peoples’ Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, was the chief guest on the occasion who also distributed the BMSCs to the labourers.
Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani said Sindh had become the first province in Pakistan to launch a system for issuance of smart cards for registration of the labourers.
Security services
He said the Sindh government had entered into an agreement with the National Database and Registration Authority for issuance of the smart card to stop unathourised use and pilferages in the system of giving due facilities and social security services to the labourers.
He recalled that late prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto had envisioned to provide due rights and privileges to all labourers in the country whether they were formal workers associated with the industries or informal labourers.
He informed audience of the ceremony that less than 600,000 labourers associated with the industrial sector were registered in Sindh to get social security protection.
The Labour Minister said that this figure was much less as a far greater number of workers were associated with industries of the province.
He said the in the first phase the BMSCs would be issued to all the workers in the province associated with the formal sector.
He mentioned that in the second phase the workers associated with the informal sectors would get this card for getting social security services. He said the house servants, drivers, gardeners, chauffeurs, rickshaw drivers, pushcart vendors, salespersons, shop helpers, self-employed workers etc would get these cards to secure the privileges as being given at present to the industrial workers only.
Health and education
Ghani said the recipients of the BMSCs would not be required to worry about the health and education facilities for their family members.
PPP Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, said that it was founder of the Peoples’ Party and first elected prime minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who gave first labour policy of the country to make labour rights a part of the Constitution.
He said that all national-level agencies in Pakistan meant for welfare of labourers were also established in the Bhutto’s regime.
He termed the issuance of BMSCs a historical event in the struggle of the Peoples’ Party to protect due constitutional rights of the labourers.
