Parliamentary Secretary for Labour and Human Resource, Mian Naveed Ali, told the Punjab Assembly on Thursday that 87,013 children working at brick kilns had been enrolled in schools.

“Parents of these children are being encouraged with financial assistance through Khidmat Cards,” he added.

Answering queries by lawmakers Dr Noushin Hamid and Waheed Gull, he said that the government, under the Chief Minister’s Anti Forced Labour program, was strictly enforcing “The Punjab Prohibition On Employment of Children at Brick Kiln Act 2016”. Inspectors of the concerned department carried out 10,417 inspections and got FIRs registered against 897 brick kiln owners.

190 brick kilns were in Lahore district and according to a survey conducted by the Urban Unit department or Labour department, around 88,797 children were found working at these kilns and out of them 87,013 children were enrolled in nearby schools.

Besides, he said, the Labour and Human Resource department was issuing Social Security cards to brick kiln laborers of Social Security department. He maintained that there were 19,307 institutions registered under Labor laws in the Punjab province while 999,230 were working in these registered factories.

To a question by lawmaker Hina Pervaiz Butt, parliamentary secretary said that six workers’ welfare schools are functioning in Lahore district and students are being provided books for free.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Babar Hussain, during Question-Hour, told a member that till March 31, 2017, Bank of Punjab had 388 branches across the province Punjab. The bank, he said, had a staff of 3,953.

The sitting, first of the 33rd session of the current assembly, started three hours and 15 minutes behind its schedule time with Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal in the chair.

Soon after recitation of verses from the Holy Quran, the House paid homage to martyrs of Pak Army, especially to Major Ishaq (Shaheed). The House did not take up the Punjab Hepatitis Ordinance 2017 and the Punjab Tianjin University of Technology Lahore Ordinance 2017.