Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Gulf News
minister attends meeting at social centre in sharjah
Dubai The Pakistan government is planning to appoint dedicated labour attaches at its missions in the UAE and other Gulf countries to help solve issues facing its labourers abroad.
“We are going to appoint special labour attaches at six missions in Gulf countries including the UAE which have very high number of Pakistani’s [in their] workforce to directly deal with the labour community and solve their problems,” said Khursheed Ahmad Shah, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower. Speaking to Gulf News at a reception organised by the Pakistan Social Centre in Sharjah, the minister said that the labour attachés would work in coordination with the Welfare attaches who are currently handling all affairs related to the workforce abroad.
According to the Pakistan consulate figures, there are more than 900,000 Pakistanis working in the UAE and some 70 per cent of them are labourers or in the low-income group.
Skilled labour
Shah said that the government was working on plans to provide skilled labourers to the UAE and other Gulf countries. “We are still exporting huge number of workers to the UAE and are thankful to the UAE government for increasing the quota of work visas for Pakistani workers from 62,000 to 90,000 per year,” he said.
Earlier, the minister also addressed a large number of community members.
His speech covered the political scenario in Pakistan and criticised the Pakistani media, which he said have launched a negative propaganda campaign against the government with “some agenda”.
The function was also attended by Dubai-based Pakistani Senator Abdul Nabi Bangash and Khursheed Ahmad Junejo, Ambassador of Pakistan.
“It is easy to criticise, but the fact is that government has been doing quite well despite a lot of challenges and the war against terrorism is the biggest one,” he said.
A prominent community leader said: “It is quite disappointing to note that the Minister did not talk about the community issues.” He said the overseas Pakistanis who contribute billions of dollars to their country’s economy through remittances were ignored completely.
Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal, president of the Pakistan Social Centre, said that the Pakistani government should launch affordable housing schemes in the country for overseas Pakistanis, as it would not only solve their housing problems, but also help generate huge funds in foreign exchange.
“We deserve a little better treatment at the airports back home and need some recognition. Please give us some respect,” he said in his speech at the function. In a separate reception yesterday, Riaz Farooq Sahi, president of the Pakistan Association in Dubai, reminded the minister of promises he made during his last visit to the UAE.
He said that overseas Pakistanis were promised special seats in the senate and the national and provincial assemblies but there has been no development on this issue. “We are still waiting for the announcement for a promised programme to help relocate overseas Pakistanis who are going back home,” he said.
He said the government should also look into their long standing demand of increasing seat quotas in colleges and universities back home.
ARSHAD ALI/Gulf News
New initiatives
From left: Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal, Sardar Javed Yaqoob, Khursheed Ahmad Shah ?and Khursheed Ahmad Junejo during the meeting with community members at Pakistan Social Centre in Sharjah.
We deserve a little better treatment at the airports back home and need some recognition. Please give us some respect.”
Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal
President, Pakistan Social Centre
By Ashfaq Ahmed ?Chief Reporter
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
