82 visually-impaired daily wage employees to get letters soon

LAHORE : Provincial Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare Raja Basharat on Saturday said that more than half of the protesting visually-impaired employees had received appointment orders while 82 visually impaired employees would soon get their letters in their native districts.

The minister said the 82 employees who had been staying at shelter homes were directed to coordinate with social welfare officers to get appointment orders from their deputy commissioners.

Raja Basharat said that one of the major demands of the visually-impaired workers was to allow one per cent of the allotted three per cent quota for special persons to them.

Raja Bashart assured that the instructions of the chief minister would be implemented in letter and spirit and all 634 visually-impaired employees would be recruited accordingly.

It is pertinent to mention here that Chief Minister Sardar Usman Bazdar had promised 634 protesting visually-impaired daily wagers to award them contract employment in provincial departments.

The representatives of the association of the visually-impaired employees said, "The PTI government has provided the best support to their utmost satisfaction and we are particularly thankful to the CM and Law Minister Punjab for extending their kind cooperation in this regard.”

Meanwhile, the visually-impaired temporary employees while ending protests across the province have expressed their satisfaction over the ongoing process of transferring their services from daily wages to the contract employment after assurance given by the Provincial Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare Raja Basharat.

The announcement was made by the representatives of protesting visually-impaired employees after successful talks with the law minister at Civil Secretariat.

Social Welfare Secretary Zahid Saleem Gondal was also present.

Our correspondent adds: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Punjab Higher Education Commission have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collectively work towards promoting higher education, research, training, industrial and academia linkages. LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh and Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairman Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid signed the MoU on behalf of their respective institutions. LCCI Vice President Mian Zahid Jawaid, former Vice-President Faheem-ur-Rehman Saigal, Standing Committee on Industry-Academia Linkage Convener Umer Saleem, LCCI Executive Committee members Wasif Yousaf, Haji Asif Saher, Naseem Ul Ghani, Fiaz Haider and Zeeshan Sohail Malik were also present on the occasion.

The MoU is aimed at facilitating each other in joint research projects, access to research facilities, sharing academic data, publications, information sharing, student and academia exchange, exchange of experts and other programmes within the applicable legal framework, including government policies.

PHEC would appoint a focal person in LCCI’s Standing Committee on Industry Academia Linkages and other relevant committees.

Similarly, the LCCI representatives will be taken on board while formulating the policies by PHEC.

LCCI and Punjab Higher Education Commission will celebrate “industry academia linkage week” every year in the first week of April to bridge the gap between industry and academia, and develop the culture of research and innovation.

The LCCI and Punjab Higher Education Commission will organise conferences, seminars, visits jointly or individually. Both will identify the areas of mutual cooperation and share information on the opportunities.