LAHORE, May 1 (APP/DNA): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that they were fully cognizant of the value of the labourers and workers in the national economy and stressed upon the wealthy, businessmen, investors and industrialists to prioritize improving the conditions of the workers.

Addressing a gathering of labourers and workers from different sectors at his residence in connection with the observance of International Labour Day, the prime minister said that the country’s economic situation was challenging but they were striving to turn it around, with collective efforts and sincerity.

He said that Pakistan would soon become a powerful country through the functioning of a fair system and on the basis of hard work by the employers and the employees including workers.

The prime minister said that the government was striving to bring about substantial changes in the national economy and to recover billions of rupees being wasted due to corruption.

Referring to his recent visit from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, he said that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other leadership desired to see Pakistan moving on the path of progress.

The Saudi business and investors’ delegation would soon visit Pakistan which would increase businesses and job opportunities in the country, he added.

The prime minister said that in the upcoming fiscal budget, they would try to provide further relief to the labour class.

Calling upon the business people and well-to-do class, the prime minister said that they should also think beyond their families and businesses and invest in certain education and health projects for the deprived classes like those established in the developed countries.

“It was not an objective behind the creation of Pakistan that there would be a difference between the rich and the poor.
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah led a massive movement in which the people offered huge sacrifices. The motive was the establishment of a welfare state in which everyone would have equal opportunities to excel in life on the basis of one’s capacity and ability and take the country forward,” he added.

The prime minister reiterated that they were striving to end corruption and promised that all the organs of government and other state institutions, with their collective efforts, would carve a niche for Pakistan among the comity of nations.

He said that the labourers and workers worked hard in the most difficult conditions and helped their employers generate their businesses. Both were like the wheels of the same carriage and their work led to progress and prosperity of the nation and country.

He said if the workers were deprived of their due rights, a country could not achieve progress.

The prime minister opined that due to price hikes and inflation, life for the common man had become hard.

The prices of petroleum products had been reduced but it could not be a substitute for the daily price hike as the labour class had to meet the requirements of education for their sons and daughters, treatment for their parents, and other daily expenditures and were living from hand to mouth, he observed.

The prime minister emphasized that under the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) messages, it was their abiding duty to bridge the differences between the rich and the poor.

The prime minister recollected that his father was also a worker who attained his earlier education in Amritsar and during his 30s settled in Lahore, where he worked along with his brothers in a steel factory.

He also recited Dr Allama Iqbal’s verse about the plight of labourers and workers and said that these couplets represented a powerful message, reflecting the voice of millions of workers in Pakistan.

The labour day started after the Chicago incident and then the movement became global, he said, adding that the Quranic teachings and the Seerah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) highlighted the value of hard work.

The prime minister also welcomed the workers and labourers at his residence and said that he felt immense pleasure in hosting them at the residence of the late Mian Muhammad Sharif.

Earlier, the Chairman of PM Youth Programme Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan highlighted the personal loan scheme for the deserving children of workers and said that under the prime minister’s tenure as chief minister of Punjab, Danish schools and Educational Endowment Funds were established.