ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development on Tuesday recommended that all boards and organisations under the ministry put in place rules or an appropriate mechanism to ensure payment of the revised minimum wage as soon as it is raised by the federal government.
The committee met in Committee Room No 2 at Parliament House under the chairmanship of Syed Rafiullah to review the implementation of its previous recommendations and consider three government bills.
According to a press release issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the committee expressed reservations over several replies submitted by the ministry and its attached bodies regarding earlier recommendations on the minimum wage. The chairperson observed that the ministry should introduce an automatic mechanism for increasing the minimum wage.
The committee also reviewed the coal mine incident at Sorrange in Balochistan. It was informed that three inspectors had been suspended by the Mines Department and two officials by the Labour Department of the Government of Balochistan. First Information Reports had been registered, show-cause notices issued to the companies concerned, and 34 cheques handed over to the deputy commissioner for disbursement among the affected families.
The committee recommended to all provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan that grants to workers after any incident be increased to Rs3 million.
The committee deferred the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Emigration (Amendment) Bill, 2026. It also deferred its review of recommendations concerning the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment.
The committee further sought complete details of the investment portfolio and interest income of all departments of the ministry. It recommended that the Workers Welfare Fund place before the committee details of every proposal presented to its board in future.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti, Dr Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto, Fateh Ullah Khan, Mohammad Ilyas Choudhary, Sofia Saeed Shah, who attended virtually, Saeeda Jamshid, Mian Khan Bugti, Farhan Chishti and Erum Hamid. The secretary of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development and senior officials of the ministry, EOBI, Overseas Pakistanis Foundation, Ministry of Law and Justice, and the Labour and Mines Departments of the Government of Balochistan also attended the meeting.
