LAHORE (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated on Wednesday his government was fully cognisant of the value of labourers and workers in the national economy, and called on the wealthy, businessmen, investors and industrialists to prioritise improving the conditions of workers.
Addressing a gathering of labourers and workers from different sectors at his residence in connection with the observance of International Labour Day, the premier said the country’s economic situation was challenging, but his government was striving to turn it around with collective efforts and sincerity.
Shehbaz said Pakistan would soon become a powerful country through the functioning of a fair system and on the basis of hard work put in by employers and employees, including workers.
He said 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 to Saudi Arabia, the PM said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other leaders desired to see Pakistan moving on the path of progress. A Saudi businessmen and investors’ delegation would soon visit Pakistan which would increase businesses and job opportunities in the country, he added.
The premier said that in the upcoming fiscal budget, his government would try to provide further relief to the labour class.
Calling on the business community and well-to-do members of society, Shehbaz said they should also think beyond their families and businesses and invest in certain education and health projects for the deprived classes.
“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 the massive movement in which the people had 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 his government was 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 the labourers and workers worked hard in the most difficult conditions and helped their employers generate their businesses. “Both are like the wheels of the same carriage and their work leads to progress and prosperity of the nation and country,” the PM remarked.
The prime minister opined that due to price hike and inflation, the life of 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 relief as the labour class had to meet the requirements of education for their sons and daughters, treatment for their parents and other daily expenditure and were living from hand to mouth, he observed.
The premier emphasised 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 early education in Amritsar and during the 1930s settled in Lahore, where he worked along with his brothers in a steel factory.
He also recited Dr Allama Iqbal’s verse about plight of labourers and workers, and said these couplets represented a powerful message, reflecting voice of millions of workers in Pakistan.
PM Shehbaz also welcomed the workers and labourers at his residence, saying that he felt immense pleasure in hosting them at the residence of the late Mian Muhammad Sharif.