PAC seeks Rs 120B workers welfare fund

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Sindh Assembly has called upon the federal government to recalculate Rs120 billion of workers welfare fund collected from industrial institutions in the province and release it as soon as possible. The committee has also decided to summon the Chairman of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other relevant authorities to shed some light over the issue.

The Sindh Assembly’s committee room was the venue and Chairman Senate Nisar Ahmad Khuro was presiding over the PAC session that convened on Thursday. Makhdoom Fakharul Zaman, Secretary of the Labour Department, Rafiq Qureshi and other relevant officials were the ones participating. The meeting was aimed at assessing audit objections concerning Labour Department for the period 2018 to 2020.

During the session, Khuhro asked the Labour Department to explain the delay in transferring the workers welfare fund collected from the Sindh based industrial institutions with the provincial government.

To this, Rafiq Qureshi told the FBR had already received Rs120 billion from Sindh’s share but the money was not transferred to the province. According to him, some industrial establishments deposited Rs25 billion with Sindh High Court and it was transferred to the FBR till the Council of Common Interests (CCI) finally decides the matter.

Khuhro highlighted that it was the responsibility of provincial authorities to collect and distribute the amount in the name of the workers’ welfare fund after the 18th Amendment.