PESHAWAR, May 1: The federal government on Tuesday announced 20 per cent increase in pension, free health insurance and other monetary benefits for more than 0.3 million former employees of Employment Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI) with retrospective effect from January 2012.

The announcement was made by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on behalf of federal human resource development minister and his brother Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain, who couldn’t show up for hectic schedule, while addressing a Labour Day function at Nishtar Hall.

Pakistan Labour Workers Federation, Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Central Labour Union and Khyber Union of Journalists organised the function, where PML-Q workers, labourers and journalists were in attendance in large numbers.

The PML-Q president said the Sahara Health Insurance Company (SHIC) would pay the families of the workers, who died abroad, Rs1 million each in addition to Rs50,000 each for burial. He said thousands of Pakistanis would benefit from the prime minister’s orders to PIA about free transportation of bodies of Pakistani workers from overseas to their hometowns and that EOBI bore the expenses.

“Bodies of overseas Pakistanis will be brought to Pakistan free and then taken to their hometowns from the airport free of charge. Irrespective of whether PIA operates from that city or not, EOBI will bear the expenses for taking the body of overseas worker from where he expired to the airport,” he said.

Mr Shujaat said the human resource development minister had taken a number of steps for the benefit of workers and their families through EOBI and his ministry and noted among them was the establishment of the SHIC, which was providing group insurance facility to overseas Pakistanis.

He said the scheme had Rs0.1 million each for families of the dead workers, Rs0.2 million for workers in case of permanent disability and Rs0.1 million for them in case of temporary disability as assistance.

The PML-Q president said journalists, including TV cameramen, were also entitled to the Group Accidental Insurance Scheme.

He said television cameras were insured but there was no insurance facility for the cameramen as such. He said the SHIC would provide insurance cover to cameramen, who were not even required to pay premium for the purpose.

Mr Shujaat also announced payment of one month basic salary to all EOBI employees on the basis of their performance.

PML-Q leaders Nighat Orakzai, Intikhab Chamkani and Ajmal Wazir, KHUJ president Arshad Aziz Malik, Wapda labour union leaders Gohar Taj, Mustajab Khan and Mohammad Iqbal Khan also spoke on the occasion.

Later, the PML-Q chief told reporters that PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif should avoid playing confrontational politics by threatening the holding of a long march on Islamabad against the government.

“He (Nawaz) has already lost the month of March. He shouldn’t play confrontational politics,” he said.

He said after his conviction for contempt of the court, Yousaf Raza Gilani continued to be the prime minister, while the decision about his holding the office would come after the legal process in this respect was over.