He is reported to have also said that the Industrial Safety Management Training is a must for compliance with the WTO requirements of ISO-18000 without which it would not be possible to make exports from Pakistan in the forthcoming WTO regime, pointing out that specialised courses have been designed to fulfil this requirement, the very purpose of the initiative is to create an industrial safety culture in Pakistan.
All this may be understandable, but what seems to have left the members of the two trade bodies intrigued, is the cost of Rs 30,000 per trainee they are required to pay.
Moreover, their confusion in the matter would have been worse confounded from the reported initiation of the course through a directive issued by the Federal Interior Minister, Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat.
More to it, perplexing also will appear the involvement of the Civil Defence organisation in an effort linked to WTO, the matter evidently falling in the purview of the Commerce Ministry.
Again, since civil defence, in itself, relates to the training of civilian volunteers to help the armed forces, police, and emergency services in the event of a war, a national emergency, or a natural disaster, they had reason to ask if it was legally authorised, under the Act, to charge a fee from industries for the training courses, particularly from reported award of its contract to a private party.
Again, as no amendment was stated to have been made in the law by the Parliament, they were apt to worry about the departures seemingly made from the law in respect of the training courses under reference.
All this, put together, should adequately explain the exceptions taken to the cost-led training courses they were being persuaded to join, without challenging its rationale though.
Similarly, understandable though will be the idea of the Civil Defence DG to start the training effort from Karachi, thereby pointing to its recognition as the nerve centre of national industry.
However, his disappointment from lack of positive response from the city industrialists will certainly call for an objective analysis as well.
For one thing, industrial area in Karachi is not the same as it used to be before the heavy onslaught of multi-directional terrorism it has experienced over the past two decades or so. Besides inflicting heavy losses on the entire firmament of industry and all that goes with it, it has remained victim of wide-ranging deprivation in a number of ways.
Enough light on its predicament was thrown by the industrialists present at the meetings addressed by the Civil Defence chief, hardly needs any repetition.
All in all, in so far as the training course is concerned, there will hardly appear to be any reason for its opposition as such.
What will be noted to have agitated their mind is the manner in which it has been initiated. Viewed in the overall perspective of the situation, all matters pertaining to it will need a proper review so as to make it reasonably attractive.