Akhtar Hussain Syed
IST May, the day to celebrate the achievements of labour workers and to pay tribute for their contribution to development. At the time when the world celebrates the Labour Day, many labourers are struggling to feed their families. The Corona pandemic has turned their lives into misery.
The extent of misery might be somehow lower if their earning helps them in saving. Very limited income and 17% general sales tax on every purchase restrict them from saving, which provides some support to survive in crisis. Two things are more important for labour: First, reasonable wages that can help them to meet basic needs and second is social protection in times of crisis like prevailing Corona pandemic. Unfortunately, Pakistan lacks both. Neither labour receives sufficient wages in normal circumstance, nor gets enough social protection during crisis. Many labourers do not receive social protection at all.
Although different political parties have included labour welfare in their manifestos, yet it has not come true. From the last decade, labour wages have not increased significantly; the current labour wage is PRK 17,500. It is not sufficient to meet the basic needs of a family having six to seven members. Many organizations working on labour rights have recommended the governments to introduce living wages. As far as social protection is concerned, Pakistan has a weakened social protection system: one of the countries to spend the least on social protection (only 2% of the GDP). Pakistan has no ample resources to invest in social protection; this is one of the reasons to allow some businesses to operate, at the time when Corona cases are increasing on a daily basis. It might cause more damages to lives as there is a chance of spreading the virus.
The government’s inability to provide appropriate wages in normal circumstance and enough social protection in times of crisis is a major factor of increasing labourers’ vulnerability. It is also a core cause to fuel child labour. After working for eight or more than eight hours, a labour is not able to afford the schooling of the kids. The battle of survival has pushed them to send their children to work. Honestly speaking, no parents want that the childhood of their kids destroyed or subjected to abuse. It is the vicious cycle of poverty that pushes parents to send their children to labour market. It is estimated that nearly 12 million children are involved in labour market. Out of 12 million, nearly five million children are engaged in the informal economy in Pakistan.
One can easily imagine the work conditions and safety arrangements at the workplace. Children involved in child labour are subject to torture, abuse and neglect. Constitution of Pakistan’s Article 11(3) states that no child below the age of 14 years shall be engaged in any factory or mine or any other hazardous employment. Article 37(e) of the Constitution says that the State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work, ensuring that women and children are not employed in vocations unsuited to their age or gender.
In Pakistan, 44% of children are out of school. Article 25(A) of the Constitution promises that “State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to 16 years”. Significant numbers of children who are out of school must be involved in the labour market. The children striving to support their families are playing the role for which the State is responsible. The State must act wisely to tackle the matter of child labour.
Introducing living wages and strong social protection system is essential to labour welfare. The dream of education for all would not be achieved without uplifting living standards of the labour segment. The Corona pandemic is providing a window of opportunity to revisit the course of action for labour welfare to save the children from child labour.
—The writer is an Islamabad based development professional and occasionally contributes to national dailies.
