Parliamentarians belonging to Sindh have demanded speedy finalization of the Rules of Business for the Home Based Workers Act which was approved by the Sindh Assembly in May 2018 but since then the Rules of Business for it implementation are being delayed. Addressing an orientation session organized by HomeNet Pakistan under the facilitation of UN women Shamim Mumtaz, MPA-PPP said that the HBWs law has been one of the significant achievement of the previous government and PPP is very much cognizant of the fact that HBWs should be the part of the workforce.
Being part of a major workforce, home base workers remain hidden and unrecognized and the law once implemented would give them the right to be a worker ad enjoy the perks as workers, she said. MPA Shamim Mumtaz expressed her concern on the delay by the administrative department in making and finalization of the rules of businesses and finalizing the registration mechanism. She said that this is the need of the time that we recognize the contribution of the workers working in their homes and bringing their products to the market. Rashid Khaliji from MQM said that protection of the workers and labour, belonging to formal and informal sectors, have been neglected at a very high platform of parliament. He said that all political parties need to take collective decision for the making a cohesive framework for the protection of the workers from the formal and informal sector. “All parties should come on board for creating awareness on the legislation of HBWs and the registration process,” said the parliamentarian. They two MPAs appreciated the online platform set up by HomeNet Pakistan for direct marketing of the HBWs products. Pointing out the health and safety issues of the workers in the fishery sector, she said that women in the fishery are being neglected and are facing serious occupational related health issues, they also highlighted the importance of the unionization of the workers in the home base sector. Ume Laila Azhar, Executive Director HomeNet Pakistan shared the present status of the HBWs Act awaiting its implementation plan.
Mentioning that the labour department has developed the rules of business she said the rules are, however, needed to be finalized by the department taking in account the relevant tripartite stakeholders. She also highlighted the importance the having a approved plan of action for ensuring the implementation of the Law in true sense She also stressed the need for the establishment of the Provincial council as envisioned in the law.
