HYDERABAD, Nov 21: The government should seriously work on eliminating bonded labour and media on highlighting the plight of exploitative trends employed by the powerful landlords.

This was expressed by the speakers during a workshop held on Friday on the ‘Role of media in eradication of bonded labour in Pakistan’ organised by the International Labour Organisation.

Senior Programme Manager Saifullah Chaudhry, senior columnist Javed Chaudhry, Additional Director, Labour, Hyderabad region, Mohammad Hussain, deputy secretary of the Employers Federation of Pakistan, Saud Alam, Hyderabad Press Club President Junaid Khanzada spoke on the occasion. Journalists from electronic and print media attended the workshop.

Sindh Minister for Special Education and Bonded Labour, Syed Ali Nawaz Shah Rizvi could not attend but he warned through the message that the illegal trend of bonded labour and inhuman practice would not be tolerated any more and assured of implementation of relevant laws. He said that the Sindh government was making efforts to eliminate this curse which was exploiting people socially and economically.

He said that the government of Sindh was committed to restoring social and economic justice by reaching out to affected people, particularly in remote and rural areas. He appreciated the efforts of the ILO saying that it could help in eliminating bonded labour. He said that some elements exploiting workers forcing them to work in unhealthy environment on nominal wages. He said that the government was taking steps to ensure social and economic justice for labour class so that they could get full benefits.

Senior Programme Officer, ILO, Saifullah Chaudhry gave a detailed presentation on bonded labour. He said that as per different estimates around six to eight million people were subjected to forced labour and they included children. Giving background of enactment of Bonded Labour (Abolition) System Act 1992, he said that a telegram by Darshan Masih formed its basis which was sent by Asma Jehangir to the Supreme Court and subsequently all stakeholders were called to enact bonded labour specific law. He informed people about the ILO’s working and its different components.

He was critical of the fact that district vigilance committees were not effectively working in all the districts due to introduction of devolution plan under which district magistracy was done away with. “Vigilance committees are to be headed by district magistrates but they are not more available as now district nazim heads the district. So there remains an anomaly to be addressed”, he said.

He spoke about conflict between Bonded Labour (Abolition) System Act 1992 and Sindh Tenancy Act as the latter allows bonded labour. “It is for legal experts to decide”, he said. He pointed out that bonded labour had emerged as a critical issue which was negatively affecting the working class. He suggested that collective efforts on the part of government, society and media were needed to discourage this illegal practice and ensure social and economic justice for bonded labourers. He said that the government had given funds of Rs100 million for buildings houses of bonded labourers.

Senior Columnist Javed Chaudhry highlighted vibrant role of media in creating awareness about issues, particularly bonded labour. He said that it was media’s professional responsibility to play a suggestive role to guide opinion makers and sensitize public and other stakeholders so that they could pool up their efforts for eradication of bonded labour from the society.