Investing in human development to achieve sustained economic progress is the new slogan. The National Book Foundation, in its initiative to promote book-reading habits, marked the expansion of Readers Club schemes.
The scheme enables a NBF Readers Club member to buy books at 50 per cent discount, while the government reimburses the remainder 50pc to the bookshops. The scheme has now been expanded to 10 more cities, beyond the 37 principal towns and cities in a ceremony last week.
The Federal Education Secretary, Shafqat Ezdi Shah, not only inaugurated the launch but also became a member of the new phase. Waiting in lines for the forms were people from different fields and quite a number of senior citizens, who were keen to renew their membership that entitled them to purchase books worth Rs2,000 each year at discounted prices from designated bookshops.
Terming it a ‘knowledge-friendly project’, the secretary said that the government was pleased with the idea of increasing the number books lovers, as well as readers. The finance ministry has given its blessings to keep the scheme going and, in fact, had shown an enlightened interest in subsidizing the cost which had made it possible to keep the books purchase scheme operative at 37 places and increasing its cover age to 10 more.
The managing director, Ahmed Faraz, said his real dream was to take this scheme to villages through mobile books and make reading facilities available to them. Faraz is optimistic: “People in the villages love to read books, provided they are affordable.”
The NBF scheme, in its fourth phase, is a modest attempt to promote book culture in the country. As many as 10,000 forms will be distributed in 47 places in which even the blind can buy Braille books free of change. Although the prices of books are sky high, members of the Readers Club will be able to purchase four or five books.
CHILDREN OF ALESSER GOD
Although there’s not much at the social front in Ramazan to write home about, other than the non-ending iftar dinners thrown by each and very minister and going all the way up to the Prime Minister and the President, a lot of activity was witnessed as international donors and NGOs working for child rights in the capital arranged functions to mark the Universal Children’s Day.
A Child Labour Free Week was observed in preparation of the day, the theme of this year being the ‘plight of domestic child labour’. Schoolchildren participated in speech and poster-painting competitions in which they demanded basic rights such as education, health and a better future. In a Rawalpindi school, the children gathered to make a human chain at the side of Murree Road and walked with banners and placards inscribed with slogans against child rights.
The biggest function, however, was held at the Convention Centre with President Musharraf as the chief guest. Some 1,600 children from rural and urban areas were invited to witness the event, which marked the launch of a national movement for children’s rights. On the occasion, Musharraf accompanied by wife Sehba, also signed a pledge that says ‘no’ to child labour and to uphold education, health and protection for all children as their fundamental right. The state, he said, is obliged to protect children’s rights and give them the best possible start in life, but needs assistance from private sector institutions and philanthropists.
During this week, the International Labour Organization’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO-IPEC) also launched its new initiative called ‘Project of Support for the National Time Bound Programmes’ to help eliminate the worst form of child labour (WFCL) from Pakistan. This four-year project (2003-2007) is being launched with the financial support from the US Department of Labour.
Although there have been some achievement in withdrawing and eliminating child labour from the carpet weaving sector and soccer balls manufacturing, the number of children involved in the worst form of child labour such as tanneries, glass and bangle manufacturing, surgical equipment manufacturing, auto repair workshops, coal mining, brick kilns and scavenging for recycle rubbish, is enormous. Another very rapidly growing form is domestic labour and 80pc of these are estimated to be girls, potentially exposed to physical and sexual abuse by their employers. The situation aggravates, as there are no laws either to protect the children from abuse or to regulate their working conditions and hours of work.
In 2001 Pakistan ratified ILO’s Convention 182 in 1990, assuring that it would take all necessary measures to eliminate, as a priority, the worst form of child labour. The country’s new labour policy also claims to work on banning child labour, but without mentioning any procedure for implementation. Now, with a substantial amount of money pouring in (US government grant of $4 million), resources should be utilized to curb the menace. The issue should be dealt with on war footing by both the federal and provincial governments, and start a process rather than becoming another time-bound project.
Investing in human development to achieve sustained economic progress is the new slogan. The National Book Foundation, in its initiative to promote book-reading habits, marked the expansion of Readers Club schemes.
