RAHIM YAR KHAN: The coronavirus outbreak has adversely affected every sector of life while the informal sector, including the home-based jobs, seems to have been hit more severely.

The home-based workers (HBWs), mostly consisting of women, of the Rahim Yar Khan district who have lost their work are still deprived of receiving any support from the government because of their non-registration, the missing data and delay in legislation that may protect their rights .

There are more than 3,000 HBWs in the district in two categories of skilled and unskilled workers.

Uzma Abbas, a resident of Bahadurpur, has completed her six-month training in embroidery at a skill training institute and she earns about Rs8,000 per month from this work. Though the income is meagre compared to the intricate hard work, the amount still helps her contribute to family budget. However, currently she has not got any work to do due to the epidemic.

Robina, 45, a resident of Ghareebabad, Abbasia Pul, used to earn Rs3,000 per month by stitching 12 suits to support her seven children. She has been doing this work for the last 15 years after getting training from the All Pakistani Women Association (Apwa) institute. She is also without any work these days and facing financial problems.

Rabia, 24, a resident of Mohallah Baba Ghareeb Shah, did diplomas in beautician and tailoring after doing Intermediate. She used to earn about Rs7,000 per month until the Covid-19 broke out.

Samra, 30, a resident of Khokhar Town, is a divorcee and runs her own small beauty parlour at her father’s house. She was saving Rs5,000 to Rs8,000 monthly until the lockdown started.

There are thousands of stories of the HBWs, especially women, who have lost their work since the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown. They come from three institutions that are providing training to the girls and women from the families living below the line of poverty.

District Social Welfare Department deputy director and in-charge Sanat Zar says there are three disciplines of stitching, beautician and computer in the institution. Almost 300 women pass out yearly from the institute and they work from their homes.

Government Vocational Training Institute for Women (GVTIW) RYK Principal Anees Fatima has also the above three training programmes at her institute where 200 girls are registered at a time.

All Pakistan Women Association (APWA) RYK Vice Chairperson Shagufta Mansoor Tariq Gujial says the organisation trains girls in hundreds every year and helps them start their own work. But nowadays all HBWs have been rendered jobless due to lockdown, she bemoans.

One of the reasons for the lack of government support during these hard times is the lack of data for the HBWs with the government and absence of legislation. Despite having been finalised in 2015, the Punjab HBWs Bill 2015 has been pending before the Legislative Committee of the Labour Department, which is being introduced to protect the HBWs rights.

In December 2018, the Punjab government also rolled out a new labour policy to improve the conditions of the labourers in the province and after the passage of the 18th Amendment the provinces are authorised to introduce their own laws.

Director General Labour Welfare Faisal Nisar says the data of all the HBWs in Punjab will be collected in new fiscal year under the Annual Development Programme with the coordination of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Labour Department Director Daud Abdullah says he knows it has been several years now for the bill to be with the Cabinet Committee after being approved by sub-committee. However, he believes they are having some kind of issue in understanding it properly.

He says he could not identify the issue exactly. In any case, it is on our agenda and it is being worked on, he says, however, refusing to give any date could be given for passage of the bill.

The sources say the delay may be due to the hassle over payment on social security and that who will pay the contribution. Because of the delay in policy making, the HBWs are suffering.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2020