ISLAMABAD: Around 50pc of the labour force living in the twin cities do not enjoy good health, require frequent checkups while manyexperience poor living conditions. Most of them are addicted to smoking and are under debt in order to make ends meet.

This is mentioned in a research study-cum-survey, conducted by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Directorate of Workers Education.

The study describes the labour force as an integral part of society as the economy of any country depends upon the quality of its workforce. Workers in Pakistan are divided into two main categories, formal and informal labour.

The former is the one, protected by different government organisations for his or her entitled facilities like old age pension or health coverage along with other benefits such as residence in a labour colony or school facilities for their children. Moreover, a certain strength of these workers is also protected by unions who are in much better living conditions.

However, the other group of informal workers are vulnerable as they do not enjoy facilities and mostly do not have representation through a union or association.

According to the writer of the report deputy director at Directorate of Workers Education Rai Mohammad Akbar, 41pc of workers have no access to fruits and the remaining 34pc only ate it sometimes while 25pc claimed that they ate fruit of some kind daily. Potable water is one of the major issues of most workers as 87pc of them use site water or the water available at the workplace, which is usually non filtered. Doctors are of the opinion that lack of access to clean drinking water is one of the major causes of disease among the working class.

The study said that 46pc of the workers eat just once or twice a day. Use of cigarettes is also common among workers, which causes diseases. Around 60pc of informal workers are addicted to smoking and spend a considerable budget of their income on it. Counselling to workers regarding hazards of smoking may reduce the percentage of smokers, Mr Akbar said.

The study found that the majority of workers are migrants from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Southern Punjab. It said that 51pc of them use rental facilities for accommodation purposes whereas 4pc workers slept in parks or roadsides, 15pc of them live in shelter homes whereas 13pc live with their relatives.

“The economic condition of workers is also not good. Their earnings are insufficient to meet requirements. For this reason, 60pc of the surveyed workers are under debt and they are in the vicious circle of getting loans and then getting more loans to repay previous loans,” the official explained.

Another important factor highlighted in this study is that none of the workers who were interviewed, were trained regarding occupational safety and health and were unaware of safety tools.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2021