KARACHI: On the occasion of International Labour Day, the Hari Welfare Association (HWA) said that there are millions of workers in agriculture, farms and brick kilns in the rural areas of Sindh, who are without social security and decent terms, including minimum wage.

They hardly receive Rs6,000 per month against the Rs17,500 minimum wage promised by the Sindh government for unskilled workers in 2019.

The HWA stated that because of the unemployment and lack of education, skills and employment opportunities, millions of young people are forced to work around 14 hours at grocery shops, restaurants and workshops just for Rs5,000 per month in rural parts of Sindh. And they include women and girls, who pick cotton and chillies but receive minimal wages.

‘They get around Rs6,000 a month against Rs17,500 fixed by provincial govt as minimum wage; and that too without social security’

In a statement issued on Saturday, HWA president Akram Khaskheli said that poverty, unemployment, hunger and social and economic injustice push people to survive through limited economic opportunities where they are miserably exploited and abused.

He said that due to the increasing shortage of irrigation water to tail-end of the canals, most peasants have turned to the rural labour market where they are paid nominal wages.

Mr Khaskheli said that due to seasonal work and lack of irrigation water in many areas, workers often spend time at roadsides or the agriculture field searching for work and when they do not find work and support from the government, many also commit suicide.

He added that the primary reason for this is that the government lacks the will to ensure the implementation of labour rights laws and policies.

He said that the Sindh Industrial Relations Act of 2013 recognises rural workers and peasants and provides them to form unions. “However, the government has not tried to ensure the unionisation of such rural workers, especially in the agriculture sector.

“In 2019, the Sindh Women Agriculture Workers Act (SWAWA) was enacted, but the law has become dormant like any other law enacted since independence,” he said.

Mr Khaskheli said like any other law, implementation of the SWAWA might play a role to protect rural women peasants and workers from abuse, exploitation and marginalisation under the feudal and tribal society.

The HWA demanded that the government of Sindh ensure that a Rs17,500 wage be given to all workers in rural areas. “In this regard, exemplary punishments should be given to those who violate the minimum wage policy,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2021