MINIMUM WAGE: The minimum wage of unskilled workers has been recently revised from Rs17,500 to Rs25,000 per month which is being opposed by the employers who have moved the courts in this regard. I had represented the workers in the Sindh Minimum Wage Board from 2018 to 2020 during which I saw firsthand that the employers’ representatives were never willing to accept any proposal to increase the wages. It is, and will always be, up to the elected federal and provincial governments to intervene in the matter and do what is right.

Nasir Mansoor
General-Secretary, National Trade Union Federation of Pakistan
Karachi

BOOK FOUNDATION BUDGET: I have been a member of the readers club since it was formed by the National Book Foundation (NBF) in the mid-1980s. Its membership fee was just Rs110 per year, and it was a real boon for the book-lovers. Unfortunately, the NBF budget has been drastically reduced, forcing it to discontinue the book club membership. The authorities concerned need to have a rethink in this regard, and the membership fee may be enhanced from Rs110 to, say, Rs500 for improved revenue generation.

Iqtidar A. Khanzada
Islamabad

HYPOCRISY: Nobel laureate Malala is quite concerned about women’s rights in Afghanistan, as she has tweeted and spoken at various forums about how the change in government in Afghanistan could affect that country’s women. She should also talk about Palestinian people, especially women, and for the Kashmiris living in India-held Kashmir. They have been victimised for much longer when it comes to human rights.

Taimoor Ali Khanzada
Sarhari

MEDIA DISCRIMINATION: Qadeer Khalil, a three-year-old child was abducted and brutally murdered last month, but there has been no progress in arresting the criminal(s). It is heartbreaking that the national media has completely ignored the matter. This is not professionalism.

Asif Iqbal Qumbrani
Panjgur

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2021