KHYBER: The district administration has issued special cards to over 300 porters and daily-wage labourers here enabling them to resume their part-time jobs that remained suspended for several months due to the government’s strict visa policy.

Jubilant porters and daily wagers welcomed the receipt of those temporary identity cards and said the move would return lost jobs to them besides providing them with other livelihood opportunities.

Earlier, the visa restriction put hundreds of workers, who used to carry personal belongings of Afghan and Pakistani travellers to the zero point or drop them off at the nearby taxi stand, out of work.

Officials claimed in the recent past that some of those part-time workers were involved in the illegal trade of drugs, currency and non-custom paid foreign items as they would either bring those goods in from the Afghan side or take them to the other side of the border.

Labour representatives had always denied the assertion insisting that most of those workers were “extremely” poor and the “activity” had been the only source of their income for a long time.

Landi Kotal assistant commissioner Irshad Ali Momand told Dawn that those cards were issued after the verification of the identity of every recipient.

“The decision was taken in consultation with local security officials and the district administration was authorised to issue these cards as the administration has sufficient knowledge about these labourers and porters,” he said.

Farman Shinwari, a labourer’s representative, told Dawn that they were still required to carry passports with a valid visa stamped on it, while their movement was restricted up to the zero point of the border.

He said the visa and job restrictions left hundreds of workers without work with many of them taking other part-time jobs in different cities of the country.

Fahmeedullah, another representative of labourers, said that the issuance of those cards was a welcome sign for them as it would help restart their lost jobs, while enabling them to earn a decent livelihood for their impoverished families.

He said that he was also hopeful that the number of cards would be increased with the passage of time as hundreds more jobless labourers awaited employment resumption.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2024