LAHORE: Speakers observing Freedom Day 2026 to commemorate the landmark Supreme Court judgment outlawing debt-based bonded labour said that a judicial declaration of freedom must translate into actual workplace freedoms.

They were speaking at a seminar organised by the Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan (BLLF) chaired by MPA Amjad Ali Javed. BLLF Pakistan General Secretary Syeda Ghulam Fatima declared that merely notifying a minimum wage was insufficient if brick-kiln workers still faced debt bondage, low literacy, and weak bargaining power.

Reinforcing this demand for practical enforcement, Punjab Labour and Human Resource DG Syeda Kulsoom Hayee announced that the government was rolling out written employment contracts, enforcing the newly-passed Punjab Labour Court Bill, permitting legal advance wages up to three months, and registering 7,000 brick-kiln workers to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

The event gathered prominent key stakeholders, including MPA Sunbal Malik Hussain, WISE Executive Director Bushra Khaliq, and officials from the EOBI and the Punjab Social Protection Authority.

Speakers collectively emphasised that working in chains – where entire families had been trapped by advance loans – could not be called freedom.

Highlighting the ongoing field measures, officials said that child labour would be systematically abolished through a target to enroll 5,000 workers’ children into schools, while social security cards and dedicated helpline support would ensure workers finally received direct access to healthcare, education, and legal protection.

Closing the event, the BLLF presented a unified call demanding full enforcement of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1992, functional district vigilance committees, and guaranteed trade union rights across all brick kilns.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2026