PESHAWAR, March 27: Participants at a workshop on Thursday asked the NWFP government to utilize the money collected through fines under the child labour laws on the rehabilitation of child labourers.

Through a unanimously adopted resolution the participants asked the government to fully implement the laws pertaining to child labour and to modify the existing laws. They also suggested that the number of labour inspectors should be increased and incentives   should be given to them to enhance their efficiency.

The workshop was arranged by the Society for Protection of the Rights of Child (Sparc) on “can child and bonded labour ever be eliminated from the NWFP?”  

The workshop was attended by provincial labour department officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations and labour unions, and journalists.

The deputy national coordinator of Sparc, Arshad Mahmood, briefly  introduced the topic and explained the salient features of the Employment   of Children Act (ECA), 1991, and the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act (BLSAA), 1992. He said that the rules under the ECA were framed by the NWFP government on Nov 10, 2001. He added that vigilance committees under the BLSAA were not operational in any NWFP district due to which bonded labour was still prevalent in the province, particularly in the brick kilns and agriculture sector.

The deputy director, labour department, Zahoor Khan, said that because of having various loopholes child labour laws only regulated  child labour and were not contributing to the total elimination of the inhuman practice. He suggested that labour department should be given more powers and resources to overcome the problem of child labour.

Free and compulsory primary education, family planning, greater awareness about the laws and industrial growth, could play an important role in the gradual elimination of child labour, Mr Khan said.

Assistant director, labour department, Irfan Ullah, informed the participants that since 1999, 942 cases had been registered under various labour laws in the province, out of which 328 were decided by the labour courts and the remaining cases were still pending.