KARACHI, April 3: In its recently-released study on forced labour in Pakistan (Labour, Debt and Bondage in Brick Kilns) the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), Karachi, has strongly urged the government to implement the National Action Plan prepared by the Federal Ministry of Labour under the stewardship of Omar Asghar Khan. The findings of this study undertaken by PILER confirm the appalling condition of labour in the brick kiln sector.

The legislation enacted recently banning bonded labour notwithstanding, forced labour and debt bondage continue to plague society in Pakistan. PILER, however, terms the conditions in the kilns to be “much less severe as compared to the oppression of landless farm labour and small sharecroppers.”

One of the most disquieting aspects of the pattern of labour in the 6,000 or so kilns in the country is that there is a very high proportion of children working in this industry with working hours extending up to 10 hours a day. Since workers are hired on family labour basis, the services of the women and children are rarely ever acknowledged, except when they are required to inherit the debt liabilities of the deceased male members of the family. Indebtedness is common. It is estimated that 90 per cent of the workers take advances/loans from the kiln owners. They are thus tied down to their jobs because the repayment period is protracted.

The kiln owners are apparently satisfied with this arrangement since it gives them a leverage over their workers. They keep the payment rates low — they are further slashed as a quid pro quo for extending the loans — to ensure that the loans cannot be repaid promptly.

The most inhumane feature of the debt is that it is the responsibility of the family to repay it and is inherited by the heirs of the debtor in case of his death. Although no significant cases of violence in bonding the labour to the kiln have been reported, workers speak of the kiln owners using coercion and restricting the movement of the indebted workers. They frequently resort to threats of violence.

At times the indebted workers find another kiln owner to buy off their debt in return for labour bondage. This hardly resolves their problem since they are then bonded to a new master.

Most of the workers are paid on a piece basis. The earnings are very low — at times as low as Rs60 per day for the unskilled nikasi (loader) and pathera (who prepares unbaked bricks). There has been no move recently by the kiln owners to increase the rates. Forced by poverty, the workers are forced to seek loans from their employers and also resort to shocking practices such as selling their organs.

The PILER report finds that there is virtually no protection for the labour against the fire in the kilns. The jalai wallas (the oven operators) wear open wooden sandals and use metal rods for handling the ovens. Their faces are not covered. Since plastic and rubber waste is mixed with the fuel to reduce costs, lethal pollutants are released in the atmosphere. Exposure to such emission is injurious to the health of the workers and their families, who generally live near the kiln.

One factor which PILER identifies as having exacerbated the situation is the increase in mass poverty in Pakistan. With over a third of the population living below the poverty line, the loans provide a sense of security to the labour at the kilns. They even view bondage as a route to alleviate deprivation.

Another significant factor why the families working at the kilns — 5,000 of which are in Punjab — have lent themselves to this open exploitation is the general lack of awareness of the laws applying to bondage.

PILER has strongly suggested that the wages of the workers at the kilns should be increased to provide relief to them and reduce the incidence of debt. If bondage is to be eliminated, alternative sources of credit should be introduced. Micro credit schemes to support subsistence and health care would prove to be a valuable investment in human capital.

The report also recommends the creation of sector-wide labour associations to promote collective bargaining in this sector which would provide workers protection against exploitation. Measures should also be taken to promote schools and low-cost housing for kiln workers to facilitate their empowerment.