RAWALPINDI, June 11: As the World Day against Child Labour on Tuesday focuses on the elimination of child labour in agriculture, the volume of child labour in Pakistan continues to rise; whereas globally some 70 per cent of child labour is found in agriculture; many of them engaged in forced and hazardous activities.

No latest data on child labour in Pakistan has been compiled, and the seriousness of the government to combat child labour is evident from the fact that no survey on child labour was carried out over a decade. The last survey in 1996 figured out 3.3 million child labourers in Pakistan, out of which 2.4 million (73 per cent) were boys and 0.9 million (27 per cent) were girls.

The survey showed there were 3.3 million child labourers in Pakistan, out of which 2.4 million (73 per cent) were boys and 0.9 million (27 per cent) were girls. Male child labourers outnumbered female child labourers in both urban and rural areas, while the contribution of rural areas in child labour was about eight times higher than that of urban areas. This may be due to unpaid farm activities performed by family members in the rural areas, says the survey.

The provincial distribution indicated that the volume of child labour in the Punjab was about 1.9 million, which was about three-fifths (60 per cent) of total child labour in the country.

The NWFP showed about one million child labourers while the lowest figure was for Balochistan because of the lesser number of households reporting child labour. Among male employed children elementary (unskilled) occupations were the most prevalent.

A great majority (68 per cent) of males worked in farms, sales and services. Craft and related trade activities are ranked second and absorb about 19 per cent of male working children. Similarly, in the case of female child workers, elementary (unskilled) occupations absorb the higher proportion of 80 per cent, which is larger than the proportion of boy workers in the same occupations. The next important occupational group is craft and related trade workers which absorbs 19 per cent of total female workers.

The survey stated that most cogent reasons given by parents or guardians for letting their child work were: to supplement household income; to pay outstanding debt; assist or help in household enterprise; and no one else available for household chores. Out of the total 3.3 million employed children, one-third was literate from the formal system of education. Male child labour is more educated than female.

Our Reporter adds: Children are bonded all over the world and one of the major problems confronting the issue is its invisibility. Too often efforts have been limited by lack of information about the existence and extent of the bonded child labour, says a press release issued by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) here on Monday.