LAHORE, Sept 18: The participants of a seminar on Tuesday agreed to intensify efforts to eliminate bonded labour at brick kilns by ensuring provision of all legitimate rights to the workers under the constitution of Pakistan.
The event was organised by the Bonded Labour Liberation Front (BLLF) here at Alhamra Hall to commemorate the Sept 18 as Freedom Day, the day when the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared bonded labour through advance payment system illegal on Sept 18, 1988.
“Though the Punjab government is very serious to improve workers’ conditions, workers, civil society and labour activists should share the burden of the government in labour related issues,” Punjab Labour and Human Resource Minister Ehsanuddin Qureshi said on the occasion.
He said the government had ensured the payment of minimum wage of Rs517 per 1,000 bricks to workers by their kiln owners.
The department was trying to ensure payment of Rs665 to them by the owners in the light of a recent decision. He said the government had also started issuing soft loans to kiln workers to eliminate the advance payment system.
Front General Secretary Syeda Ghulam Fatima said government and political parties supported brick kiln owners and industrialists instead of resolving workers’ issues. “Pakistan will be stronger if rights are given to workers, who are not only facing burns in the factories but also at brick kilns and at the deras (outhouses) of feudal lords every day,” she said.
She said the Supreme Court had forced the government to introduce the Bonded Labour Abolition Act in 1992 that helped workers get their rights. She said they would seek court’s support to get its decision implemented.
Mahar Safdar Ali urged the government to provide the notified minimum wages, social security and national identity cards, old age benefits and health and safety facilities to workers. He also urged the chief justice to take suo moto notice of issues of kiln workers.
Justice Nasira Javed Iqbal (retired) said workers should approach the relevant courts in case they are not paid the minimum wage or not provided any other legal facility. She appealed to the workers not to vote to those political parties that had been doing nothing for them since decades.
Daud Saqlain said despite laws some kilns were paying just 50 paisas per brick to the workers.
The minister inaugurated a three-day painting exhibition on bonded labour at Alhamra Art Gallery. A concert on workers’ rights was also organized at the hall.