Aamir*, aged 13, works in an automobile garage in Turbat, the second biggest city in Balochistan.

Despite his dream of seeking education, he has ended up becoming a part of the proliferating child labour force in Balochistan, who toil at ungodly hours of the nights, just to get a square meal.

“I wake up early in the morning and head towards the garage to earn a small sum of money to run my family’s expenses,” says Aamir. “And I return home very late in the evenings, feeling drowsy. It is challenging to live life in poverty. Sometimes we pass our days without getting access to basic needs, as we live hand to mouth.”

He works at this young age to financially support his family instead of getting an education. Unfortunately, Aamir is not the only child who is a victim of severe poverty; many other children are out-of-school in Balochistan and work as child labourers.

According to All Pakistan Labour Federation President Sultan Muhammad, over 15,000 underage children are working at construction sites, in coal mines, doing garbage collection, or employed in garages and automobiles workshops in Balochistan. The dreams of these children are crushed by abject poverty as they live a dreary life.

Rising inflation is pushing many in Pakisan below the poverty line but, in Balochistan, it is also leading to an increase in the pernicious incidence of child labour, which helps entrench poverty in the long run

The key reason behind the rising number of child labourers is extreme poverty.

The menace of child labour not only leaves negative impacts on society’s socio-economic and cultural development but also dispenses harmful impacts on children mentally, physically and socially.

Zeeshan, studying in Quetta, draws attention to these harmful effects.

“The illicit activities that push children into working at a tender age and their dire working conditions affect the physical and psychological well-being of the children,” says Zeeshan. “For instance, many of these young labourers develop spine problems.

“Proper utilisation of laws that emphasise free education and proper distribution of funds to the families of child labourers by the Social Welfare Department and other public and private sector departments working on the elimination of child labour might curtail the long-standing menace of child labour to some extent.”

Bahad* is a child labourer employed in Balochistan and has been working with masons since the tender age of 13.

“We are a family of four people,” he explains. “My beloved father passed away in a road accident and I was compelled to support my family after his demise.” Like many others, Bahad had high hopes of attaining education but, because of financial restraints, achieving this goal remains a distant dream for him.

More than 60 percent of the people in the province live below the poverty line. Balochistan ranks the lowest on health, education and other indicators, not only in Pakistan but in South Asia as a whole. According to the 2019-2020 Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey (PSML), 37.8 percent of Pakistan’s population lives in multidimensional poverty and Balochistan ranks the highest in poverty rate in comparison to the rest of Pakistan — the province holds 10 percent of Pakistan’s total multidimensional poor people.

The province has been ignored in all forms of development since the inception of the country. Recently, the Post-Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) predicted that the proportion of the population of Balochistan living in poverty will likely increase to 43.7 percent.

Many underage children are seen working as labourers in Balochistan. Although Article 11 of the Constitution of Pakistan states that “No child below the age of fourteen years shall be engaged in any factory or mine or any hazardous employment”, child labourers continue to be left in the lurch as they have to toil to support their families.

Sagheer Ahmed, holding a Master’s degree, believes that it is the state’s duty to enforce its citizens’ rights.

“The implementation of laws and provision of constitutional rights might reduce the growing number of child labourers in Balochistan,” he says.

These suggestions by locals in Balochistan are not radical; the legal framework of Pakistan contains laws that support the aforementioned sentiments against child labour.

Section 3 of the Employment of Children Act 1991 reads, “Whoever employs any child or permits any child to work in contravention of the said provision shall be punishable for a term which may extend to one year or a fine which may extend twenty thousand rupees or with both.”

Similarly, Section 50 of the Factories Act 1934 prohibits employment of young children and reads, “No child who has not completed his [fourteenth] year shall be allowed to work in any factory.” Article 37 of the Constitution also provides parallel safeguards to children.

But underage children continue to be seen working in car workshops and other places despite these provisions.

Sammi Aziz, a graduate student of English Literature tells Eos that one of her neighbours pushed their children into child labour despite the family’s objections. She believes that the provincial government should establish better laws to stop all forms of child labour and the hazardous activities it involves.

“The government should focus on implementing Article 25-A to curtail the number of out-of-school children being pushed into labour. Another factor that will aid the declining number of child labour is concerted efforts to reduce poverty,” she suggests.

According to the Ministry of Planning, the investment in infrastructure and human development might shrink regional disparities and fortify socio-economic uplift for everyone in Balochistan, which includes child labourers.

Promotion of educational activities and protecting child rights are the need of hour in the province so that child labour can be brought to an end.

*Name changed to protect privacy

The writer holds an LLB degree from the Department of Law at the University of Turbat. He tweets @MunajGul

Published in Dawn, EOS, April 30th, 2023