HYDERABAD: Speakers at a seminar held on Thursday in the local press club on ‘Safe keeping of brick kiln workers through social protection’ expressed their concern over a lack of effective implementation of laws which, they believed, encouraged forced labour in Sindh.

They said the trend continued unabated despite existence of district vigilance committees (DVCs) set up under the Sindh Bonded Labour System Abolition Act, 2015.

The seminar was organised by the Labour Facilitation Network (LNF).

High Court Bar Association (HCBA) President Ayaz Tunio, Kashif Bajir of the LFN and other labour rights activists including Punhoon Bheel, Miran, Gulan, Budho, Gulsher, Bhagat Soomar, Kastoori, Abdul Hakeem Qureshi, Reshma Thebo, as well as HPC Secretary Zafar Hakro, were among the speakers.

They held brick kiln owners responsible for the unsafe and unbearable working conditions being faced by kiln workers. “They [kiln owners] are required to contribute money equal to 5pc of a worker’s wage for their security but they don’t do this,” the speakers noted.

According to the statistics collected by the organisation, there are over 160 kilns in the Tando Hyder area alone and each has between 100 and 150 workers. “We have witnessed instances where an owner gives a loan to a worker, who ends up becoming a bonded laborer,” said one of the speakers.

They expressed their concern over ineffectiveness of the DVCs, which did not convene their regular meetings and also failed to enforce the Act.

Over 100 people attended the seminar. They included representatives of the social welfare, women development and labour departments; officials of the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (Sessi); Anti-Bonded Labour Cell of Sindh Police; and civil society activists, besides kiln owners and workers.

The objective behind organising the seminar was to raise awareness of bonded labour law at district level and assess its enforcement.

One key issue highlighted at the seminar was denial of social security cards to kiln workers despite existence of legal provisions, mandating issuance of the cards to all workers. “Not a single kiln worker possesses the social security card, which is a clear violation of the law,” the speakers regretted.

They the role of ‘labour facilitation desk’ in assisting brick kiln workers in getting their social security rights. Its efforts would enable kiln workers to live a dignified life and protect them from economic hardship in the face of illness, injury, disability, childbirth and old age, they said.

They emphasised the need for enforcement of Old Age Benefit Act, 1976 that covers all industrial and commercial establishments employing five or more workers. Under this Act, workers who have been employed for more than 12 months are entitled to various benefits.

Panhoon Bheel, a trade unionist, said his community had been working at kilns for generations without any basic facilities, like healthcare, education or social security cards having been offered to them. “Emergencies compel us to get advance against wages and this traps us in a cycle of bonded labour,” he said, arguing: “If we are given our rightful social security cards, many of our problems could be resolved.”

Deputy Director Labour department Kamal Khwaja spoke on importance of social protection schemes as a ‘safety net’ for marginalised communities, providing them with financial assistance, in times of need, including marriage and death grants, medical benefits and education for their children.

The seminar participants urged government and NGOs to come together in providing housing, sanitation and safe drinking water facilities as well as alternative livelihoods to kiln workers during rainy season so they could manage their living without falling into debt.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2024