CHAPTER 10 - CHILDREN & BONDED LABOUR
 

A. MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE CHILD AND BONDED LABOUR SECTOR 1993-96

1. Made concerted efforts for active enforcement of laws against child and bonded labour, such as the Employment of Child Labour Act, 1991 and the Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1992. Collaboration and support of NGOs and international organization such as ILO, IPEC and UNICEF was also sought. Despite the government's commitment to eradicate child and bonded labour, the problem persisted as enforcement of labour laws at the provincial level was sporadic and weak. The provincial governments were repeatedly reminded to streamline the implementation of the existing laws and to target areas where child work force was engaged in hazardous occupations and working children below the age of 12 were involved. The provincial governments in Sindh and Punjab were advised to make efforts to implement the Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1992 for combating the heinous incidence of bonded labour. The Peoples Government had the following achievements in this sector:

• As a result of the continuous efforts of Benazir Bhutto's Government over 4,500 inspections and raids were conducted to monitor the conditions where children were working and to register cases against violation of the employment of Child Labour Act, 1991;

• The number of Child Labour Inspectors was doubled;

• More than 2,500 prosecutors took place in a span of 2 1/2 years. This was the highest number of prosecution in the history of Pakistan, followed by the highest ratio of convictions;

• In addition to strengthening the surveillance and enforcement machinery the Peoples Government undertook a number of other measures for reduction and eventual elimination of Child and Bonded Labour through a rehabilitative approach;

• The Peoples Government set up a Child Labour Cell which monitored the progress by the provincial governments and other agencies in giving effect to measures to eliminate child and bonded labour;

• The Peoples Government signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" with the ILO to join the IPEC programme aimed at a gradual elimination of child labour;

• For the first time a survey was commissioned through the Federal Bureau of Statistics to measure the magnitude of child labour which was completed in Aug, 1996.

2. The Social Welfare and Special Education Division prepared a project proposal in collaboration with the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mall for setting up 35 rehabilitation centres in the areas of concentration of child labour. The ILO and UNICEF agreed to provide financial assistance for running this programme which aims at withdrawal of child labour from work places, provision of primary education to those in the age group of 9-14, stipends, medical care, and nutrition to the enrolled student 14 Rehab. Centres were operating by Nov, 96. If the Peoples Government had completed its term, a total of 35 Rehab centres would have been established all over Pakistan.

3. In 1994, a Human Right Cell and in 1996, a full fledged Human Rights Ministry was established to deal with violations of Abolition of Bonded Labour Act, 1992, other Human rights violations specially cases of violence against minorities and women, burn victim, rape cases and violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The PPP government has been the only government in the history of Pakistan to take concrete specific practical measures to combat the terrible practice of Child Labour and Bonded Labour.

B. CHILD AND BONDED LABOUR AGENDA 1997-2002

It is estimated through deductive measures and through the finding of the ILO survey that about 6 million children in Pakistan may be engaged in some economic activity, mostly in agriculture, informal sectors and hole-based industries. The prevalence of child and bonded labour in Pakistan came under severe international scrutiny in the past few years, accentuating negative propaganda. The benefits available to Pakistan under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in its trade with the US were withdrawn. The threat of withdrawal of these benefits in trade with the European countries continues in the face of the complaint lodged by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) to the European Commission. Therefore, the Peoples' Government if elected will ensure that child and bonded labour issues are vigorously addressed, laws are strictly enforced and Pakistan is liberated from the curse of child and bonded labour.