Sindh Assembly lawmakers, civil society and activists on Thursday agreed to work closely to implement the human rights and labour laws in Sindh to improve the state of human rights and fulfil international commitments, including those made under the GSP+ arrangement with the European Union.
The consensus was reached at a dialogue between Sindh MPAs and representatives of civil society titled ‘Economy, Trade and Human Rights’, organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) at Sindh Assembly Committee Room.
Lawmakers, including Pakistan Peoples Party’s Farrukh Shah, Ghanwar Ali Khan Isran, Kalsoom Chandio, Ghazala Sial, Shahnaz Begum and Munawar Ali Wassan; Grand Democratic Alliance’s Arif Jatoi and Nusrat Sehar Abbasi; Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Adeel Ahmed, Sidra Imran and Adeeba Hassan; Muttahida Quami Movement’s Jawed Hanif Khan and Mangla Sharma; and Tehreek-e- Labbaik Pakistan’s Mufti Qasim Fakhri attended the session.
The civil society members appreciated the MPAs for making legislation after the 18th Amendment, which is an example for other provinces. They urged the legislators to make rules of business of all the new laws pertaining to human rights and labour welfare for their effective implementation.
Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Rehana Leghari said bureaucracy is the main hindrance in the implementation of the legislations and collective efforts are required to improve the human rights situation in the province. She stressed upon the need for a creative opposition and a cooperative treasury for legislation and policy action on human rights and labour rights.
The civil society activists informed the legislators that Pakistani businesses have greatly benefitted from the European Union’s Generalised Scheme of Preference (GSP)-Plus facility for duty-free exports of Pakistani products into all member countries of the EU.
Joint Director of Piler, Zulfiqar Shah, informed the meeting that Pakistan got GSP+ Status in 2014 and has already reaped significant economic benefits for five years now. The textile sector is the biggest beneficiary of the GSP+ scheme, which has a huge impact on Pakistan’s economy as its average share in the total exports in recent years is almost 60 per cent with a significant 8 per cent contribution to the GDP. The textile sector alone employs 40 per cent of the industrial workforce, he said.
Shah added that the preferential access to the EU market is conditional to Pakistan maintaining ratification and effective implementation of the key international conventions concerning human rights, including civil and political rights, labour rights, environmental protection and good governance.
“There is a general consensus that the GSP+ scheme is not only beneficial for Pakistan’s businesses and creates employment, it is also an agenda of greater improvement in the situation of human rights and labour rights, an area neglected for long,” he said. “It is quite important to make collective efforts to demonstrate both progress and commitment for compliance, which will result not only in continuation of the GSP+ but will open up new opportunities of international cooperation.”
Shah said that Pakistan needs to implement key reforms to improve human rights and labour rights before the next GSP+ review report of EU due in January 2020. He suggested that provincial legislators must play the role of watchdog and oversee implementation on key commitments.
Former adviser to Sindh chief minister Dr Kaiser Bengali gave a presentation about his research about 25 years of Pakistan’s economy and said that there is dismal growth in both agriculture and manufacturing sectors which are main pillars of the economy.
He said our exports have not grown, whereas imports are increasing more. Currently, imports are increasing by 6.4 per cent, whereas exports at the rate of 4 per cent, which has aggravated the balance of trade of Pakistan.
According to Bengali, the average growth of major crops like wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton during the last 25 years was only 1 per cent, whereas population is growing at the rate of 2.5 per cent. Our labour force growth is 3.5 per cent, so we are not producing enough food for our population, which would soon create a food crisis. You have to increase jobs at a rapid rate through increasing manufacturing industries, he added.
The noted economist further said that railway cargo transportation should be increased, which would save more fuel as transportation via trucks consumes 30 per cent more fuel than the railway. He recommended the formation of a holding company of both Pakistan Railways and NLC for cargo transportation.