The Punjab government’s crackdown on brick kilns to stop child labour is no doubt a step in the right direction – though taken quite late. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court declared bonded labour illegal in the early 1990s, and the Pakistan Abolition of Bonded Labour Act 1992 has been there for more than two decades, this practice has flourished. Though several sectors employ bonded labour, brick kilns have been in the limelight due mainly to the general awareness campaigns led by rights activists.
It is an open secret that brick-kiln workers live lives of slaves. Quite often, they and their families are taken over by brick-kiln owners after paying outstanding debt against them to their existing employers; their children are no exception. They practically work in captivity.
Regarding the recently taken initiative against child labour, there is a perception that the government has become active as GSP Plus status review is due this month. As it has not much to show to the world regarding compliance with several international conventions on human rights and labour rights, it is believed that the resolve to save children from hazardous work and send them to schools can earn the government a good name.
So, the situation on the ground is that an ordinance has been promulgated by the Punjab governor which shifts responsibility of eliminating child labour at brick kilns to their owners. The law prescribes penalties for owners in case children between the ages of four and 14 years are found working at brick kilns or even spotted there during school hours.
Brick-kiln owners obviously have reservations against the law and say the parents are responsible for making their children work to increase their productivity and income. Regardless of who is responsible and who is not, what is good is that the objective of the whole exercise is quite noble.
A question that is relevant here is whether actions taken in isolation will improve the lot of brick-kiln workers or if there is a need to look at their problems in totality and go for workable solutions. Having worked on this sector for quite some time, this scribe believes the government must take some more steps to ensure that brick-kilns workers are not compelled to make their children work, seek advances every other day from employers and in adverse conditions even sell their kidneys to meet their urgent financial needs.
To start with, the Punjab government must ensure that brick-kiln workers are paid the minimum wage which is officially set at Rs962 per 1,000 raw bricks produced. Currently, they are paid between Rs550 and Rs700 per 1,000 bricks. Even this amount is not paid to them in full and is subjected to deduction under the pretext of adjustment against illegal loans extended to them. A simple way to tackle this issue is by binding the brick-kiln owners to pay wages through bank accounts. If the beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) can be paid this way, why not brick-kiln workers?
Second, strict punishment should also be announced on the same pattern for those who are responsible for getting brick-kiln workers registered with social security institutions and fail to do so. Once registered, the workers and their families are entitled to get free medical care, education for their children, marriage grants for their daughters, compensation in case of injuries and what not. If not, they are dependent on owners and subjected to exploitation of all sorts. There is no reason why the same government that has come down hard on brick-kiln workers allowing child labour cannot ask brick-kiln owners to pay contributions on the part of their workers to the social security department.
Third, brick-kiln workers who are paid according to the quantity of the bricks they produce must be given livelihood options in the off seasons. There are days when they do not do any work and have nothing to take home. The situation worsens during the rainy season when they have to sit idle for weeks or months and end up seeking loans. Brick-kiln owners are not bound to pay wages in this case. This issue can be resolved by giving vocational training to these workers and their families and linking them to the markets so that they can do productive home-based work when the kiln is not functional. Expecting parents to worry about their children’s education in the absence of food to feed them is rather unrealistic.
Besides, it is time now to campaign for decent wages as these are skilled workers who are not even paid the minimum wages meant for unskilled workers. Promotion of mechanised brick-making is also needed since without it the brick-kiln workers will find it hard to win freedom for their next generations. Hopefully, if the said initiative of the Punjab government succeeds and pays dividends, there will be an imminent dearth of human resource in this sector since the children will hardly return to this sector. This skill is passed on within families and other people do not usually join the profession by choice.
There is no doubt that child labour is a menace and must be tackled on an emergency basis. Brick-kiln owners are under immense pressure to eliminate it. Can they also not be entrusted the task of constructing toilets at brick kilns, thereby saving women the hassle of heading to the fields, at odds times of the day, to relieve themselves? This is a serious issue; women have been assaulted there and several FIRs are proof of this. However, none of the brick kilns has been sealed due to the absence of these.
The writer is a journalist with this newspaper.
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