LABOUR
Kasur, a medium sized district in the close vicinity of Lahore, is known for various reasons. And one of these is that it houses clusters of leather tanneries that produce finished leather in huge quantities both for consumption in the domestic and international markets. The load of work here increases exponentially after Eidul Azha when high-quality hides of sacrificial animals reach here from different parts of the province in big quantities for processing.
In the morning of any fine day, one can see people walking on foot towards these tanneries in small groups or riding bicycles all the way from their place to here. It is quite normal to expect children of school-going age to accompany their elders, though mostly unwillingly, on this path. On the way these children stop at points to enviously look at others of their age going to school in their uniforms or the ones playing cricket or any other sport in the fields.
Their dejected faces tell volumes of what they are missing in their lives. The joys of going to school and returning home with friends, happy feelings after wearing attractive uniforms, the pride associated with schoolbags hanging on their backs and the co-curricular activities at the campus are things they have only heard of but never experienced.
These children of the lesser God are from the families of tannery workers and have to work with them just to add to their household income. They are employed at the tanneries and also form part of the home-based workforce that works on contractual basis while being within the confines of their homes. For example, girls as young as six to seven years old stitch leather shoes at home. They are a preferred choice for this work because having small and lithe fingers gives them a comparative advantage over others. The stitch they apply is fine and durable. Here one can relate to the term “nimble fingers” once used to describe the benefits of employing child labour in soccer ball stitching industry of Sialkot.
Against this backdrop, it is quite surprising that the children employed in the leather processing industry do not get as much attention of the government and its concerned departments as those in the brick kiln industry, restaurants, motor mechanics shops etc. This is quite alarming, keeping in view the fact that the associated health hazards are far more serious in this sector than others.
Syed Jawwad Bukhari, who is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Alpha Foundation-a non-profit working on increasing literacy and reducing child labour- terms it a tough task to convince parents to send their children to school, especially when they are a source of earning for their families. He says his organisation realized the need to intervene in this sector and carried out an informal assessment in Kasur to gather important facts in this context.
Bukhari says shortly afterwards, a project titled “Education for Working Children” was launched by Alpha Foundation with the major aim to provide schooling to the children associated with leather processing and allied industries. The baseline surveys under the project found out that a large number of boys and girls were deprived of basic education facilities because most of their time was spent working at tanneries and their homes. The tasks they performed included transportation of raw hides on wheelbarrows, application of salt and toxic chemicals on hides with raw hands, washing them, removing hair from the hides, making shoes with processed leather at home and so on. So, he says, it was also about telling these children how to stay safe from serious occupational hazards.
Bukhari says under the project they were supposed to set informal schools in the area with flexible timings because it was too difficult to make children leave their jobs and study full time. In these schools they could come after getting free from work and study without parting with their regular income.
As financial support was needed to go ahead with the plan, he says, a proposal was made for submission to donors. Luckily, they were able to secure funding under the Small Grants and Ambassador's Fund Programme (SGAFP) of USAID. Informal schools were established in Union Council 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the Kasur district where most of the children working in the leather industry are based. Niaz Garh, Kot Ali Garh, Kot Maulvi Abdul Qadir, Kot Haleem Khan, Kot Murad Khan and Kot Mochipura are some the localities that benefitted from this intervention.
However, this was not all; what followed was quite challenging as well. Now it was time to convince parents to send their children to school and also ask the tannery owners to be lenient to them, especially regarding their workers.
Faisal, 12, is a beneficiary of this project. He wakes up early in the morning and immediately after having breakfast leaves for the tannery where he and his father work. There he applies salt to dry the wet and smelly skins of animals. He also cleans the hair from the skin which is too difficult a task for him to perform. Quite often he has fever, running nose, breathing problems and itching skin in addition to other health complications. He had never dreamt of going to school but fortunately for him he has benefitted from this opportunity and joined an informal school set up by Alpha Foundation. He is hopeful that with the passage of time he will get enough education to find a good job in the formal sector. Now he takes special care of his health and hygiene and uses protective gear that saves him from health complications.
Similarly, Fatima, 9, along with her other siblings, stitches leather shoes in her house. One day, Miss Feroza, a teacher at one of the informal schools, entered her house and started convincing her mother to send her children to school. Her mother whose name is Rani resisted saying neither she could afford to pay fee of her children nor she wanted to lose the wages they earned for the family. However, she agreed once she was told that there was no school fee and that school timings did not overlap with the children’s working hours.
Today, Fatima and her siblings are attending school. Before joining school, she would earn Rs200 a day. She is earning the same amount even now as she goes to school early in the morning and comes back around 12 noon and stitches shoes after having ample rest. The children are getting free of cost education, school bags and uniform which their parents could not afford.
Under the project, 1,200 children have benefitted of whom 400 are young boys and 800 are young girls. The best part is that around 400 children have been mainstreamed and admitted to formal schools. Some of them have quit jobs altogether while some have readjusted their working hours accordingly.
Syed Khizer Gilani, SGAFP's field monitoring officer in Punjab, says the project has been successful for many reasons and an important one is that government departments such as labour, social welfare and education were on-board. The role of tannery owners was also important as they cooperated as well. He says initially they feared the whole sector would be maligned for allegedly employing child labour but later on they realised the benefits of this project outnumber the risks.
Naveed Ahmad Waraich, deputy director, Labour, Kasur, says the government is serious in eliminating child labour but the challenges are so tough that support from all stakeholders including parents, civil society, industry etc is required. Children's wages are low and poor parents need earning hands that make child labour beneficial to both. This approach must be done away with for the bright future of the children and the nation.
Muhammad Akbar Raza, deputy director, Social Welfare Department, Kasur, terms the informal schools close to home the best part of the project. He says the long distances from homes to school are a big hurdle in enrolment of children to schools. The Alpha Foundation model is a nice example and should be scaled up for desired results, he suggests.
No doubt individual and organisational interventions do help as has been in this case, the role of the state is the most important in countries like Pakistan to eliminate child labour. So, one can hope that the government accepts the challenge and as a test case purges the leather processing industry of child labour.
The writer is a staff member
