Govt to enforce measures to check child labour

LAHORE:Labour and Human Resource Department has decided to obtain Family Registration Certificates (FRCs) of kiln workers to eliminate child labour at brick kilns, The News has learnt.

Syeda Kulsum Hai, Director General of the Labour and Human Resource Department, admitted that child labour is still prevalent at some brick kilns and emphasised the need for stricter measures. The FRCs will allow the department to verify whether the workers' children are attending school or working at the kilns. Syeda Kulsum explained that during inspections, workers often hide their children and deny having any. With the FRCs, such denials will be impossible, enabling the department to take appropriate action.

"We are working closely with brick kiln owners and workers to address this issue," she said. In addition to tackling child labour, the DG highlighted the low wages of brick kiln workers in Punjab. Currently, workers are paid Rs700 to Rs900 per thousand bricks. Syeda Kulsum pledged to ensure that they are paid Rs2800 per thousand bricks, noting that some families are trapped in bonded labour. If a worker agrees to the new rate, his entire family often works, and three family members should collectively earn around Rs9000. Syeda Kulsume's initiatives aim to eliminate child labour and improve the working conditions and wages of brick kiln workers across the region. The News has observed that child labour is still ongoing in many remote areas, which is very alarming.

According to a report by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Punjab hosts 52pc of the country’s approximately 20,000 brick kilns. This means a large population of children working in kilns is being deprived of its fundamental right to education. The DG reiterated that the elimination of child labour from brick kilns and other places like workshops and restaurants is a mission and mandate of the department. It is pertinent to mention that The ILO in Pakistan in collaboration with the Punjab government had launched an enrolment campaign of brick kiln workers’ children into the educational system. Under this campaign, the government had provided free education, school bags and books to the brick kiln children enrolled to schools. In the tenure of Shehbaz Sharif as Punjab CM, children were enrolled at the schools.