PA passes Child Labour at Brick Kiln Prohibition Bill

LAHORE

Punjab Assembly on Monday passed three bills, including the Punjab Prohibition of Child Labour at Brick Kilns Bill 2016, with majority vote.

The other two bills passed by the PA included the Punjab Civil Courts (Amendment) Bill 2016 and the Punjab Civilians Victims of Terrorism (Relief and Rehabilitation) Bill 2016. The Punjab Civilians Victims of Terrorism (Relief and Rehabilitation) Bill 2016 was passed unanimously after the Opposition leader Mian Mehmood-ul-Rasheed withdrew all proposed amendments to it.

Speaker Rana Mohammad Iqbal Khan on the occasion appreciated the decision of the Opposition leader.

However, the bill which was debated for most of the time on the PA floor was the Punjab Prohibition of Child Labour at Brick Kilns Bill 2016.

Under this bill, any brick kiln owner isn’t allowed to employ, engage or permit a child less than 14 years of age to work at the brick kiln. The bill states that ‘child’ means a person who hasn’t completed the 14th year of age. It also states that a parent or guardian who permits the child to work at a kiln shall be jointly and equally liable for the offence.

Moreover, every engagement or appointment of a worker at a kiln shall be subject to a written contract in the prescribed form between the worker and occupier (brick kiln owner) showing the terms and conditions of his employment or engagement, including the amount of advance (peshgi), the amount of wage and the payback schedule of the advance (peshgi).

The bill also fixes a limit of advance (peshgi) given to a worker which is not more than Rs50,000.

The bill moved by Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan was passed with majority vote by the House as all the proposed amendments of Opposition were rejected. Waqas Moakkel, the PML-Q Parliamentary leader while participating in the debate stated no one in the House could encourage child labour but the government should also focus on the problems faced by the brick kiln owners. He said kilns were itself an industry and by passing legislation without keeping in view the just demands of their owners would result in the shutting down of business at many points of the province. Citing an incident, he said in one occurrence, a kiln owner faced action by the department over child labour when a child who was bringing food for her parents working on the kiln was found at the working place. Referring another incident, he said another kiln owner was fined when a driver visiting his bricks factory from Sindh brought his child to the place. He said the officials concerned didn’t even probe whether the child found at the kiln was a worker or a visitor.

Moakkel stated that the government should take measures which were in the mutual benefits of both workers and kiln owners.

Faiza Malik, the PPP legislator while debating over the bill stated the government mustn’t pass it in a hurry and must try to evolve a consensus over it while considering all the related issues. She stated that the bill doesn’t clearly define the role of a labour inspector as well any measure to monitor his working.

She also stated that the government couldn’t fulfill its responsibility by merely asking the public to reading the required details on internet as almost half of the population didn’t have this facility.

Another member of the Opposition also proposed that amount of advance be exceeded from Rs50,000 to Rs75,000.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan stated that bill was being moved after detailed and thorough deliberation in the committee which also comprised of members from the Opposition benches. He stated there was no need to propose further amendments to it.

The bill was moved and majority of the PA members supported it after which it was passed.

During the process of legislation, quorum was pointed out twice but treasury met it.

Earlier, during the question hour session related to the departments of Environmental Protection, Mines and Minerals and Auqaf were held in which ministers and parliamentary secretaries concerned responded to the queries of legislators.

Akmal Saif Chattha, the Parliamentary Secretary for Environmental Protection had to undergo a real test during the question hour session as he failed to satisfy the questioners.

Ehsan Riaz Fatyana, an independent MPA elected from Faisalabad protested over the attitude of Speaker and alleged him for being partial on which he was reprimanded for his remarks. Waqas Moakkel of PML-Q on the occasion also expressed complete dissatisfaction over the answer given by the Parliamentary Secretary about the factory waste discharged in Rohi Drain, Kasur. He stated the poisonous waste being discharged was causing diseases like Hepatitis, Tuberculosis.

Saqlain Anwer Sipra, the Parliamentary Secretary for Auqaf while responding to a question posed by PPP’s Faiza Malik informed the House that Data Darbar Hospital was a 130-bed medical centre which also provided facilities of gynaecology and eye surgery to the patients. On this, Faiza Malik responded the answer was totally incorrect and stated that the Parliamentary Secretary had never visited the hospital she was talking about. She said the Data Darbar Hospital was only treating eye patients and there was acute shortage of beds there.