Moot demands giving Haris legal rights as labourers, ending water shortage

MITHI: A Hari conference here on Saturday demanded giving labour rights to the Haris under the SIRA 2013, end the “artificial shortage” of water in Sindh, declare the Thar Desert a calamity-hit area and give jobs to the local people in the Thar Coal field, said a press release issued by the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF).

The NTUF and the Sindh Agricultural General Workers Union (CBA) jointly organised the conference at Mahao Bheel Goth of District Mithi, which was presided over by union president Ali Ahmed Panhwar. It was largely attended by the representatives of Hari and agricultural workers. Addressing the conference, the speakers said that five years had already passed since the recognition of the agricultural and fisheries workers as legal workers under the Sindh Industrial Relations Act 2013 (SIRA2013).

Under this act, it was agreed to give social security, pension, grants, welfare schemes, and the right to make unions and CBAs to the workers of the agricultural and fisheries sectors like the industrial workers; however, the relevant departments of the Sindh government have yet to make implement the law. As a result, millions of workers of the agricultural and fisheries sectors are deprived of their legal and constitutional rights.

Speakers said at conference that like the industrial workers, the agricultural workers are facing serious threats to their health and life due to lack of health and safety measures at their workplaces. They are not given any training to properly handle dangerous fumigation, pesticides and fertilizers. In case of illness and death there are no facilities of medical treatment and compensation for them and their families.

They said today feudal lords, so-called religious and spiritual leaders had made their fiefdoms in Sindh which were like slave states. No political or religious party is ready to raise voice for these virtual slave Haris, who are facing kidnappings and forced marriages and conversions of their daughters, they said, adding murder and rape cases are on the rise, affecting the Haris, especially belonging to minorities.

The speakers said that due to the prolonged drought, the Thar region is facing a famine-like situation, which is turning into a human tragedy. People are facing hunger and diseases and their animals are dying due to lack of water and fodder. In this grim scenario, people are forced to migrate; however, there is no one to understand their problems and resolve them.

Moreover, speakers said, in the Thar Coal projects, the locals are not given jobs and non-locals are invited to work on their coal projects.

They said that presently the artificial shortage of water in Sindh has become a huge crisis. On the one hand there is a manmade shortage of irrigation water and on the other powerful and influential feudal lords have made their monopoly over distribution of water.

They use the water courses as per their sweet will and the small growers and peasants are deprived of their fair share of canal water. They said that there is no mechanism of setting crop rates in consultation with the representatives of Haris and as such Haris and small cultivators are left on the mercy of market mafia and commission agents, who set the crop prices to serve their petty interests.

The speakers demanded giving the Haris all their rights, including social security, pension, right to making trade unions and CBAs, besides making rules for the Sindh Industrial Relations Action 2013 (SIRA 2013) to ensure its immediate implementation. They asked to take urgent steps to overcome the artificial shortage of water in Sindh and ensure just distribution of water.

“The safety and health of Haris working in farms and fields should be ensured. The Haris should be brought in the orbit of the Occupational Health and Safety law, passed by the Sindh Assembly. A mechanism should be formed to set the rates of paddy, sugarcane and other crops in consultation with the representatives of the Haris. “All basic facilities of life should be given to the villages of Haris including water, electricity and gas. They should be given paved roads and drainage schemes.”

The speakers demanded that schools, dispensaries and hospitals should be set up in villages. The legal and constitutional right of the Haris to make their unions and CBAs under the SIRA 2013 should be recognized, discriminatory attitude to the Haris, epically Hindu Haris, and kidnappings and forced marriages of the daughters of Haris and forced change of religion should be stopped. The speakers also demanded that harassment of and discrimination against women Haris should be ended and the women Haris should be given wages equal the male Haris. The Haris should be given representation in assemblies as per their proportion in population. The feudal system should be ended and the government lands distributed amongst the Haris after brining land reforms.

Those spoke included NTUF central deputy general secretary Nasir Mansoor, Sindh Agricultural General Workers Union (CBA) President Ali Ahmed Panhwar, general secretary Lal Bux Lallan Sathio, vice president Sabaghi Bheel, information secretary Mushtaq Ali Shah, union leader from Mithi Moti Ram Bheel, Abdul Aziz Wago, Heranand, Saleem Jamali and others.