Call to implement laws against child labour

LAHORE: The representatives of non-government organisations, trade unions and organisations working for labour rights have jointly urged the Punjab government to effectively implement the laws made to eradicate the menace of child labour.

The representatives called for implementation of the laws during a press conference held in connection with World Day Against Child Labour. Rights activist Iftikhar Mubarik expressed deep concern over increase in incidents of violence against child domestic workers in Punjab and called for initiating a massive campaign focusing on salient features of recently enacted The Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019. The law restricts employing any child under the age of 15 years for domestic work, he said.

He said the child domestic labour was clear violation of children’s rights guaranteed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child ratified by Pakistan in 1990. Rights activist Umme Laila Azhar lauded the step of initiating child labour survey in 2019. She said the last child labour survey was conducted in 1996. She proposed doing the survey after every five years to get factual information to develop need-based programmes to deal with the issue of child labour. She particularly highlighted the need for increase in budgetary allocations to strengthen the labour inspection system to promote greater vigilance with regard to child labour situation.