Of a quiet man and his roaring contribution for the poor

ISLAMABAD: It all started by one citizen who raised voice for the rights of sanitary workers. They were being denied even the legal minimum wage defined by the government. Department after department, he pursued the case and remained persistent. By now, three cantonment boards and Civil Aviation Authority have reformed the system paying the sanitary workers their due wages.

But this isn’t the end of the story. Naeem Sadiq, a Karachiite, has now expanded his sphere of struggle to the country level. Right to Information (RTI) law is his only weapon that he uses to empower the oppressed citizens who are nameless and voiceless. They couldn’t raise voice fearing they would be sacked. They didn’t have representation in the power corridors to get their legitimate right, let alone perks and privileges granted to the influential sections of society.

They could only pray which was answered when a resident of DHA Karachi developed a morning habit some five years ago. He would interview sanitary workers while going to his office. In the process, he met more than 200 workers and found out that none of them was getting his due share — the legal minimum wage by the government standard — from the government department.

He would encourage them to raise their voice but the fear of losing their job kept them quiet. Finally, he decided to become their voice. At first, he filed an RTI application to Cantonment Board Clifton (Karachi) under Right of Access to Information Act 2017 as cantonments are governed by federal law. Other than inquiring about the amount of sewage generated in that cantonment area, he also sought a copy of contract awarded for the purpose that, he wrote, should also include complete information about the total number of contracted janitors, wages, timing, conditions and facilities offered to them.

Upon not receiving any reply within the prescribed time period, he moved the Pakistan Information Commission (PIC), an appellant body against the federal departments refusing information.

The PIC ruled in his favor directing the cantonment board to provide information. Finally, when he received information, it turned out that the awarded contract was of Rs900 million; however, the contractor was only spending a quarter of the total amount to pay around 1,000 sanitary workers. He further came to know the contractor of Cantonment Board Clifton was also contractor of two other cantonment boards in Karachi: Malir and Faisal.

Using the obtained documents, Naeem moved the Sindh High Court for enforcement of minimum daily wages for the sanitary workers which ruled in his favor. Although the petition was related to Cantonment Board Clifton, other cantonments also enforced the daily minimum wage.

From July this year on, sanitary workers are drawing Rs17,500 per month, the minimum wage set by the government. Earlier, they were being paid Rs12,500. Naeem said it was not the cantonments that were paying less for the wages, the problem was on the part of contractor who was denying them their due share. His petition is still pending, as he has also prayed for the payment of arrears---Rs17,500 per month from the date the workers were contracted two years ago.

Similarly, he sought a copy of contract from the CAA under which sanitary workers are paid. As usual, the information was provided only after the intervention of the PIC.

A study of the contract revealed that while the CAA paid close to Rs20,000 per person to the contractor, a sanitary worker received a monthly amount of only Rs15,000. Equipped with this information, he wrote to the CAA and demanded immediate compliance of minimum wage for all its contracted janitors.

The CAA acted promptly. It fired the third-party contractor, re-employed the same manpower by itself and raised the monthly wages of its janitors to Rs25,000 and agreed to do the same for janitors working at all airports and locations.

After this landmark achievement, Naeem is eyeing on other public bodies. He wrote to DG Military Lands & Cantonments demanding enforcement of minimum wages of sanitary workers in line with the actions taken in three cantonments of Karachi. There are 44 cantonment boards.

He also asked for the compliance report which has not been provided and he has again moved the PIC for the purpose. In addition, he has written to four major hospitals in Karachi, three in Lahore and two in Peshawar demanding the same information.

Likewise, he has written to provincial secretaries of local government departments to inquire about the same from metropolitan corporations in all provinces. Impressive accomplishment notwithstanding, Naeem doesn’t consider this an achievement. Instead he calls it a ‘contribution’ for the betterment of society where the poor could get their due share.

He was even shy of being named. “Please highlight what is being done, not who is doing it,” he said while talking to The News. Naeem said he believed in the philosophy that a country gets better only when ordinary people contribute. He likes to be known as an ordinary person who tries to play his part without any desire for recognition.