Labour Rights in Pakistan Expanding Informality Diminishing Wagespiler.org.pk/pdf/Labour Rights in Pakistan Expanding... · 2017. 2. 20. · 1. Economy and Labour Dr. Pervez Tahir

Labour Rights in Pakistan

ExpandingInformality&DiminishingWages

Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research

2 0 1 1

AdvisorKaramat Ali

EditorZeenat Hisam

ContributorsDr. Pervez TahirDr. Nadia SaleemDr. Naheed NabiDr. Aly ErcelawnYasmin Qureshi & Sameena HaidermotaAltaf HussainNayyar Ahmed Siddiqui

Design & LayoutK.B. Abro

First Published: December 2011ISBN 978-969-9153-11-2

Printed at Print Vision

Published by:Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & ResearchPILER CentreST-001, Sector X, Sub-Sector V,Gulshan-e-MaymarKarachi 75340Pakistan

2Labour Rights in Pakistan

Foreword 5

Section One

1. Introduction 9The Year of the DisasterWar on TerrorLegislative ChangesEconomic OverviewLabour Force participation and Employment StructureLabour Force Indicators at a Glance

2. Labour Struggles 2010-22011 15Informal SectorShip Breaking IndustryFisheriesPower LoomsFormal (Public) SectorPTCLKESCLady Health WorkersFormal Private SectorCoca Cola Beverages Pakistan Ltd.

3. The Floods 2010: Impact on Vulnerable Lives and Livelihoods 23Attribution and the AffectedGovernment Response and the GapsThe Displaced PopulationMeagre Incomes, Poor LivelihoodsSocial Deprivation and Insecurity

Section Two

Special Articles1. Economy and Labour Dr. Pervez Tahir 292. Emerging Shape of Labour Market and Women Dr. Nadia Saleem 393. Occupational Health and Safety in the Brick Kilns of Shahdadpur Dr. Naheed Nabi 574. Rural Workers and Residential Land Entitlement Altaf Hussain 655. Women in the Fisheries Yasmin Qureshi & Sameena H. 736. Minimum Wage: Deficit in Decent Wage A. Ercelawn 857. The Devolved Course: Constitutional Reforms and the Status of Implementation

of Labour Provisions Zeenia Shaukat 91


Contents


Inequitable processes are unjust, whether across groups or generations. Inequalities are especiallyunjust when they systematically disadvantage specific groups of people, whether because of gender,race or birthplace, or when the gap is so great that acute poverty is high.

--Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All, Human Development Report 2011

Shackled by external aid and debt, the Pakistani state remains mired in the neo-liberal mantra: asustainable and equitable economy can only be achieved tomorrow by market-led growth today. It isno wonder then that precarious lives and livelihoods pervade our country.

Two successive years of floods and heavy rains have lain bare the insecure lives of vast numbersacross Pakistan. State and society responded but with reliance on charity - missing or deliberatelyforegoing the opportunity for linking decent employment of affectees to rehabilitation. The cruelinadequacy of response is evident by continuing mass deprivation: '2.5 million people are still with-out food, water, shelter, sanitation and healthcare, putting them at serious risk of malnutrition, dis-ease and deepening poverty,' reports the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum.

The core issue in economic management remains the glaring absence of sustainable and equitablelivelihoods for the vast majority. Over the decade, jobs have grown, but: in measly numbers; inade-quately remunerated; and worsening working conditions. State failure is vividly illustrated by a frozenminimum wage despite rampant inflation, and hence now well below the official poverty line. A liv-ing wage or decent wage appears nowhere in official policy; state donors remain non-serious abouttying aid for growth to decent work. Workers can only dream of waking up in a country where growthis shared fairly.

Inequality of wealth grows in strides - corroding the little democracy that we have. Hence the absenceof substantive public action in ensuring decent work. Collective action by workers remains weakbecause neither state nor market supports constitution and international obligation for the right toorganize in support of decent work.

South Asian economic policy is obsessed with reliance on exports, including that of manpower. Inconsequence, Pakistani workers too are severely exploited to support high living standards abroad -a subsidy that not even the IMF will acknowledge when it rails against subsidies.

Universal subsidies remain the norm for coddling capital. In the absence of universal food schemesor cash transfers, macroeconomic policy remains grounded in devaluing labour.

The responsibility for making markets work for jobs rests primarily with national governments. Theyhave at their disposal a rich panoply of measures….ranging from job-friendly social protection pro-grammes, to well-designed minimum wages and employment regulations and productive social dia-logue…

--World of Work Report 2011, ILO

This report continues the PILER tradition of sharing insights in much detail. We thank contributingfriends of the labour movement.

A. Ercelawn


Foreword


7Labour Rights in PakistanSection One


National Context

The reporting year July 2010-June 2011 wasmarked by events impacting the countryadversely. The devastating floods caused

by extraordinary rainfall in July-Sept 2010 affect-ed over 18 million people, causing 1,985 deathsand injuries to 2,946 people.1 The disaster led tounprecedented displacement and destruction oflivelihoods of 1,550,000 people mainly due toman-made factors: flawed infrastructure devel-opment, politically motivated breaches in dykesand poor governance. The infrastructure lossesamounted to $9.7 billion.2

The floods exposed the extent of poverty anddeprivation of a very large segment of the ruralpopulace neglected by the policy makers for thelast 64 years. It laid bare the cracks of a fragileand unjust socio-political system and brought tofore the urgent need for structural reforms. Thegaps in aid disbursement and relief provisiondominated the media. In December, theNational Disaster Management Act 2010 waspassed to establish a full-fledged disaster man-agement system (replacing the NationalDisaster Management Ordinance 2006).

Relief work by national civil society, internation-al agencies and Pakistan government continuedfor six months and ended in January 2011. Forrehabilitation and reconstruction, NationalDisaster Management Agency and related statedepartments chalked out an implementationplan at district level in collaboration with nation-al and foreign NGOs. By June 2011 majority ofthe IDPs have returned and were engaged inreconstruction. Still, according to an estimate,more than 800,000 families were without per-manent shelter and more than a million peopleremained in need of food assistance.3 The reha-bilitation and reconstruction work was not satis-factory due to inadequate disaster managementsystem, poor governance and a lack of co-ordi-nation among various state and civil society

institutions and the absence of dynamic leader-ship in the communities.

War on TerrorThe country continued to suffer from lossesincurred due to 'War on Terror'. Drone attacks bythe US and the NATO forces increased in 2010. Atotal of 118 attacks were carried out duringJanuary to December 2010 killing 1600 people.4

From January to July 2011, there were 50 droneattacks.5 Most of the persons killed were civil-ians. While several international and nationalagencies documented the number of dead, whathappened to the survivors of the householdswhose members, including earning male mem-bers, were killed was not documented or studiedby any quarter.

The direct and indirect cost of this war (since2001) had amounted to $ 67.93 billion in 2010-2011,6 impacting millions of livelihoods. Thecost included destruction of infrastructure, dis-placement of million of citizens from war zones,decline in investment, fall in production, closureof tourism industry, increase in unemploymentand additional expenditure in security.

An incident related to the War-on-Terror broughtPakistan in to limelight as in May 2011, the USNavy Seals attacked and killed Osama binLaden, said to be hiding in Abbottabad. The UScarried out the mission in secret at night whichlater caused strained relations between the USand Pakistan. Drone attacks in the FederallyAdministered Tribal Areas continued, killingmore civilians than terrorists. Violence inKarachi during the first half of 2011 escalated.The disturbances and accompanying shutdownson the strike calls given by MQM and other par-ties often brought this city of more than 15 mil-lion to a standstill, resulting in heavy losses tobusiness and industrial activity. On June 28, theMQM, an important ruling coalition partner,resigned from the federal and the provincial cab-


Introduction

inets. This added to insecurity and fear of furtherpolitical and ethnic violence in the city ofKarachi.

Legislative ChangesThe most important legislative event of thereporting period was the passage of the 18thAmendment that modified more than 100 sec-tions of the 280-article Constitution in summer2010 and abolished the concurrent list—a long-standing demand from political and civil societyforces. The passage of the 18th Amendment isbeing considered as rewriting of the social con-tract between the citizens and the state, openingup space and opportunities for renegotiation ofsocial and labour development. A number ofsubjects, including labour, have been devolvedand the provinces are entitled to legislate andrun the concerned departments independent ofthe intervention from the federal government.

But the immediate impact on labour tuned outto be adversarial as the biggest province Punjablegislated a more restrictive industrial relationslaw in the province in December 2010, while inSindh, the draft law prepared by the state andthe employers was criticized by the trade unionleaders and labour activists. The draft was notpresented in the provincial assembly till June2011. In Kyber Pakhtunwa and Balochistan, theearlier Industrial Relations Act 2008 was adapt-ed verbatim. The provinces were asked to makeadministrative arrangements to take over thenew responsibilities by June 2011. But theprovincial departments, particularly of the small-er provinces—Balochistan and KyberPakhtunwa—lack capacity hence devolutionprocess has been slow and disruptive as well,impacting workers adversely, particularly inaccessing labour judiciary.

On 30 July 2010, a three-member bench of theSupreme Court of Pakistan ordered the inspec-tors generals of the four provinces to registerbrick kilns in their areas and register casesagainst the brick kiln owners who enslave theirworkers under the Bonded Labour System(Abolition) Act, 1992.7 On 23 August 2010, thePunjab Government raised the minimum wagesof the brick kiln workers in the province througha notification and, in collaboration with the ILO,launched a project for the elimination of bondedlabour in brick kilns in Lahore and Kasur dis-tricts. The project included the facility of non-for-mal schools at the site and interest-free loans tokiln workers to help them pay back theadvances to come out of bondage.

An important, and much awaited pro-labour leg-islation was the enactment of the SindhFisheries (Amendment) Bill 2011 passed by theSindh Assembly in January 2011 abolishing thelease and contract system of fishing, replacing itwith the license system that enables the individ-ual fisher to obtain a 2-year license at a nominalprice and access in-land water bodies for hislivelihood. Earlier the license system was oper-ating through a notification issued in 2007 butwas not incorporated in the law. The Assemblyrecommended formation of implementationcommittees at district level to ensure imple-mentation. The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum facili-tated the process through training of personnelat the relevant district departments.

The National Implementation Watch Committeefor Anti-Sexual Harassment Legislation, estab-lished in May 2010 by the National Commissionon the Status of Women, formulated its strategy,focusing first on facilitation and then on moni-toring, chalked out a plan and met regularly at adesignated venue (NCSW office). The NationalCommittee (a mix of government, private sector,NGOs reps) targeted first the federal ministriesand the regulating bodies (i.e. SBP, PEMRA,OCRA, PTA). The presence of the Prime MinisterSecretariat representative on the Committeewas great help as for non-responsive min-istries/departments a phone call from the PMsecretariat got the job done. By mid 2011, 21federal ministries/departments have put themechanism in place in compliance with theProtection against Harassment of Women atWork Place Act 2010. Overall 250 organiza-tions/institutions in the corporate, private andpublic sector had reported compliance to theWatch database at http//www.sexualharass-mentwatch.org. The compliance at the provin-cial ministries was nil. Also, in the informal sec-tor, there was hardly any awareness of the lawpassed for the benefit of women workers. Theoutreach of a few labour and women's groupsand organizations, who reported awareness rais-ing sessions on the legislation, was limited.

Economic OverviewWith defense spending of 2.5 per cent of GDP,debt service 4.0 per cent, subsidies 2.2 per cent,and pensions 0.5 percent, there was a gapbetween revenue and expenditure of about 1.7per cent of GDP. Development spending was cutto 2.6 per cent to provide for flood relief and tocontain the deficit. Public debt as percentage ofGDP stood at 55.5 per cent while the domesticdebt was recorded as 30.2 per cent. The saving


grace was, however, provided by the workers'remittances that reached $ 9.1 billion, indicat-ing an increase of 23.8 percent.9

The economy suffered drastically due to floods,the on-going war on terrorism and an upsurge infuel and food prices. The floods caused negativegrowth in agriculture and also affected manu-facturing and services sectors. The economygrew only 2.4 percent, investment dipped to13.4 of GDP and inflation rose to an all-timehigh—18 per cent—causing severe hardship toworkers, particularly daily wage earners.

The hardships were aggravated by the energycrisis. Electricity shortage and load sheddingcaused closure of small industrial units, particu-larly in the textile and light manufacturing sec-tors, leading to increasing unemployment andunderemployment. Large-scale manufacturinggrew by mere 0.98 per cent due to power out-ages and lower domestic demand caused byeroding purchasing power though small-scalemanufacturing recorded a growth of 7.5 percent. In agriculture, major crops registered anegative growth of -4.0 per cent as the floodswashed away the standing crops and destroyedthe fields.10

Per capita income grew by a meagre 0.7 percent to $ 1254, or to Rs. 8,987 per month.Average family size was recorded at 6.38 andthe number of earning members decreased to1.84 persons.11 Average monthly income for thefirst quintile (poorest 20 per cent) per householdwas Rs.11,386 translating into Rs. 59.48 perperson per day (or less than a dollar a day). Thehousehold income for the fifth quintile (the rich-est 20 per cent) was three times more—Rs. 37,728.12 Share of household expenditureon food rose to 48.91 per cent in 2010-2011,concomitant with a decline in clothing, educa-tion, housing, transportation and miscellaneous,indicating an overall deterioration in the livingconditions and in access to education of thehousehold members.13

Labour Force Participation andEmployment StructureThe employment in the informal sectorincreased from 73.3 per cent in 2009-10 to 73.8per cent in 2010-2011. Small to medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs) comprise 85 per cent ofentrepreneurial businesses and employ 78 percent of the non-agricultural labor force.14 Almostall of these units/enterprises are characterizedby informal terms and conditions of work (i.e.

contractual, piece-rate work without written con-tract, long hours, lack of social security benefitsand occupational health and safety measures).

The year noted an overall decline in labour forceparticipation rate (down to 32.8 per cent from33 per cent in the preceding year) indicatingshrinking employment generation.Unemployment increased to 6.0 per cent from5.6 per cent in 2009-2010.15 Unemployment inurban areas noted a sharp increase—from 7.2per cent in the previous year to 8.8 per cent in2010-2011—contributing to rising street crimesand violence in the cities. Total number of unem-ployed people rose to 3.4 million in 2010-2011.It is to be noted that Pakistan's labour force isincreasing at the rate of 3 per cent per year andto absorb this workforce a growth of 7 per centis required.

The work force falling in to the category of 'vul-nerable employment' (own account workers andcontributing family workers) rose to 62.6 percent in 2010-2011 from 61.0 per cent in the pre-ceding year. Wage employment increased butslightly: from 35.4 per cent in 2009-10 to 36.0per cent in 2010-2011.

Agriculture remained the sector with the highestabsorption of labour force at 45.1 per cent, indi-cating a slight increase from 45.0 per cent in2009-2010.16 In contrast to the volume of workforce, the share of agriculture in GDP stood at alow 20.9 per cent in 2010-2011, indicative ofdeeper, structural malaise in the sector thatimpacts the workers the most: the averagemonthly wages in agricultural sector was record-ed as the lowest of all the sectors at Rs.5,473per month in contrast to the national averagemonthly wage of Rs. 8,362.17

Child LabourGlobally, child labour among children aged 5-14is on decline. The number of child labourersdeclined by 10 per cent and the number of chil-dren in hazardous work by 31 per cent.According to official data, the rate of participa-tion of children aged 10-14 in productive labourforce has been decreasing (see table below) inPakistan.

11


Yet, anecdotal reports and unofficial estimatesindicate increase in the number of child workers.Child labour is linked to informalisation and theexpanding low-paid, unprotected, home-basedwork that does not generate decent income andcompel adults to supplement the householdincome through child labour. A major contribut-ing factor is lack of schooling, particularly inrural areas and small towns. Over 6.8 millionchildren are reported to be out of school inPakistan.

The national survey on child labour, first carriedout by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) withthe ILO support in 1996, was scheduled for a

second run in 2003-04 but it was not initiatedduring the year and neither in later years. Now,after a gap of 15 years, the ILO is providing tech-nical assistance to the FBS to conduct the sec-ond national Child Labour Survey during 2011-2012. Until the survey is undertaken and theresults shared, it is difficult to get an exact pic-ture of the magnitude of child labour in thecountry.

12


Year Total Male Female

2010-11 11.8 14.3 8.8

2009-10 12.6 15.4 9.2

2008-09 13.1 16.2 9.5

2007-08 13.7 17.1 9.7

2006-07 13.3 16.9 9.2

2005-06 15.2 20.7 9.2

Age Specific Labour ForceParticipation Rates

(10-114 years)


2010-11 11.8 14.3 8.8

2009-10 12.6 15.4 9.2

2008-09 13.1 16.2 9.5

2007-08 13.7 17.1 9.7

2006-07 13.3 16.9 9.2

2005-06 15.2 20.7 9.2

Age Specific Labour ForceParticipation Rates

(10-114 years)


2010-11 2.73 1.78 0.95

2009-10 2.86 1.89 0.97

2008-09 2.85 1.88 0.95

2007-08 2.79 1.89 0.89

2006-07 2.77 1.88 0.89

2005-06 3.06 2.18 0.88

Child Labour in millions(10-114 years)

Source: Pakistan Labour Force Surveys

Adoption of the ILO Convention No.189 on Domestic WorkersPakistan was one of the member countrieswhere all three stakeholders-- government,workers and employers--voted in the favor ofthe Convention No.189 on DomesticWorkers, adopted by the ILO in its 100th ses-sion on 16 June 2011 in Geneva. TheConvention No. 189 on Domestic Workerswas adopted by a vote of 396 to 16, with 63abstentions and the accompanying recom-mendation by a vote of 434 to 8, with 42abstentions. Over 9000 participants fromaround 150 countries of the world participat-ed in the proceeding. Pakistan's delegationcomprised thirteen members, including fourworkers' representatives and two as employ-ers' delegates.

The debates on the Convention were in circu-lation from past couple of years and thePakistan's role in international lobbying forthe instrument was significant. According toArticle 21 of Convention 189, it shall comeinto force for any Member twelve monthsafter the date on which its ratification is reg-istered. As Pakistan is the signatory of C189,now it is the government's turn to ratify itwithout delay and to make necessary legis-lation for the implementation of theConvention including the creation of effec-tive mechanisms to ensure delivery of itsbenefits to the domestic workers.

The adopted instruments-the Conventionand the Recommendations--address all fourstrategic objectives of the ILO Decent WorkAgenda-- employment; fundamental princi-ples and rights at work; social protection;and social dialogue. Member States, employ-ers and workers now have the responsibilityto ensure that national laws, regulations,practices and collective agreements reflectthe consensus reached in the Committee,and to work towards ratification and imple-mentation of the instruments



13

Labour Rights in Pakistan2010-11Total Male Female

Pakistan 57.24 34.95 13.29Rural 39.70 28.69 11.01Urban 17.54 15.26 2.28

Civilian Labour Force (Millions)

Labour Force Indicatorsat a Glance

2010-11Total Male Female

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0Agriculture/forestry/hunting & fishing 45.1 36.2 45.4Manufacturing 13.7 14.5 10.9Construction 7.0 8.9 0.2Wholesale & retail trade 16.2 20.4 1.6Transport/storage & communication 5.1 6.6 0.1Community/social & personal services 10.8 10.8 11.5*Others 2.1 2.6 0.3

Employed Distribution by MajorIndustry Divisions (%)


Employers 1.4 1.8 0.1Own account workers 34.9 40.5 15.6Contributing Family workers 27.7 17.3 63.4Employees 36.0 40.4 20.9

Employment Status (%)


Pakistan 53.84 41.73 12.11Rural 37.85 27.55 10.30Urban 15.99 14.18 1.81Punjab 32.26 23.59 8.67Sindh 13.36 11.22 2.14KP 6.05 4.97 1.08Balochistan 2.17 1.95 0.22

Employed - Pakistan and Province (%)

2010-11PAKISTANTotal 45.7Male 68.7Female 21.7RURALTotal 49.1Male 70.0Female 27.6URBANTotal 39.5Male 66.4Female 10.7

Labour force Participation Rate (%)


Unemployment Rates (%)


Literacy Rates (%)

2010-111Agriculture 45.1Industry 21.2Services 33.7

Employment by Sector (%)


14


The workers' resistance against harsh condi-tions and violation of labour laws gatheredpace in both formal and informal sectors

during the reporting period. In most cases thestruggles were sporadic and short-lived, calledoff by the workers on promises by the employersthat often, though not always, proved false. Inseveral cases the workers put up a prolongedand systematic resistance, took legal recourse,were able to highlight their issues throughstrikes, rallies and sit-ins and succeeded in mak-ing some modest gains. The main issues push-ing workers for collective protests and resist-ance were lay-off and retrenchment, contractualemployment, low wages, non-payment of wagesand lack of occupational health and safetymeasures.

In the public sector, the Karachi Electric SupplyCorporation (KESC) workers' struggle against thetermination of 4,500 workers, PTCL workers'demand for wage increase, and the lady healthvisitors' movement for minimum wages wereprominent. In the informal industrial sector theworkers in the ship breaking industry (Gaddani),power loom units (Faisalabad) and salt mines(Karak) took to strike and rallies against excess-es and labour rights violation. In the formalindustrial sector, the workers of the Maple LeafCement Factory (Mianwali) and the Machine ToolFactory (Karachi) struggled for regularization ofcontract workers. In the global supply chain,Coca-Cola's local bottling plants workers foughtfor decent work and trade union rights.

Some prominent and many more sporadic inci-dents of workers' resistance, reported in themedia, indicate the tip of an iceberg.Underneath lay widespread violations of labourrights and a rising tide of both muted resistanceand legal battles that never make it to the mediaand neither are documented by any rights-basedorganizations and public or private researchinstitutes.

Also, it is sheer street power, or the number ofworkers on strikes in thousands, that lead to cov-erage of labour issues in the print and electron-ic media. If workers' resistance takes legalrecourse, which is often the case, it seldomattracts the attention of the media. In any case,there are no follow-up reports and the struggles,after creating ripples for a little while, die downand fail to channelize in to a sustained, overarching labour movement. A deeper look revealsthat divisions and rifts within trade unions areoften a major cause of this failure. Also, in viewof the threat of dismissal, trade unions often set-tle for a compromise with the management.

In each sector, the workers resort to specificstrategies for their struggles. The public sectorthat has a long history of trade unionism, thoughnow weaker and splintered, rely on both—displayof street strength through lock-outs, and legalrecourse. Hence the struggles by the workers atthe nation-wide PTCL and Karachi-based KESCwere prolonged, used traditional 'right to strike'and simultaneously went to the court. In thepublic services sector, the case of lady healthworkers was unique. Though the lady healthworkers are a part of a formal national pro-gramme, yet their employment has not beenintegrated in to formal service structure and theyremain contractual, semi-informal cadre ofhealth providers. Hence about 130,000 ladyhealth workers, mobilized by a core team ofactive LHWs who had leadership qualities, tookto rally their demands on the streets, formedlinkages with other health workers' associationsand also took legal recourse. In contrast, the fewhundred workers, employed by the multi-nation-al Coca-Cola Company, sought support of inter-national trade unions and the national federa-tion of workers in the food sector, employedmodern methods (i.e. electronic networking,emailing) and also fought the battle legally,hence succeeded in garnering internationalpressure on the MNC for social compliance.


Labour Struggles 2010-2011

The struggles by workers' movements in specificsectors (i.e. fisheries, power looms, agriculture)have turned out to be more complex and marredwith violent repercussions of the conflictbetween stakeholders that these strugglesunleash. The factor that makes these strugglesstand out is the threat posed to status quo, orentrenched socio-economic and political struc-tures of society. Another factor is the involve-ment of the third element, or citizen sectororganizations, who become allies to the margin-alized workers, fascinated by the sheer numberof the people mobilized, fantasizing the move-ment as 'harbinger of revolution' in the country.Also, there are many deep divisions (ofcaste/tribes, class, religious ideologies, politicalalignments) within the society at large, includingthe workers' communities. And these divisions,and the multiple identities, at times complicatethe struggles and it becomes difficult to entan-gle the many threads and see clearly what ishappening to the struggle and where it isleading to.

Below are presented some of the struggles invarious sectors that throw a light to the com-plexity of each.

Informal Sector

Ship Breaking Industry Gadani Ship Breaking Democratic UnionWorkers continued their struggle against sub-human work conditions during the reportingperiod and in June 2010 demanded a 100 percent increase in wages, provision of occupation-al safety measures, clinic and ambulance ateach yard, safe drinking water and canteen facil-ity, registration with Social Security and Old ageBenefits Institutes, end of contract system andrecognition of the union. When the negotiationfailed with the Pakistan Ship Breaking Owners'Association, the workers went on strike on 5 Julywith an 8-km march along the Gadani shorelinejoined by 10,000 workers. The campaign includ-ed press conference at the Karachi Press Club,rallies and sit-ins. The workers' struggle was sup-ported by left-wing political parties—BalochistanNational Party, Pakistan Workers' Party, LabourParty of Pakistan, Awami Party, Jeay SindhMahaz—and a couple of trade unions—NationalTrade Unions Federation and PakistanTelecommunication Staff Lines Union. Theprotesting workers were harassed by the policeand the Anti-Terrorist Task Force. The workerswere also implicated in a false case filed by thepocket union.1

Gadani ship-breaking yard is the third largest inthe world and currently, according to an esti-mate, 15,000 workers are directly engaged inthe industry. It has 132 plots and most of theseare owned by a local Baloch tribal leader while31 plots are owned by Balochistan DevelopmentAuthority.2 Once the largest yard in the worldand a thriving industry in the 1980s employing30,000 workers, ship breaking went in todecline. The industry revived in 2009 with fiscalincentives. Yet, the terms and conditions forlabour remained pathetic: daily wages of Rs.200-300 for 12 to 14 hour long labour, no safe-ty measures for most hazardous occupation ofdismantling ships (that includes torch cutting,heavy lifting, dangerous height, exposure to dan-gerous metals, chemicals, fumes) lack of provi-sion for safe drinking water, food and shelter,and no properly equipped clinic and ambulanceon site. Since 1992 till 2010, 175 workers losttheir lives in major accidents at the Gaddani shipbreaking yards.3 The pocket union, formed in1980, holds the status of the CBA, while the rep-resenting Gadani Ship Breaking DemocraticUnion Workers, registered in August 2009,throughout confronted harassment, sufferedthreats, offered bribe (Rs.2 million) to close shopand finally a case was filed when the union chal-lenged the referendum held by the pocket unionand the Gadani Ship Breaking DemocraticWorkers' Union was de-registered in June 2010.4

The July 2010 struggle of the workers was par-tially successful: the Owners' Association gave a16 per cent raise in wages of all categories ofwork; one ambulance is now available for theentire stretch of ship-breaking yards; groupinsurance for workers is operative; death grant israised to Rs. 500,000. The other demands (i.e.occupational health and safety measures, safedrinking water, food, shelter, registration withEOBI and SESSI) have remained unmet.5

Fisheries Sector: Struggle againstLand Mafia The fisheries sector workers, under theFisherfolk Forum Pakistan, continued theirstruggle at several fronts for decent work andlife conditions. The struggles mainly focused onaccess to livelihood resources: water and land.Fisheries sector workers' hardships increasedmanifold after the floods 2010 that causedimmense economic damage to the fishers' com-munities in the Indus delta in Thatta and Badindistricts. In addition, influential landlords illegal-ly gained control of recharged water resourcesand parts of the river and deprived the fishers of


their right to catch fish.

Fishermen are traditional custodians of scat-tered water ponds of the River Indus in katchaarea. Though the government has officially abol-ished the contract system and issued ShaheedBenazir Bhutto cards to fishermen as individuallicenses to to catch fish from fresh water, butland mafia put their armed people to guard thewaters and deprive fishermen from their rightfulcatch.

Meanwhile, the fishers had to wage a long bat-tle, during the reporting period, with the landmafia that has been occupying the mangroveforest land in Karachi's coastal areas, especiallyin Kakapir, an old village, by cutting mangrovesand reclaiming the sea, destroying the eco-sys-tem of the area and threatening the right to lifeand food security of 350 families with popula-tion of more than 2500 living in the village. ThePFF, running the campaign against the landgrabbing and cutting of mangroves forests forquite some time, got engaged in a long unend-ing battle with the land mafia at Kakapir village.The PFF activists mobilized the communities torally against the illegal mangrove cutting at theKarachi Press Karachi on 18 January 2011.Subsequently, land grabbers abused and threat-ened the villagers, cut off drinking water supply.Two of the PFF activists, Abdul Ghani and HajiAbu Bakar, who first lodged the complaint, hadto go in to hiding because the land mafia threat-ened them of dire consequences.

The PFF approached the government officialsfor protection and organized a march fromKakapir village on Feb 8 that reached KarachiPress Club the next day. On 5 May, the twoactivists were kidnapped by the land mafiagangsters, a crime witnessed by some of the vil-lagers. On 6 May 2011, bodies of the murderedactivists were recovered. The police initiallyrefused to register the case against the allegedmurderers but the case did get register finally.The report by the medico legal officer was refut-ed by the PFF in the court. The court thenordered a post mortem but the families of thevictims refused to get it done. The incriminatedindividuals in turn filed a case against the PFFleaders. Both the cases are pending in the ses-sion court and the accused and the PFF activistswere released on bail.

The PFF struggled for justice on various frontsand sought solidarity from civil society and polit-ical parties. In June, the Joint Action Committee

(JAC), an alliance of Karachi's active civil societyorganizations, convened an All PartiesConference to highlight the issue of the fishersand the threats to their lives and livelihood. Allpolitical parties, except the ruling PakistanPeople Party (PPP), supported the PFF seekingjustice. The Human Rights Commission ofPakistan (HRCP) sent a fact-finding team, com-prising representatives of different civil societyorganizations, to visit Kakapir village to investi-gate the issue independently. The Asian HumanRights Commission (AHRC), a Hong-Kong basedhuman rights organizations, urged the govern-ment of Pakistan to take action against thecriminals.

The members of the World Forum of FisherPeople (WFFP), network of fisherman at globallevel, wrote letters to the embassies of Pakistanin their respective countries urging them to askthe Government of Pakistan to take immediateaction against land grabbers. The InternationalNetwork for Economic, Social and CulturalRights (ESCR), the largest global network of 180organizations and 43 individuals from 66 differ-ent countries working for human rights, wrote ajoint letter to President of Pakistan and otherauthorities as well to the UN Special Rapporteur,urging to take immediate action for arrest of themurderers and check degradation of mangrovesforests. Sadly, there is no impact and the incrim-inated murderers as yet remain free. So stronglyentrenched is the nexus of political elite, law-enforcing agencies and the land mafia, and sovulnerable is the marginalized community offishers in the country, that the struggle is tooarduous and may take much longer to yield anyresults.

Power Looms WorkersThe power looms workers in Faisalabad, unitedunder the Labour Qaumi Movement, continuedto expand its membership in other districts andstruggled for improved wages and implementa-tion of the minimum wage law during the report-ing period. The Movement suffered a setbackwhen Mustansar Randhawa, one of its foundingmember and President of the National TradeUnion Federation, Faisalabad, was shot dead on6 July while he was advising a fellow worker inthe union office. His older brother NaseerRandhawa, an active member of the LQM, wasalso killed. Mustansar Randhawa had beenreceiving death threats from the loom and tex-tile mill owners since the LQM announced astrike scheduled for 6 July. Instead of lock-outfor wage increase, the workers protested against


the murders and the LQM leadership registeredthe FIR. Later, the LQM came to know that themurders involved personal enmity or clan con-flict.

On 20 July 2010, the workers went on strikedemanding 17 per cent increase in wages asannounced by the government in May. The ral-lies were taken out despite the imposition ofSection 144 in the district. The strike wasmarred with scuffles between workers andpower loom owners and between workers andthe police. Several workers were injured andover 100 were detained by police. Some of theowners termed the workers as terrorists. FourLabour Quami Movement (LQM's) leaders, AkbarAli Kamboh, Babar Shafiq Randhawa, FazalElahi, Rana Riaz Ahmed were arrested on 22July 2010 under terrorism charges by Faisalabadpolice. Sustained lock-out of power looms forabout two weeks finally led to a meeting of theworkers and the owners at the Commissioner'soffice where the owners agreed to raise thewages by 17 per cent.

The LQM's campaign for registering workers withthe social security institutions continued duringthe year. The movement printed pamphlets andheld meetings with the workers of those loomsthat have been recently registered by the ownersas a result of the LQM's campaign and advocacyefforts. In July 2011, power loom workers inFaisalabad and Toba Tek Singh took to demandannual increase and implementation of the min-imum wage law. The reconciliation meetingbetween the owners and the workers' represen-tatives was held at the office of the DistrictOfficer Labour and the owners agreed to raisewages by 13.5 per cent.

Public Sector (formal)

Telecom Industry: PTCL26,000 workers of Pakistan TelecommunicationCompany Ltd (PTCL) went on nationwide partialstrike on 2 August 2010 demanding a 50 percent increase in basic pay as announced by thegovernment for public sector employees. Lack ofresponse from the management led the workersto resort to total strike from 16 August and thento sit-in outside the PTCL headquarters inIslamabad from 31 August. On 3 September themanagement called the police. Fifty workerswere arrested, with three key leaders chargedunder anti-terrorist laws and 35 others underAnti Terrorist Act. As a condition for receivingtheir wages, PTCL workers were forced to sign a

statement disassociating themselves from thestrike. Allegedly '…the treasonous and pur-chasable trade union leaders sold this victory tothe rulers in return for their vested interests.'6

On 6 September the strike ended. Over 250workers were terminated. The managementstopped the annual bonuses for more than2,000 employees and refused to pay wages to300 others while 550 workers have been gettingone-third of their wages since then. The man-agement approached the National IndustrialRelation Commission which decided the matterin favour of the workers and suspended the ter-mination orders, but the PTCL management didnot accept the orders, instead it approached theLahore High Court and filed a petition againsttrade union activities.

Fully owned by the government since its incep-tion in 1947, the PTCL's privatization process,initiated in 1996, took ten years to materializeas the workers strongly resisted it. The resist-ance had culminated in stark confrontation withthe state when the PTCL workers occupied head-quarter and installations countrywide in May2005. Ironically the resistance fell through whenthe PTCL trade unions' alliance Telecom StrikeAction Committee leadership signed an agree-ment with the PTCL management in September2005. The government was able to finally sellonly 26 per cent shares in 2006, instead of 51per cent as announced earlier, to EmiratesTelecommunications Company (Etisalat) withfull managerial control.7 With 12 per cent sharesalready sold to the general public, the govern-ment owns 62 per cent of the shares of the com-pany. A petition was filled in the Supreme Courtchallenging the sale of 26 percent shares ofPTCL as illegal. After privatization, estimated32,000 workers left through the voluntary sepa-ration scheme (VSS).

KESC Workers' Struggle The struggle of some 4,500 workers of KarachiElectric Supply Company (KESC) began inDecember 2010 when the KESC managementannounced the Voluntary Separation Scheme tothe lower cadre of its workforce it termed as'surplus'—drivers, security guards, bill distribu-tors, clerical staff, laboratory attendants, com-puter operators, telephone operators and mes-sengers. The deadline given was 15 January2011. The scheme though was 'voluntary', themanagement forced the employees to avail VSSor face dismissal. This brought out 9000 work-ers on 8 January out on the street in front of the

18


headquarters where the worker rejected theVSS. The workers were collectively mobilized bythe six trade unions that are active in the KESC.The management filed a case against theCollective Bargaining Agent (CBA) union officebearers. By 14 January only 450, out of 4500,employees had accepted the voluntary retire-ment.

On January 19 the management sacked allthose employees who had completed 25 yearsin service, stating that these workers did notavail the golden hand-shake scheme. They wereoffered just one month's advance salary andgratuity benefits. The union refuted the dis-missal on the ground that the VSS was notmandatory. The workers occupied the headquar-ters for four consecutive days. Some violenceand property damage occurred when a car wasset ablaze in main building. KESC filed casesagainst the CBA union members. While thetrade unionists denied involvement in the violentincident, the management placed the burnt-outcar as monument with title "We will never for-get", widening the gulf between the manage-ment and the workers.

Karachi Electric Supply Company Limited,employing about 18,000 work force, is an inte-grated electric utility, supplying power to themegacity of Karachi of more than 15 millionpeople. The company, engaged in generation,transmission and distribution of electricity inKarachi, spanning an area of 6000 square kilo-meter, serves roughly 2 million customers,including 17,000 industrial units. The utility isthus extremely crucial to the economy and thepolitics of the city and the country.

Hence, the President of Pakistan had to consti-tute a three-member core committee for media-tion to resolve the conflict between the manage-ment and the sacked employees that threat-ened to paralyse the city. The Chief MinisterSindh also constituted a 9-member committeewith representation of different political groups.The two-month long dispute between the KESCmanagement and its workers ended in earlyFebruary When the Federal Minister for Waterand Power accompanied by MQM DeputyConvener announced in a press conference thatthe KESC management had withdrawn its orderof dismissal of employees with immediateeffect. The next day the management said thatthe announcement was made under the pres-sure of the government and the management isextending the date of the Voluntary Separation

Scheme as the workers would have to leave any-way.

The second round of protest started in April2010 when the management dismissed 294workers on 19 April. The dismissed workers andthe union leaders went on hunger strike. Variouspolitical groups and trade unions—PakistanRailway Workers Union, PTCL Workers Union,Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign(PTUDC), All Pakistan Trade Union Federation(APTUF)—showed solidarity with the KESC work-ers. On 6 June, complete strike was observed inKarachi, supported by major political parties,trade unions and federations, civil society andthe transporters. Meanwhile, Sindh High Courtannulled the decision of the KESC managementto sack 294 of their workers that brought somerelief and moral support to the workers.

The conflict was apparently resolved by the endof July when negotiation between the manage-ment and sacked employees produced an agree-ment that the management would implementthe verdict of Sindh High Court and the employ-ees who had been sent in surplus pool would beadjusted in various sections according to theirproficiency. However, none of the sacked workerhas been reinstated as yet. The media wentsilent on the issue. The labour circle alleged thatthe KESC management took 22 journalists to apleasure trip to Dubai to keep their mouth shutabout the workers' struggle and the manage-ment's violation of labour laws.

The KESC was privatized in December 2005when the government sold 73 per cent of itsshares to a consortium of investors led by Al-Jomaih Group of Saudi Arabia and NationalIndustries Holding of Kuwait. In October 2008,Saudi Al-Jomaih, sold to Abraaj Capital—a lead-ing private equity firm based in Dubai—signifi-cant equity stake in KESC granting AbraajCapital full management control. Abraaj Capitalbrought in a professional management teamwith over 41 senior managers.

Lady Health Workers Though the protest rallies against low wages,organized by the country's Lady Health Workers(LHWs) had initiated in late 2008, the intermit-tent acts of resistance took a definite shape in2010 when the LHWs across the four provincestook to streets to demand wage increase andregularization of their work. From Batkhela inKyber Pakhtunkhwa to Naudero Feroze in Sindh,from Khanewal in Punjab to Quetta in


Balochistan, women health workers across thecountry's towns and cities came out anddemanded decent work conditions under theumbrella of All Pakistan Lady Health WorkersEmployees Association, an informal unionformed in December 2008. The phenomenonwas unique, as never before in Pakistan's histo-ry women workers in any sector had waged acollective struggle, or exercised the right to 'col-lective bargaining'. In February 2011 the LadyHealth Workers announced to boycott the vacci-nation campaign demanding to be paid their 5-months dues first.

According to an estimate there are 130,000Lady Health Workers providing health services torural population and the communities living inurban slums. Under the National Programme ofFamily Planning and Primary Health Care, initi-ated by the government in 1994, each LadyHealth Worker, who has finished 8 years ofschooling, is expected to cover 5 to 7 householdsdoor-to-door and carry out over 20 tasks thatinclude family planning services, antenatalreferrals, immunization services and basic cura-tive care.8 In addition, the worker's residence isdeclared the 'Health House' to make the '…com-munity aware of their presence and access serv-ices in case of need or emergency'.9 This ren-ders a long and erratic work hour schedule, com-muting in arduous weather conditions to placesthat could be extremely unsafe plagued withdacoits, religious intolerance, tribal conflicts andresistance to vaccination. There have been inci-dences of LHWs being abducted in tribal areas.The LHWs are at risk of Hepatitis and dehydra-tion. In summer during the polio vaccinationdrive, LHWs wade through water in rice fields,risking snake bites.

As first-level care facilitators to the community,Lady Health Workers have been instrumental inimproving the delivery of primary health careservices and led to the increase in contraceptiveprevalence rate (CPR), improved Tetanus toxoid,increased skilled birth attendance rate andextended children's immunization. Despite thesuccess of the program and the significant roleof the lady health workers, the government hasnot integrated their services to the mainstreamhealthcare system. Thus their employmentremains ad-hoc and on contract basis, withoutany social security and work-related benefits,including maternity leave.

It was a death of a Lady Health Worker inDecember 2008 who died at delivery that com-

pelled Bushra Arain, a Lady Health Supervisor, torebel against the irony: health providers' owndeprivation of health facilities and lack ofdecent work conditions, particularly the issue ofdelayed payment of wages. She set on foot totravel to all districts, mobilized the Lady HealthWorkers in each district and founded the AllPakistan Lady Health Workers EmployeesAssociation registered under the Social WelfareOrdinance. In early 2009, each district has aBaji, dynamic activist-lady health worker, whowould mobilize the group strategically for ralliesand other matters.

In June 2010 the Lady Health Workers staged asit-in in front of the Parliament House,Islamabad, and demanded timely payment ofwages, increase in wages and regularization oftheir jobs. The health workers were paid astipend of Rs. 3,190. In November 2010, theSupreme Court issued an order raising theirwages to Rs.7000, the national minimumwages. The benefits of implementation of thisorder has yet to reach the workers becausewages continue to be paid irregularly, often after4 to 5 month, and that too in partial payment.The Lady Health Workers Employees Associationcontinued its struggle, and supported by awoman parliamentarian, filed a petition inMarch 2011 in the Supreme Court for regular-ization of their work.

During their struggles, the Lady Health Workersand the active members of the association, havebeen harassed, baton-charged and maltreatedduring protests, detained in jail under falsecases. The association is being supported by AllParamedical Staff Welfare Association, particu-larly its Sindh branch and the VaccinatorsWelfare Association. Different political parties-PML-Q, SNP, PML(N), PTI, MQM, PPP(SB) arealso supporting the struggle of the lady healthworkers.

Private Formal Sector

Workers in the MNC: Coca-ColaBeverages Pakistan Ltd. The workers employed in the global supply chaincontinue to resist violation of labour lawsthrough the strategy of combining national legalrecourse and the pressure of international tradeunions. After a year-long struggle by the workersof the Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Ltd(CCBPL), Multan plant, against unlawful dis-missal and for the right to unionize, the local


Coca-Cola company signed an agreement at theend of July 2010 recognizing the People'sEmployees' Union (PEU) as the CBA at theMultan bottling plant and reinstated all unfairlydismissed workers with full compensation. All187 workers at the bottling plant were given thestatus of permanent employees. The IUF(International Union of Food)-affiliated NationalFederation of Food, Beverage and TobaccoWorkers (NFFBTW) played a crucial role in mobi-lization and subsequent struggle of the plantworkers.

The IUF and the NFFBTW pressurized TCCC (TheCoca-Cola Company) and CCBPL to respect tradeunion rights in Multan as the managementresorted to threats, extortion, physical abuseand abduction of the activists when they filed forregistration of the union with the District LabourOfficer. The IUF and the NFFBTW also providedtangible support to the threatened union offi-cers' families to move into hiding.10

The success in Coca-Cola Multan gave impetusto the workers at Coca-Cola Pakistan's

Faisalabad plant to push for registration and theunion was officially registered in August 2010.Efforts to organize a union at Coca-ColaFaislabad in 2002 had met with severe repres-sion from the management. Finally, after eightyears the workers at the Faisalabad bottlingplant succeeded in 2010 to register a union withthe assistance of the Coca-Cola Karachi unionand the newly formed union at Gujranwala.

The Gujranwala union submitted its charter ofdemands to the management in July 2010 whilethe Faisalabad union submitted its claims inOctober 2010. The Karachi, Lahore and RahimYar Khan unions submitted their charters ofdemands on 1 January 2011 and at the sametime asked for a joint negotiation of the CBAs atthe national level. By August 2011, six Coca-Colaunions (Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad,Rahimyar Khan, Gujranwala) jointly negotiatedtheir plant-level Collective BargainingAgreements (CBAs) with Coca-Coca PakistanBeverages Limited (CCBPL) through nationalbargaining for the first time ever.



The floods affected 78 districts out of 141districts in Pakistan, impacting more than18 million people.1 The floods destroyed

2.1 million hectares of agricultural land, 0.3 mil-lion large and 1.2 million small animals.2 Basicutilities such as electricity and gas supply andkey social services -- water, sanitation, health-care, housing/shelter, and education sufferedserious damage. The floods destroyed manydikes, embankments, water channels, link roadsand rural infrastructure.

An earlier preliminary damage assessment car-ried out by the government reported that approx-imately 80 per cent of the population in theflood-affected areas depended on agriculture -inclusive of crops, livestock, fisheries andforestry - for their livelihood. In three out of fourareas surveyed (Gilgit Baltistan, Punjab andSindh), the majority of households interviewedin the worst-affected districts reported losing 90-100 per cent of cropland. Farming and landown-ing was reported to be the main source ofincome for nearly half of the households sur-veyed. Key crops such as rice, maize, vegetables,and sugar cane were lost just before the harvestand crop land damaged just prior to subsequentrabi wheat planting season.3

Attribution and the AffectedThough a natural disaster accentuated by globalwarming and climate change, the extensiveflooding and devastation caused by it wereattributed largely to man-made factors: poorland-use resulting in heavy encroachment(including human settlements and physicalinfrastructure) in the floodplain, or katcha areas,weak management of watershed and catch-ment areas, deforestation and poor regulationof existing reservoirs for flood control, and thecontrol of dykes by the rural elite. Constructionof barrages and flood protection embankmentshas reduced the floodplain, diverting the exces-sive flood water in to the canals which over-

flowed and inundated the large swath of settledareas away from the floodplain.4

The overwhelming majority of the flood affectedpeople belonged to the settlements and villageslocated at the floodplain or katcha areas.Historically, people have used the fertile alluvialland of the 500 km long floodplain for seasonal,temporary and shifting cultivation of minorcrops, fodder and forestry, leaving the katchaarea in case flooding occurs during and aftermonsoon season, and let the river meander itsnatural course. Persistent poverty and popula-tion pressure since the last three decades, how-ever, brought about a change for the worse inthe land-use of floodplains. Entire settlements,comprising mud houses, sprang up in the flood-plains, encouraged earlier by the absence of anypolicy on floodplain and riverine area manage-ment, and later through flawed policies.

Government Response and theGapsThe National Disaster Management Authority

(NDMA) developed an initial response plan inconsultations with UN agencies in August. Therelief phase of the plan ended on 31st January2011 followed by the Early Recovery phaseimplemented through the Early RecoveryWorking Group via decentralized provincialgroups and district sectoral working groups forhousing, health, education, water and sanita-tion, community physical infrastructure, non-farm livelihood, governance, agriculture andfood security. Four cross cutting thematic groupsworked to supervise gender, environment, pro-tection and disaster risk reduction concerns.There were 252 projects in the Early RecoveryPhase out of which only 67 were funded.5

Cluster approach was adopted to coordinateefforts of state agencies, UN agencies, NGOs,philanthropists and media. District coordinationcommittees were formed and the work in union

23Labour Rights in PakistanThe Floods 2010: Impact on VulnerableLives and Livelihoods

councils distributed cluster-wise to avoid dupli-cation. The government diverted a substantialportion of the development fund to rehabilita-tion. Among the prominent features of the gov-ernment's response, cash transfer through dis-tribution of 1,670,550 NADRA Watan Cards wassignificant as it provided short-term financialsupport to the families. In the process NADRAalso issued 221,384 new National Identity Cardsto the people who did have the cards before.6

Also, the Government of Sindh recovered95,000 acres of state land and distributed it to5,800 landless families.7

The extent and the scope, and the benefitsaccrued to households from the recovery andrehabilitation work differed in each district dueto several reasons including geographical acces-sibility, participation of beneficiaries, dynamismof local activists and influence of political elite inthe district. By June 2011, several issues hadbeen identified by various agencies active on theground. The repair of the embankments wasslow and in Sindh, the embankments werereportedly raised by only two or three feet, ratherthan the recommended six feet. The sheltersbuilt, mostly of concrete, did not meet the cul-tural needs of the communities. The sun flowerseeds distributed to the farmers, who had notcultivated this crop before, did yield good har-vest but did not benefit the farmers as they hadno access to its market hence were pushed tosold the crop to middlemen at low price.

Aside capacity constraints of the state institu-tions and lack of coordination within these andwith other actors-UN agencies, NGOs, interna-tional donor agencies and philanthropists-theissues that hampered recovery included shiftingof responsibility from the NDMA to the Council ofCommon Interests and the formation ofNational Oversight Disaster ManagementCouncil that '…added a further layer of confusionfor stakeholders as which was the key oversightbody.'8 Also, the implications arising out of the18th Amendment and the NFC award createdtension and ambiguity regarding fiscal andadministrative arrangements for relief andrecovery.

The Displaced PopulationThe disaster led to displacement of millions ofpeople from flooded areas to dry places, mostlycloser to homes and to urban centres in thehome districts. Almost all the IDPs in KhyberPakhtunkhwa and Punjab returned to their dev-astated abodes soon as the water receded

downstream to the flood plains. In Sindh, mostof the districts remained flooded till early 2011as the water was trapped between raised infra-structure (roads, bridges, settlements). By thefirst quarter of 2011, majority of the IDPs leftthe camps and returned to home districts. Alarge number of people from the affected dis-tricts in Sindh, took refuge in the cities ofKarachi and Hyderabad. The families who hadresources, assets and support systems in drydistricts' cities stayed with their relatives andfriends. Those who had no asset back home andwere indebted, remained in the cities and strug-gled to eke out a living from manual labour.

The displaced persons overwhelmingly belongedto the lowest stratum of society. Rural and mar-ginalized, poorest of the poor, a significant num-ber of the IDPs have been agricultural workers--tenants, share-croppers and manual labour.Several international humanitarian bodies,donor agencies and national civil society organi-zations investigated and documented the condi-tions at relief camps and of the relief measures.A few probed the socio-economic indicators andlivelihood status of the displaced families priorto 2010 floods. PILER also undertook a profilingand livelihood needs assessment survey togauge socio-economic indicators and the liveli-hood status of the IDPs prior to the floods.

The profiling of 3,000 IDPs, undertaken byPILER, indicated a life of deprivation, denial ofopportunities for dignified livelihood and viola-tion of fundamental human rights as enshrinedin the constitution of the country. It was not theflood that devastated the people: they werealready living a life at the fringe of society,excluded from the mainstream, suppressed bythe local elite and abandoned by the policymakers. The floods proved the last straw andpushed them off the precipice, depriving themof the meagre assets they had. The discussionswith the IDPs revealed a rural society deeplymired in relational issues and concentration ofpower in the hands of few. It emerged thatrebuilding decent lives and livelihoods of theflood affected population needs more than aidpackages and projects: it would require a newsocial contract of the state with the people anda massive overhaul of government priorities andpolicies.

Meagre Incomes, PoorLivelihoods Relatively high number of IDPs--48 per cent--reported a living through manual labour, while a


significant 31.7 per cent were engaged in farm-ing. A very small number, 5 per cent, wereemployed in offices (government/private) and8.5 per cent made a living through petty trade.Almost 50 per cent earned an income betweenRs. 4,000 to Rs. 8,000 per month (US$ 48 to 96per month or $ 1.6 to $3.2 per day), while 17 percent reported an income below Rs. 4,000. Theoverwhelming majority of the household, 85.7per cent, had only one earner in the family of 7members.

Only 37 per cent of the IDPs reported that theyowned a piece of land: 63 per cent did not ownland. Almost half of those who owned land hadjust 1 to 5 acres of land whereas 40.44 per centreported landownership of between 6 to 25acres and 10 per cent had land up to 50 acres.Of the landless IDPs, 21 per cent worked asharis with different landlords while 30.6 per centreported to be engaged in causal labour in dif-ferent farms. A significant number 39.3 per centeked out a living through manual labour (i.e.construction, transportation, blacksmith, shoe-making) while 4 per cent engaged in petty tradeor hawking. The number of daily wage earnerswas reported to be 42.2 per cent. A very largenumber of the flood-affected population, 67 percent, reported debt (compared to 23 per centSindh households under debt as reported in theAgricultural Census 2000). With their meagresource of livelihood jeopardized in the floods, asignificant number expressed their desire to finda different vocation if possible and wanted torelocate away from the katcha plains where theylived prior to flooding.

Social Deprivation and Insecurity The issues shared by the IDPs included inade-quate opportunities for schooling and skill devel-opment. Some of the villages were reported tobe bereft of even primary school. The IDPs nar-rated how the school buildings were being usedby waderas for their own purposes. The use ofschool grounds and buildings by tribal leaders-often involved in tribal conflicts-make theschools unsafe. Lack of health facilities was yetanother major constraint in the life of the floodaffected people.

The rural Sindh is riddled with social stratifica-tion. Many flood affected people, particularly ofShikarpur, Jacobabad and Kashmore districtsshared stories of how tribal conflicts, vendettasand killing of innocent people of the warringclans have impacted their life and livelihoods.The conflicts emanate from property disputes,

theft of livestock, whimsical allegations or relateto karo-kari. The tribal chiefs, or feudal lords,mostly members of the provincial assembly orlinked to political parties, use political clout orshow of power, displaying weapons, to terrorizethe poor peasantry of the warring tribes who arenot a party to the conflict. A number of floodaffected people reported a life marred by highhandedness and exploitation by land lords whodeprive the poor of even the zakat money andtheir national identity cards to access govern-ment benefits. The IDPs told of the complexwadera-dacoit-police nexus that works againstthem. The state institutions are totally under theinfluence of waderas. The share croppers arecheated and deprived of their due share fromthe crops. A high prevalence of gender discrimi-nation and violence against women was report-ed in the home districts of the IDPs. Minoritycommunities i.e. dalits or scheduled Hinducastesuffer discrimination and marginalization.

The narratives of turmoil and distrust at microlevel in rural society indicate a weakening of col-lective human values that sustain a communityand help it flourish. Lack of good will and empa-thy for fellow beings, and exploitation of theweaker members characterize the contempo-rary rural society. Absence of social cohesionand connectedness is also evident in usurpationof traditional community institutions and grossmisuse of state institutions by the powerful.Disintegration of democratic institutions andprevalence of elite-driven customary judiciarywas identified by the IDPs. The jirgas settle notonly civil disputes but all types of criminaloffences. As told by the IDPs, the court is sub-servient to wadera and his jirga has powers aslegislature, judiciary and executive authority andit go unchallenged by the courts which arealmost dysfunctional in rural areas.

According to an estimate it would take ten yearsto rebuild the physical and social infrastructurewashed away in floods, and bring the affectedpopulation back to the level of pre-flood exis-tence. Unless structural changes are initiatedand an institutional framework for inclusivegrowth and development is established atmacro and micro levels, the lives of the floodaffected people would remain deprived andmired in issues despite efforts for rehabilitation,rebuilding and reconstruction.

At this juncture, when the grossly inequitablesystem has been exposed to its roots through anatural disaster, it is pertinent to right a histori-


cal wrong perpetuated on the rural citizenry andensure their access to the mainstream develop-ment. This can be achieved through a '…changein Pakistan's economic policy paradigm forachieving economic democracy in order to pro-vide economic citizenship to all of the peoplerather than a few.'9

End Notes

1. Revised Floods Relief and Early RecoveryPlan, United Nations, November 20102. Pakistan Floods: Agricultural Implications,OCHA, 30 Aug 2010

3. Revised Floods Relief and Early RecoveryPlan, United Nations, November 20104. Arif Hasan, Floods and After, Dawn, 30 August20105. http://www.pakistanfloods.pk/6. Pakistan Floods 2010: Lessons Learned,NDMA, Government of Pakistan,http://ndma.gov.pk/Documents/flood_2010/lesson_learned7. Rebuilding Lives: Post 2010 Floods, PolicyBrief July 2011, ActionAid Pakistan8. Pakistan Floods 2010: Lessons Learned,NDMA, Government of Pakistan9. Report of the Panel of Economists 2010



Section Two



Economic Crisis: Impact on Labour

The economy of Pakistan has been in thethroes of a serious crisis. Economic growthfell to 2.4 per cent in 2010-2011, a negligi-

ble growth given the population growth rate of2.05 per cent. With inflation persisting in doubledigits at 14.1 per cent, and food inflation evenhigher at 18.4 per cent, poverty inequality andfood insecurity have risen.

The economic survey quotes an AsianDevelopment Bank study, showing that a 20 percent rise in food inflation can push up the per-centage of those living below the $1.25-a-daypoverty line by as much as 4.5 percentagepoints. No numbers have been provided for theextent of poverty based on the national poverty

line since the controversial results related to2004-05 and 2005-06. Information on inequali-ty also does not go beyond 2007-08. It is report-ed that the survey related to 2010-11 is under-way. Until then, there is no knowing the trueextent of poverty. Similarly, the unemploymentrate of 5.6 per cent is grossly underestimated.Public expenditure on education has fallen to1.8 per cent of GDP and that on health to an all-time low of 0.2 per cent of GDP. Overall, theeconomy looks like a rudderless ship, lackingpolicy direction. Social sector has beensqueezed, subsidies for the poor have beenslashed and labour has been left to the vagariesof the market.

Dr. Pervaiz Tahir

Share in GDP GrowthItems FY09 FY10 FY09 FY10Commodity Producing Sector 47.1 47.6 1.8 4.7

1. Agriculture 21.8 21.2 4.0 0.6- Major Crops 7.3 6.9 7.8 -22.4- Minor Crops 2.5 2.2 -11.2 -77.8- Livestock 11.3 11.4 3.1 4.3- Fishing 0.4 0.4 2.3 1.4- Forestry 0.3 0.3 -33.0 2.2INDUSTRIAL SECTOR 25.3 26.4 -00.1 8.3

2. Mining & Quarrying 2.5 2.5 -00.5 2.23. Manufacturing 18.2 18.6 -33.6 5.5

- Large Scale 12.1 12.3 -88.1 4.9- Small Scale * 4.7 4.9 7.5 7.5

4. Construction 2.06 2.55 -111.2 28.45. Electricity & Gas Distribution 2.5 2.8 59.0 17.7

Services Sector 52.9 52.4 1.7 2.96. Transport, Storage and Comm. 10.2 10.1 3.6 2.87. Wholesale & Retail Trade 16.8 17.0 -11.4 4.68. Finance & Insurance 5.7 4.9 -77.6 -111.39. Ownership of Dwellings 2.8 2.7 3.5 3.510. Public Administration & Defence 6.1 6.0 3.6 2.511. Services 11.3 11.8 8.9 7.812. GDP 100.0 100.0 1.7 3.8

Table: GDP growth

Source: State Bank of Pakistan, Annual Report 2009-110

Instead of going for homegrown programme ofnational austerity and pro-poor socio-economicreform, the elected government went to the IMFfor emergency assistance. Small wonder, theperiod 2008-11 has been an unending struggleto arrive at the elusive balance between the IMFconditionalities and the political compulsions.Economic growth took a nosedive in 2008-09 at1.72 percent. As population growth was higherthan the economic growth, there was a negativegrowth in GDP per capita. Growth revived in2009-10 to 3.8 percent, but it was clouded by ahigher fiscal deficit as percent of GDP of 6.3 percent and an inflation rate of 11.7 percent. At thevery start of the fiscal year 2010-11, huge floodsravaged the economy and inflicted a loss of over$10 billion on an economy already struggling tostabilize and grow. The heaviest floods in livingmemory impacted severely on livestock and theoutput of cotton, rice and sugarcane. Disruptionof transport systems and damages to vegeta-bles and pulses crops set in motion a new waveof food inflation.

Agriculture: Agriculture sector as a wholeexperienced a decline in growth from 4 per centin 2008-09 to 2.2 per cent in 2009-10 andshowed a negative growth of -0.4 in 2010-2011.Scarcity of irrigation and rainwater and then theflooding, shortages of certified seeds and volatil-ity of the world market in rice and sugarcanereduced area under cultivation. Large farmersnow respond to market signals, which make theoutput growth cyclical. Yield per acre alsodeclined in certain cases. Scarcity of water alsodepressed growth in the fisheries subsector,which declined from 2.3 per cent in 2008-09 to1.4 percent in 2009-10 and picked up slightly at1.9 per cent after flooding in 2010-2011. Thepositive overall growth of agriculture sector wasmainly due to an impressive growth in livestocksubsector of 3.7 percent in 2010-2011, up from3.1 percent in 2008-09. Demand for meat andits preparations, live animals and milk and itspreparations have been growing in the world aswell as domestically. Prices have been risingsteadily and the opportunities to make profitsexpanding. Livestock exports have doubled inthe past 3 years. There has, however, been nopolicy initiative to reduce pressure on domesticprices.

The year 2010-11 started with floods playinghavoc with kharif crops, but higher pricesencouraged farmers to sow cotton and wheatover a larger area. Yet, the improved soil qualityas a result of floods did not improve yields as

expected and the major crops showed a nega-tive growth of -4.0 per cent in 2010-2011 thoughthe minor crops fared better and registered agrowth of 4.8 per cent. Agriculture growth in2010-11 was recorded (provisionally) at 1.2 per-cent.

Industry: Industrial sector includes manufac-turing, mining, energy and construction. As awhole, the sector posted a growth higher thanthe agriculture sector, mainly due to improvedglobal demand. Industrial growth stood at 8.3per cent in 2009-2010. Manufacturing and con-struction sectors led the way, propelled by con-sumer durables in the case of the former andlower material costs in the case of the later.Large-scale manufacturing registered a growthof 4.9 percent in 2009-10, compared to negativegrowth in the previous year. Higher farmincomes resulting from better prices, risingremittances and global demand spurred recov-ery in consumer and export industries.

Higher demand resulting from hefty increases insalaries and pensions in the public sector with-out significant increase in production capacity ofdifferent sectors fuelled inflation for all, particu-larly for workers who could secure an increase of16.7 percent only in the minimum wage when itwas increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 in May2010. In fact the increase encouraged employ-ers to hire as much informal labour as theycould.

Services: Until 2007-08, GDP growth haslargely been services-led. In 2008-09, however,the services sector growth was the lowest in adecade. Growth in the sector returned in 2009-10, recorded at 2.9 percent and that nearly dou-bled in 2010-2011 at 4.1 per cent. Wholesaleand retail trade picked up in line with the agri-cultural and manufacturing growth. Telecomwas another growing sector, while financial sec-tor posted a negative growth. The services sec-tor also was the beneficiary of a high growth inthe unproductive subsector of public administra-tion and defence.

In 2010-2011, the wholesale and retail subsec-tor grew at 3.9. This is encouraging because ofthe relatively greater employment absorption inthis subsector. This sector is modernizing rapid-ly, from traditional self-employment to the smallas well large super markets and chain stores. Ithas created skilled jobs in sales, but automationhas also displaced workers in some categories.Use of skill-based and trained manpower and


automation are also visible in the transport andcommunication subsector. Increasing use ofsecurity equipment has created demand forskilled workers, along with ordinary securitystaff.

Every time the opinion gathers that informationand communication technology (ICT) subsectorhas reached its saturation point, the subsectorbeats the pundits. It recovered from a contrac-tion in 2008-09 to expansion and growth in2009-10 in domestic as well as export market.Completion of projects under the UniversalServices Fund and fiscal measures to facilitateimports contributed to this revival. Tele-densityas well as cellular subscribers' base has beenexpanding and contributing to the strength ofthe subsector. Brain drain is causing local skillsshortages. Local market is small and competi-tion in the world market is severe. Despite beinghi-tech, the sector is more labour intensive thancapital intensive. Its unorganized part is con-tributing significantly to the rising inflow ofremittances. ICT has the potential to supporthigher growth in the economy.

Revival of commodity sectors did not find amatching growth in transport services, whichgrew at the rate of 3.7 per cent in 2008-09 and3.6 per cent in 2009-10 and it declined sharplyto 1.3 per cent in 2010-2011. The historicalunderinvestment in infrastructure such as rail-ways and shipping continues to take its toll.

Despite higher sales of commercial vehicles, thehigh cost of fueling road transport disabled it topick up the slack caused by railways and fre-quent disruptions of pipelines. Inter-city privatebus services are thriving. Improved service fetch-es higher price also. But frequent adjustment infares forced by fuel price revisions leads to pub-lic resentment. The operators do not have muchroom for manoeuvre as fuel is their main oper-ating cost. Intra-city travel continues to lack pol-icy attention.

2. Work and wages

Informal sector provides 73 per cent of the totalemployment, with the formal sector contributingthe balance. The avenues of decent work contin-ue to be a smaller proportion of total employ-ment.

Unemployment: With the economy on the down-hill, the unemployment rate indicates aninsignificant movement in the official data.There is, however, a continual increase in therate of unemployment since 2007-08 when itwas 5.2 per cent . In 2009-10, the unemploy-ment rate was 5.6 per cent, higher only by 0.1percentage point from the previous year unem-ployment rate of 5.5 per cent. The increase inunemployment has largely affected womenworkers in urban area, with their unemploymentrate rising from 17.6 per cent in 2008-09 to 20.8per cent in 2009-10 (see Table below).

Even at these very slowly rising rates of unem-ployment, the absolute numbers provide enoughcause to worry. It may be noted that the totalnumber of the unemployed in 2009-10 was ashigh as 3.05 million. Perceptions that this mayonly be the tip of an iceberg are not very far fromreality. In all provinces except Sindh, the numberof rural unemployed was higher than the urbanunemployed. This suggests that the higher ruralincomes resulting from higher support andexport prices are not translating into higher rural

employment. The unemployment data corrobo-rates with the poverty data, which shows ruralpoverty to be higher than urban poverty. InSindh, the number of urban unemployed washigher than the rural unemployed. But the ruralunemployment is catching up, as the size of therural unemployed rose sharply by 64.3 per centbetween 2008-09 and 2009-10 compared tothe rise of only 10 per cent in the size of theurban unemployed. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa con-tinues to suffer from the deteriorating security


Area/Sex 2008-09 2009-10

Total Male Female Total Male Female

Pakistan 5.5 4.5 9.0 5.6 4.4 9.5

Rural 4.7 3.9 7.2 4.8 3.9 7.2

Urban 7.1 5.6 17.6 7.2 5.3 20.8

UNEMPLOYMENT RATES - BY AREA AND SEX

Source: Federal Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Survey 2009-110

situation. The size of the unemployed in thisprovince in 2008-09 was higher than Sindh andabout the same in 2009-10, although its popu-lation is a little over half of the Sindh’s popula-tion.

Pakistan has a relatively young population,which can be a boon if gainfully employed and abane if not. Data reveals that the highest ratesof unemployment prevail in teens and twenties .In 2009-10, it was 7.9 per cent for the age group20-24 years and 8.9 per cent for the age group15-19 years, well above the overall unemploy-ment rate of 5.6 per cent. With unemploymentrates like these, the country may well be facing

a demographic threat rather than an opportuni-ty. Also reported is the decline of unemploymentrate for the age group 15-19 years from 9.5 percent in 2008-09 to 8.9 percent in 2009-10. Itseems that the employers are recruiting youngerworkers in flexible contracts or at piece rates.

Underemployment: Underemployment isdefined as all employed persons who, during thereference period, work for less than 35 hours per

week and seek or are available for alternative oradditional work. Underemployment rate is thetime related underemployed populationexpressed as a percentage of the currentlyactive population. This rate declined from 1.44per cent in 2008-09 to 1.25 percent in 2009-10.The decline was higher for women workers aswell as for rural areas. Rising inflation and eco-nomic stagnation has forced workers to adoptvarious coping strategies, the most importantbeing multiple jobs. This feature is reflected inthe decline in the rate of underemployment.

Wages, nominal and real: The Labour ForceSurvey 2009-10 reveals a number of interesting

features about nominal wages. First, averagewage for all occupations was Rs 8,623.Secondly, the average wage for elementary(unskilled) occupations was Rs 5,716, i.e. lessthan the minimum wage officially fixed at Rs7,000 in May 2010 and just above the minimumwage for skilled agricultural and fisheries work-ers. Thirdly, the overall occupational averagemonthly wage for women was 64.6 per cent ofthe average for men, and less than minimum


Age Group 2008-09 2009-10


10-14 9.3 9.7 8.7 10.8 9.8 12.9

15-19 9.5 8.9 11.3 8.9 8.3 10.9

20-24 7.3 6.2 11.5 7.9 6.8 12.1

25-29 4.3 3.5 7.1 4.8 3.4 9.3

30-34 2.6 1.9 4.9 2.6 1.5 5.8

35-39 1.7 1.1 3.5 2.3 1.5 4.8

40-44 1.5 1.1 3.1 1.8 1.3 3.8

45-49 2.4 1.5 5.7 2.8 2.3 4.5

50-54 4.6 3.1 11.2 4.4 2.9 10.1

55-59 6.1 4.4 13.6 5.9 3.9 13.4

60 years and above 12.7 8.9 30.8 10.6 7.3 28.6


UNEMPLOYMENT RATES - BY SEX AND AGE

Area 2008-09 2009-10


Pakistan 1.44 1.20 2.29 1.25 1.10 1.73

Rural 1.61 1.48 1.99 1.39 1.31 1.61

Urban 1.05 0.67 3.72 0.91 0.71 2.31


UNDEREMPLOYMENT (TIME-RELATED) RATES OF PAKISTAN- BY AREA AND GENDER

wage. It was less than minimum wage in fouroccupational categories. Unless it is a samplingerror, average monthly wage for women washigher than men in the category of profession-als, and skilled agricultural and fisheries work-ers. Data shows that minimum wage rules inmanufacturing, but not for women. It also showsthat in mining and quarrying, average monthlywage for women is Rs 9,600 and Rs 6,963 formen. This certainly seems to be one of the caseswhere caution is recommended by the authorsof the Labour Force Survey. They state: "Sincefemales constitute much lower proportion ofwage earners, a sort of anomalous position intheir case is observed in certain categories,which may be attributed to sampling effect andconsequential scariness of response."

Pakistan has experienced very high rates of

inflation since 2007-08, with serious conse-quences for the real wage and purchasingpower. The table below depicts the increases innominal wages for various occupational groupsbetween 2007-08 and 2009-10 and compares itwith the increase in inflation for the sameincome group. As is the convention, inflation ismeasured by the changes in the Consumer PriceIndex (CPI), which is calculated for four incomegroups and for all income groups combined. Theincome groups for various occupational cate-gories in the labour force were decided on thebasis of nominal wage in 2007-08. The occupa-tional categories have been listed in ascendingorder of average monthly nominal wage.

It would be seen that the overall increase of 30.4per cent in the nominal wage has been beatenby an inflation of 34.9 per cent. Out of the 9


2008-09 2009-10

Major Industry Divisions Total Male Female Total Male Female

Total 7635 7997 5189 8623 9017 5821

Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing 4194 5096 2972 4968 5730 3358

Mining & quarrying 7661 7666 7333 6976 6963 9600

Manufacturing 6769 7385 2912 7534 8080 3437

Electricity, gas and water 12383 12401 10050 14548 14398 25325

Construction 6510 6531 5020 7389 7397 6207

Wholesale, retail trade, restaurants & hotels 5705 5708 5479 6609 6660 4013

Transport, storage and communication 8069 8026 11139 9396 9328 13685

Financing, insurance, real state and business 16440 16363 18158 18174 17897 31240

Community, social and personal services 9718 10519 7104 10984 11771 7761


AVERAGE MONTHLY WAGES OF EMPLOYEES BY MAJOR INDUSTRY DIVISIONS

Occupational groups % increase in % increase in inflation Real wagenominal wages by income group increasing/decreasing

Elementary unskilled 26.5 36.8 DecreasingSkilled agri/fishries 41.5 36.1 IncreasingCrafts & related trades 31.0 36.1 DecreasingServices/shops/market sales workers 31.3 36.1 DecreasingPlant/machine operators, assemblers 32.9 36.1 DecreasingTechnicians/associate professionals 43.4 36.1 IncreasingClerks 16.8 36.1 DecreasingProfessionals 32.1 37.5 DecreasingLegislators/senior officers/managers 34.9 37.5 DecreasingOverall 30.4 34.9 Decreasing


TRENDS IN REAL WAGES 2007-10

occupational groups studied here, only two expe-rienced an increase in real wage. These includedskilled agricultural and fisheries workers, andtechnicians and associate professionals. Theworst sufferers were clerks and elementaryunskilled workers. In the case of the former, thegap between nominal wage and inflation was ashigh as 19.3 percentage points, while in thecase of the latter it was 10.3 per cent. In gener-al, the erosion of real purchasing power was rel-atively greater for the low wage earners than forthe high salary groups. The minimum wage of Rs7,000 has become meaningless.

3. Budget reprioritization andworkers

A focused way of looking at the impact of budg-etary reprioritization on workers is the shiftingbalance of pro-poor expenditure. As a share ofGDP, this expenditure increased only marginally.Education experienced the lowest percentageincrease in expenditure, i.e. 7.97 per cent.Overall human development constituted 32.5per cent of the total expenditure in 2009-10compared to 33.7 per cent in the previous year,a decline of 0.2 percentage points. Marketaccess and community services registered thelowest growth, with a decline in their share in thetotal expenditure. The share of social safety netsalso declined, especially the subsidies and foodsupport programmes. Related to the security sit-uation in the country, the highest growth of 37.3per cent was witnessed in the expenditure onlaw and order.

The situation is becoming worse in the currentyear, i.e. 2010-11. For the first six months,

expenditure on social security and social safetynets has declined to Rs 5.3 billion from Rs 19.1billion in the comparable period of the last year.Subsidies have also been reduced and food sup-port programmes discontinued. Expenditure on

education revived. Expenditure on law and orderhas become one of the major claimants. Totalexpenditure for the six months works out at 2.7per cent of the GDP, which means that this ratiofor the year as a whole is likely to be less thanlast year.

In regard to budgetary matters, a developmentof profound significance for workers is the imple-mentation of the Seventh National FinanceCommission Award with effect from the fiscalyear 2010-11 . In the first place, the share of theprovinces has been increased from 45 per centin 2009-10 to 56 per cent in the current FiscalYear, 2010-11. It will rise further to 57.5 from2011-12 onwards. As a result, the 2010-11budget has projected a resource transfer of Rs.1,077 billion to the provinces, an increase by69.8 per cent over the actual transfer of Rs.634.2 billion in FY2009-10. Secondly, popula-tion has been replaced by a multiple criteria forsharing resources between the provinces. Theweight of population has been reduced to 82.0percent, with poverty and backwardness allowed10.3 per cent, revenue collection/generation 5.0percent and inverse population density 2.7 percent.

It is noticed that the relatively poorer provincesof Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa havegained, while the slight decline in the share of

Sindh has also been compensated by a specialprovision.

4. The Eighteenth Amendmentand labour

The Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act,2010 was passed by the Parliament in April2010. The Amendment has significantlyincreased the quantum of provincial autonomy.Provinces now have a greater number of sub-jects to deal with and, as already indicated, alarger share of resources under the 7th NFC. The18th Amendment gives provinces vast control of


Existing 7th NFC AwardBalochistan 7.17% 9.09%Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 14.88% 14.62%Punjab 53.01% 51.74%Sindh 24.94% 24.55%Total 100.00% 100%

Provinces’ Share in the NFC

Indicators 2008-09 2009-2010As % of GDPTotal Administrative Expenditure 19.9 20.3Defence 2.6 2.5Interest on Foreign Debt 0.6 0.4Repayment/Amortization of Foreign Debt 1.8 1.3Development Expenditure 3.8 3.5


Govt. Expenditures (as % of GDP)

the social sectors, especially as the ConcurrentLegislative List has been abolished and changeshave been made in Federal Legislative List, PartI&II. All subjects not falling under the FederalLegislative List belong to the provinces. Labourand manpower is one of them. All matters relat-ed to labour have been entrusted to theprovinces, which has important implications forworkers and their organization.

In addition to the functions already performedby the Provincial Departments of Labour, the18th Amendment has given the following sub-jects to the provinces:

1) Welfare of labour; conditions of labour, provident funds, employers' liability and workmen's compensation, health insurance including invalidity pensions, old age pensions

2) Trade unions; industrial and labourdisputes

3) The setting up and carrying on of labour exchanges, employment information bureaus and training establishments

4) Regulation of labour and safety in mines, factories and in oilfields

5) Unemployment insurance

In view of this comprehensive devolution, theFederal Ministry of Labour and Manpowerbecomes completely redundant. Provinces areempowered to have their own labour policies,with different minimum wage levels.Organizations like the Employees' Old AgeBenefits Institution (EOBI) and the WorkersWelfare Fund (WWF) will have to be provincial-ized, as also the skills and vocational trainingschemes and institutions. EOBI and WWF arekey labour welfare organizations, meriting sepa-rate discussion.

Employees' Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI):Employees' Old Age Benefit Institution (EOBI)was established under EOBI Act 1976. It main-tains the Employees' Old Age Benefits Fund,which provides old age benefits to insured per-sons working in industrial, commercial andother organizations in the private sector employ-ing 10 or more workers. In 2007-08, the numberof registered establishments was 56,632 with2.7 million eligible workers. The EOBI is financedby contributions/payments made by the employ-ers, income from investment and donations. All


FY 2008-09 FY 2009-10

(July 01 - June 30) (July 01 - June 30)*

Programs No. of Disbursement No. of Disbursement

Beneficiaries (Rs. Millions) Beneficiaries (Rs. Millions)

Old Age Pension 185,600 3,704 197,216 4,156

Invalidity Pension 4,600 174 4,893 96

Survivors Pension 97,900 1,851 106,369 2,149

Old-Age Grants 1,900 58 1,774 21

Total 290,000 5,787 310,352 6,442

Source: Employees’ Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI).

EOBI progress: 2008-09/2009-10

FY 2008-09 FY 2009-10

(July 01 - June 30) (July 01 - June 30)*

Welfare Measures No. of Disbursement No. of Disbursement

Beneficiaries (Rs. Millions) Beneficiaries (Rs. Millions)

Education Schemes 36,314 945 52,746 1,228,73

Scholarship Cases 15,721 345 7,640 433,73

Marriage Grant Cases 9,499 473 9,074 495,80

Death Grant Cases 339 17 - -

Total 63,008 2,087 70,403 2,432

Source: Workers Welfare Fund (WWF), Ministry of Labour and Manpower, Islamabad

WWF progress: 2008-09/2009-10

insured persons, men and women, with 15 yearsof contribution are entitled to a monthly old-agepension. In addition, it provides invalidity pen-sion, survivors' pension and old age grants.

The table below indicates that between 2008-09and 2009-10, total disbursement increased by11 per cent, number of beneficiaries increasedby 7 per cent. In 2009-10, Old Age Pension, themajor programme, constituted 65 per cent ofthe total disbursement, Survivors PensionProgramme 33 per cent, Invalidity PensionProgramme 2 per cent and Old-age GrantsProgramme less than 1 per cent.

Workers Welfare Fund (WWF): With a contribu-tion of Rs. 100 million, the Federal Governmentset up Workers Welfare Fund (WWF) in 1971with a view to financing housing projects for theworkers as well as taking welfare measures inareas such as education, training, re-skilling,apprenticeship, marriage and death grants andpost matric scholarships. The central secretariatof the WWF is in Islamabad with provincialWorkers Welfare Boards as operational arms. Ithas a tripartite governing body with the repre-sentation of government, workers, and employ-ers. Benefits can be accessed on the basis ofstandard criteria. A standard eligibility criterionhas been developed to access benefits. Between2008-09 and 2009-10, the WWF's activitiesexperienced a modest increase. Data shows thatin 2009-10, education schemes claimed thelargest share of 51 per cent, followed by 20 percent under marriage grants, 18 per cent underscholarship, 11 per cent under death grants.

EOBI and WWF are in the nature of employment-based income guarantee schemes benefiting asubstantial segment of working population. The

disbursements and the number of beneficiarieshave increased over time, providing some succorto the worst sufferers of erosion in real wages inthe face of rising inflation.

The EOBI has assets valued at Rs 148 billion,which have been misused in the past to makebad investments. Recently, projects related towind power and some others have been underconsideration. Conceiving these investments,clearly beyond the mandate of the EOBI, and ata time when the institution has to be devolved byJune 2011, is unlikely to serve the interests ofover 3 million beneficiary workers.

Surviving in a chaotic economy

Since 1988, the economy of Pakistan has beenunder one IMF programme or other. All regimeswithout any discrimination have made their con-tributions to the neo-liberal agenda of deregula-tion, liberalization and privatization. While therehas not been much success in achieving thestated outcome of macroeconomic stability inthe form of lower fiscal deficit, lower currentaccount deficit, lower inflation and sustainedGDP growth, the rollback of the state has con-tinued at a steady pace. Total governmentspending as a percentage of GDP has declined,reflecting the reducing size of the government.Within the total expenditure, the reduction inpro-poor, pro-worker expenditures on education,health and social protection have been thesharpest. Changing rules of the game have beenlimiting the space for organized labour and col-lective bargaining for a living wage at a time ofrapid erosion of real wages. Restoration of thespirit of the original 1973 Constitution throughthe 18th Amendment is a welcome develop-ment, but there is not enough understanding of


Years EOBI disbursements EOBI beneficiaries WWF disbursements WWF beneficiaries(Rs million) (000) (Rs million) (000)

2002-03 1592 108 2236 60

2003-04 1742 115 1944 63

2004-05 1929 121 2006 94

2005-06 2899 281 2609 161

2006-07 3466 260 2791 166

2007-08 4227 273 7840 169

2008-09 5787 290 2087 63

2009-10 6442 310 2432 70

Source: EOBI and WWF

EOBI and WWF: Disbursements and the number of beneficiaries

its implications for the workers and their organ-zations as well as official bodies set up for theirwelfare.

In more recent years, the collapse of growth,especially in the industrial sector, due to energyshortages, deteriorating security, floods andfalling global and domestic demand, hasreduced the demand for labour. The economygrew by a meagre 1.72 per cent in 2008-09,implying a decline in income per capita. Largescale manufacturing output shrank by 8.1 percent. Total investment fell from 22.1 per cent ofGDP to 18.2 per cent. By 2009-10, it was as lowas 15.4 per cent. It appears that the trend maycontinue to be downwards in the current year. Asa result, even the notoriously low official unem-ployment rate has begun to rise.

End Notes

1. Economic Survey 2010-11, 2. Ibid3. Ibid.4. Ibid.5. Labour Force Survey 2007-08, 6. Labour Force Survey 2009-10, 7. Ibid8. Labour Force Survey 2009-10, Pg: 32.9. Labour Force Survey 2009-10, Pg: 32.10. Labour Force Survey 2009-10, Pg: 38.11. Labour Force Survey 2009-10, Pg: 37.12. Labour Force Survey 2009-10, Pg: 37.13. Federal Budget 2010-11, Chaper Budget inBrief, Pg:2414. Federal Budget 2010-11, Chaper Budget inBrief, Pg:1715. Federal Budget 2010-11, Chaper Budget inBrief, Pg:2316. Economic Survey 2010-11, StatisticalAppendix: Growth and Investment, Pg: 3, 17. Economic Survey 2010-11, Chapter: Growthand Investment, Pg: 14



A simplistic supply-demand view of thelabour market blames labour market insti-tutions for creating obstacles to its opti-

mal clearance and improved economic perform-ance. The evidence presented in support of thiscontention is far from convincing. Regulation oflabour market is no less or no more importantthan regulatory authorities. In fact, the absenceor weakening of such regulations saddles theeconomy with working poor, which aggravatesthe already rising poverty, as in Pakistan. Withpoverty having the face of a woman, a weak reg-ulatory framework will prevent proper engender-ing of the labour market.

It has been found that women's work is not onlyinvisible but also not recognized. There is nodata available on women's work because mostof the time their work is unpaid and non-mone-tized. Furthermore, the rate of income thatwomen in the informal sector earn is usuallyfound to be low in comparison with those thatare associated with the formal sector. The cru-cial factors for women employment are house-hold size, the number of children in the house-hold, dependency ratios, fertility patterns andhousing characteristics. Most of the womenwork because of poverty, which in Pakistan hasbeen on the rise.

Pakistan has experimented with a number ofdevelopment strategies since independence.Women's economic contribution, however,began to be mentioned only in the past twodecades. Three basic official documents analyzethe situation of poor—Medium TermDevelopment Framework (MTDF) 2005-10,Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to beachieved by 2015 and Poverty ReductionStrategy Paper (PRSP). The MTDF recognizedthe under-enumeration of women's contributionto the GDP and the lack of accurate sex-disag-gregated data. However, it did not provide muchguidance on what needs to be done to rectify the

situation. Evaluations of the MTDF performancedo not suggest any directional change. Most ofthe information about the informal sector andespecially women's involvement comes fromindividual studies [Shaheed and Mumtaz(1981), Mumtaz and Saleem (2010)] that havehighlighted the key characteristics of the sectori.e. long hours of work, lack of continuity,absence of contracts and its often hazardousnature. A consequence of the exclusion ofwomen in the informal sector from data collec-tion is their not being prioritized in national,provincial or district policies or budgets. PRSP Iwas implemented but PRSP II has remained adraft document. The framework is, however,used to monitor the so-called poverty relatedexpenditure. In the indicators chosen to monitorprogress on the MDG related to women empow-erment, women's work found recognition.Planners are now required to monitor theshare/proportion of women employed in thenon-agricultural wage sector. It was about 8 percent in 1991 and has slowly moved up to 10.6percent by 2008-09. The MDG target is 14 per-cent for 2015.

In 2008, the United Nations adopted a new MDGTarget (1B)—Achieve full and productive employ-ment and decent work for all, including womenand young people. It was to be monitored by fourindicators: growth rate of labour productivity(GDP per person employed); employment-to-population ratio; proportion of employed peopleliving below the poverty line; and proportion ofown-account and contributing family workers intotal employment (vulnerable employmentrate). Pakistan has not yet started reporting ofthese indicators.

Women's position in theneoliberal market structure:review of literatureMarket is gender insensitive because it, among


Emerging Shape of Labour Markets and WomenDr. Nadia Saleem

other things, has no human face. Neoliberalagenda was presented as gender neutral: itnever paid attention to family and the position ofwomen in a family (Coulter 2009). In actualpractice, gender neutrality is "implicit masculin-ization of these macro-structural models"(Freeman 2001). The explicit gender neutralitynever adequately analyzed unpaid care, house-hold work and the role of women in agriculturallabour or role of women in the informal sector(Smith 1987). These activities do not enter theanalyses or are assumed to be in unlimited sup-ply (Elson 1994). The omission of women'sunpaid work created serious biases in under-standing negative consequences of neoliberalpolicies (Bergeron 2001). "Gendering" thedebate exposes the realities of women's andmen's lives in global processes (Gibson-Graham2002).

"Gendering" the neoliberal policies provides abetter understanding of the issue. Market neveraccounts for the unpaid work so it is unable tocare about the vulnerable state of women in asociety while claiming to resolve the question ofeconomic choices.

There are various negative effects of the neo lib-eral policies on women because on averageasset poverty is higher amongst women. Womenare not only economically poor but their mobilityis low and it makes it difficult for them to availopportunities and alternatives. "Freedom with-out opportunity is a devil's gift, and the refusal toprovide such opportunities is criminal. The fateof the more vulnerable offers a sharp measureof the distance from here to something thatmight be called 'civilization' "(Noam Chomasky,1997). Women are responsible for their familiesand they have to share the time between workand care. Women are usually on the lower tier ofthe workforce and work in the informal sector.All these aspects make women more vulnera-ble. Neoliberal policies have worsened the posi-tion of women in the globalized world (Hutton &Giddens, 2000).

Neoliberal polices affect men and women differ-ently and their impact on various women groupsis discriminatory (Pearson, 1998; Standing,1999). These policies have increased genderinequalities and poverty. The share of women inthe export oriented industries has increased but"international institutions and trade agreementrarely take the gendered nature of globalizationinto account" (Bell and Brambilla, 2002).Tradeliberalization policies are often implemented in

a social context that discriminates againstwomen (Elson, 1996). Trade policy affectsincome, employment and consumption pat-terns. Gender dimension of trade liberalizationfocuses on income and employment only(Demery and Addison, 1986).

These policies have negative consequences forworking class families because these familieshave reliance on the social welfare programmeswhich are scaled down or even eliminated.Women are not only affected as a family mem-ber of the disadvantaged group but also becauseof their role in the division of work. Familyresponsibility and reduction in public expendi-ture on social welfare make women more vul-nerable to the precarious job market conditions.Women have to accept lower quality jobs, withless labour protection and social security inorder to meet their family living cost (Royanian,2003). Women have to pay more for the healthcare in child bearing age and have to work hard-er for meeting these expenses. Many women livewithout marriage in their productive age. Ratioof single women increased with the implemen-tation of these policies. Free market policiesmake health and education inaccessible, whichresults in more social exclusion and discrimina-tion against women (Obando, 2003).

Women’s participation in the labour market hasled to a new model for labour market.Neoliberal policies have set the trend of exploita-tion and the core features of job market areidentified as rising labour force participation,especially of women. More women have joinedthe informal sector where wages are low andsocial security is nonexistent. Increased labourmarket flexibility resulted into income inequali-ties and poverty. Expansion of women in infor-mal workforce has reduced collective bargainingcapacity. Women have to deal with patriarchalsocial relations. They rarely enjoy the right tospend their income. They usually spend theirincome on household needs and children.Women are considered more sacrificing anddevoted workers. There is not much into unionactivity. It means the rules of the game are longworking hours, low wages, insecure workingconditions and no social security.

Neoliberal policies have widened the gapbetween different classes of women. The livingstandard between rich women and the poorworking class is incomparable (Jeong and Choi2003).


Effects of neoliberal policies onlabour market Pakistan has no long-term strategy to harnessits labour force potential. The economy observedreasonably high growth during 2002-07.Consumerism and speculative investmentsplayed an important role in this growth.Government adopted market liberalization poli-cies: it failed to benefit from the windfall gain offoreign assistance and remittances. The lack ofwill to facilitate trickle down growth advantageto benefit the poor working class appeared as in-apt neoliberal policies. Economy grew and thereis huge informal sector which is the part of for-mal economy. During 2008-11, growth hasslowed down and employment opportunitieshave been shrinking. With already low participa-tion rate in the labour force, women have beenpushed further into informal employment.

Asad and Sohail (2001) in their paper on womenworkers in Karachi compare the characteristicsof women working in the informal and formalsectors. They found that informal sector womenhad more children, and among them home-based workers had larger number than thoseengaged in small scale industry. Home-basedworkers made up the higher proportion of thesector (37%, whereas women in small and largescale industry were 32% and 31% respectively).

Their income was found to be lower: they workedlonger hours (8-12 hours/day) and needed towork because of poverty. The choice of workdepended on factors such as opportunity, ageand the marital status of women and their rela-tive skills. Other studies also disclose similarcharacteristics.

Although half of Pakistan's population consistsof women, their participation in the develop-ment process is far from equal. Socio-culturaltraditions reinforced by lack of access to oppor-tunities and resources relegate the majority ofwomen to traditional roles. In some direct mar-ket-oriented economic activities like agriculture,their contribution is substantial, but it remainslargely undervalued and unappreciated. Lowfemale participation in formal economic activi-ties can lead to gender disparities in educationand thus reduce future economic prospects.

Pakistan is the 6th most populous economy ofthe world with a total population of 173.51 mil-lion of which 84.2 million (48.5%) are females .The majority of the population, (approximately63.7%) lives in rural areas. Women make up48% of the population living in urban areas, and49% in rural areas. In 2009-10 out of total pop-ulation 54.92 million (31.65%) constituted therecorded labour force for all age groups. Labourforce has slightly increased. In 2008-09, it was


Years Total labour Male labour Female labour Male share Female shareforce force force of the labour of the labour (Millions) (Millions) (Millions) force(%) force (%)

2001-02 42.4 35.6 6.8 84.0 16.02005-06 50.33 39.92 10.41 79.3 20.72007-08 51.78 40.82 10.96 78.8 21.22008-09 53.72 41.91 11.81 78.0 22.02009-10 54.92 42.92 12.48 78.2 22.7

Source: Relevant Labour Force Surveys

Table -1: Labour force in Pakistan

Years Total Male Female Total Male Femaleemployed employed employed employed employed Employed labour labour labour labour LF LFforce force force force (%) share (%) share(%)

2001-02 38.88 33.19 5.69 91.7 78.28 13.422005-06 47.65 38.11 9.54 94.7 75.72 18.952007-08 49.09 39.06 10.03 94.8 75.43 19.372008-09 50.79 40.04 10.75 94.5 74.53 20.012009-10 51.87 40.58 11.29 94.4 73.89 20.56

Sources: Relevant Labour Force Surveys

Table -2: Employed Labour Force in Pakistan

53.72 million (30.96%). Labour force is primari-ly male (almost 78%). Compared with 2001-02,the male share of the labour force in 2007-08showed a decline of six percentage points withan almost equal increase in the female share(Table 1). While this may be a reflection ofchange in societal and household-level view ofwomen's formal employment it can also beinterpreted as the compulsion to earn in the faceof widespread poverty and rising inflation.

In terms of employment, according to theLabour Force Survey (LFS) 2009-10, totalemployed labour force in Pakistan was 51.87million (94% of total labour force) out of which11.29 million (22%) were females (Table 2).

Compared with the Labour Force Survey (LFS)2007-8, total employed labour force in Pakistanhas expanded from 49.09 million to 51.87 mil-lion but the share of employed labour forceslightly declined from 95% to 94% of totallabour force. At the same time more womenhave joined the labour force. Female employed

labour force share increased from 19% to 21%(Table 2). It shows that due to the increasinginflation rate and poverty women have to strug-gle more for the livelihood. They are seen ascheap, docile and peaceful workers available ina cost cutting environment. Moreover, it is easyto substitute them for expensive male workerswho demand social security and better workenvironment.

Employment is dominated by the male labourforce. The gap between male and femaleemployment in Pakistan has been historicallysubstantial and continues to be so. Between

2001-02 and 2009-10, the male share of theemployed labour force decreased by about 3percent and there was almost 7 percentincrease in the share of the female labour force.

Increased participation of womenin the labour forceIn Pakistan, the participation rate of the womenwork force has increased at a faster rate for ruralfemales than urban areas and male. It is indica-tive of increasing poverty and inflation rate inthe economy. Crude participation rate of (33%)of the recent LFS 2009-10 suggests very mar-ginal improvement for both males and females.It was 32.2% in LFS 2007-08 as compared toLFS 2001-02 (29.6%). Interestingly, the partici-pation rate increased significantly for rural areasfrom 29.9% to 34.5 % and for women from 9.9%to 15.5%. Overall, the female participation inlabour force increased significantly. It is an indi-cation of higher participation of women in thenon-farm sector in rural areas and their beingpushed into the informal sector in urban areas.

Increasing unemployment anddecreasing underemploymentAccording to the Labour Force Survey (2009-10)unemployment rate has increased from 5.2 per-cent in year 2007-08 to 5.6 percent in 2009-10.The alarming situation is for the female unem-ployment rates. Female unemployment rate iscontinuously high and increasing at a faster rate.It means more unemployment and moreexploitation of the poor working women.

Overall, female unemployment rate increasedfrom 8.4 percent in year 2005-06 to 9.5 percent


Years Pakistan Rural Urban2000-01 Total 29.6 29.9 29.1

Male 48 47.6 48.9Female 9.9 11.1 7.3

2005-06 Total 31.8 32.9 29.7Male 49.1 48.3 50.8Female 13.5 16.7 7.1

2007-08 Total 32.2 33.8 28.9Male 49.3 49.1 49.9Female 14 17.9 6.2

2009-10 Total 33 34.5 30Male 45.5 49 50.6Female 15.5 19.3 7.8


Table 3: Labour force Participation rate

in year 2009-10. This situation is worse in caseof urban unemployed females as the rate hits20.8 percent. This means unemployment for theunskilled and agricultural worker has increased.The situation aggravates when we account forthe fact that unemployment rate for the middleage group (from 15-44) is on the rise for the bothsexes but increasing at a faster rate for thefemale workers. The opportunity for the demo-graphic dividend is not being exploited. Insteadit is becoming a threat because the younger pop-ulation is dependent on the older population andthere is every possibility that this unemployedyouth will get involved in anti-social activities aspoverty is increasing. The underemploymentrate declined significantly in case of ruralwomen. Rural women have no option other thanto work more to cope with the increasing cost ofliving.

Distribution of employedlabour force Agriculture is the main source of employment inPakistan absorbing about 45% of the employedlabour force with industry accounting for about22% (2009-10) and the services sector another33%. Compared with 2007-08 distribution ofemployed labour force has almost remainedsame. According to the Labour Force Survey(2009-10), female employed labour force is thehighest in the agricultural sector (74.9%) andtheir share is increasing as well. From the gen-der perspective, the share of employed femaleworkers increased in agriculture and trade sec-tor. It again depicts that liberalization hasallowed exploiting women at lower than subsis-tence wage rate.

The occupational distribution indicates thatwomen's strongest participation cluster is foundin agriculture and fisheries (62.7%) and its sharehas increased by almost 2 percentage points

from 2007-08. There is also a slight increase inthe professionals and managers category (0.3%)in 2009-10. The share of technician femalesdeclined form 7.2 % in 2007-08 to 6.2 % in2009-2010.

The employment status showed that mostwomen are unpaid family workers (66.3%).Compared with the situation in 2008-09 theshare increased by 1.3 percentage points. Only0.1% women are employers and 13.6% are self-employed workers. Women thus concentrate inlow value activities. Neoliberal policies encour-age the perpetuation of low value chain forwomen workers.

Educational levels especially of the female pop-ulation are important determinants of thenature of employment and opportunities avail-able to them. In recent years, the total literacyrate for the population aged 15 years and abovehas increased only slightly, improving from 52percent in 2003-04 to 55 percent (72.3% urban;47.5% rural). In 2009-10 literacy rate continuedthe increasing trend and it has reached to 57.7percent (73.2% urban and 49.2% rural). Femaleliteracy rate has increased marginally from 43%in 2007-08 to 45.2 % in 2009-10. But the urbanfemale literacy increased at a rate of 5 percent-age points during 2007-08 to 2009-10 as com-pared to the rural female literacy which grew by1.7 percentage points during the same period.

Growing informalizationInformal workers are not recognized as mem-bers of organized labour force recognized bylaws. They have low incomes, live at subsistencelevel and have no link and interaction or accesswith the Government. They have no voice, norecognition and no visibility. Informal workersrise and fall with the fate of formal sector due toits linkages with formal sector industry andtrade etc. It is cost effective for the large firms tohire cheap labour at the lower wages. Informalenterprises exist because of the cumbersomeprocedure and rules of registration for the firmsand to save taxes (Soto et al., 1989). The infor-mal sector in Pakistan, as its population, is moreor less evenly distributed across rural and urbanareas (Table 4). Almost 91 percent of the infor-mal sector workers are male. Women seem tobe non-existent in the informal economy accord-ing to official figures.

According to LFS 2009-10, 55.04 percent of thetotal employed labour force was engaged in thenon-agriculture sector and the informal sector,


Figure 1: Unemployment rate inPakistan

which falls within it, accounted for 40.4 percent(19.8 million) of all employment. Thus, theemployment contribution of the informal sectorin the non-agriculture sector was approximately73 percent over the period from 2007-10 (72per cent in 2005-06). However, women's shareof the informal non-agricultural employmentwas a miniscule 4 per cent of all employment(though still more than double that of women informal employment in the same sector, Table 4).The share of the informal sector has notchanged but more women are joining the infor-mal sector as it increased from 3.7 per cent to3.99 per cent.

One of the major issues regarding the informalsector is the invisibility of women workers in thenational statistics and in policy discourse. This isdue to definitional problems and socio-cultural

constraints as well as gender biases and flaws insample sizes and data collection methods. As aresult activity patterns of women workersremain ignored, not because they are not work-ing but as many independent studies have high-lighted, their work does not get counted orrecognised. On almost every site of the PakistanParticipatory Poverty Assessment (PPA), 2003for instance, women were found to be engagedin productive work (sewing shoes, footballs,peeling nuts, etc.). A number of reasons may beoffered for the invisibility, including the fact thatwomen do not seem to own businesses in theinformal economy; that women are less likely tobe reported as self-employed and much morelikely than men to be reported to be unpaid fam-ily workers.

Similarly, one sees that men in the informal sec-

44


2007-08 2009-10Pakistan Total Total

employment Male Female employment Male FemaleTotal 100 79.5 20.4 100 78.21 21.79Agriculture 44.7 29.3 15.3 44.97 28.63 16.33Non Agriculture 55.3 50.2 5.1 55.04 49.58 5.46- Formal 15 13.6 1.4 14.69 13.22 1.47- Informal 40.3 36.6 3.7 40.35 36.36 3.99

Sources: Relevant Labour Force Surveys Figures in table are in percentage

Table-4: Percentage Distribution of Major Sectors of Employment in Pakistan

Pakistan Employer Self employed Unpaid Employee2009-10 All area Total 100 2.49 41.98 11.22 44.3

Male 90.12 2.42 38.85 9.25 39.6Female 9.88 0.07 3.13 1.97 4.71

Rural Total 50.83 0.58 21.45 4.82 23.98Male 45.53 0.55 19.65 3.68 21.66Female 5.3 0.04 1.81 1.14 2.31

Urban Total 49.17 1.91 20.53 6.41 20.33Male 44.59 1.88 19.2 5.58 17.94Female 4.58 0.03 1.33 0.83 2.39

2007-08 all area Total 100 2 41.6 12 44.5Male 90.8 2 39.2 10 39.6Female 9.2 0 2.4 1.9 4.9

Rural Total 51.1 0.5 21.3 5.5 23.9Male 45.7 0.5 19.8 4.3 21.1Female 5.4 0 1.5 1.1 2.8

Urban Total 48.9 1.5 20.3 6.5 20.6Male 45.1 1.5 19.4 5.7 18.5Female 3.8 0 0.9 0.8 2.1

Source: Relevant Labour Force Survey

Table 5: Percentage Distribution of Employment Status inInformal Sector by Sex & Area

tor form 90% of the total employed in it whereaswomen barely form one-tenth of the sector. TheLFS 2009-10 (Table 5) reveals that there areonly 0.07 percent of the female women record-ed as employer. Compared to this, in 2007-08there was no women recorded as employer.Unpaid family workers were 1.97%, another3.13% as self-employed and 4.71 % as employ-ee in the sector. Women employment in theinformal sector for all categories and areas hasslightly increased but it contracted for males.

Women in the neweconomic set upPakistan's economic direction has changedfrom a centrally regulated and planned dispen-sation towards liberalization, deregulation andprivatization—the key elements of neoliberalism.Private sector has taken the lead in industry aswell as services. Even education and health sec-tors have seen the emergence of a large privatesector. Private-public partnership has beensought in infrastructure. Economic decentraliza-tion has been accompanied by sizeable devolu-tion towards provinces. All these changes in theorganization of economy and society haveaffected women in many spheres. While themarket has emerged as the dominant feature ofthe economy, the promised economic stabilityand GDP growth has not been delivered. Theeconomy has witnessed slowgrowth with gallop-ing inflation.

The economy has failed to pursue a labour inten-sive strategy of growth to generate jobs. Publicsector spending is falling, especially on socialsectors. There are inadequate provisions forsocial security and employment based incomeguarantees. Poverty and food insecurity hasincreased. Deteriorating law and order and secu-rity situation and energy shortages have serious-ly affected lives and livelihoods. A lax enforce-ment of even the low level minimum wage of Rs7000, flexible wages with respect to time andgender, weakening writ of labour courts andreduced role of collective bargaining are now thecharacteristic features of labour market. Thesechanges and wayward government policies areshaping labour markets to the disadvantage ofwomen.

Neoliberalism is an ideology which protects theinterests of the big business and leaves the poorand vulnerable working class to the vagaries offree market. In the last 30 years, neoliberalismemerged as a doctrine which emphasizes freemarket and globalization. It declared state as

fragile and a source of government failure.These government failures are drastic in natureand impede growth. The government should,therefore, not intervene to the markets. It hasweakened the relationship between the marketand the state. Economists from the days ofAdam Smith believe that free market can createan efficient economy which can promote welfareon the basis of non-interventionist policies ofstate. Free trade nurtures entrepreneurial classand in this way it makes a case for survival ofthe fittest.

The trouble is that societies grow with justiceand not just with market efficiency. The efficien-cy of growing markets does not necessarily leadto automatic trickle down. What does trickledown takes the form of poorly organized cheaplabour in a flexible labour market. Greater trustis reposed in individual and corporate socialresponsibility of the private sector. Public spend-ing is cut and the supply of public goods is limit-ed. In essence, the neoliberal state moves awayfrom welfare and redistributive objectives to cre-ate conditions for efficient markets. Social pro-grammes, especially for women are slashed. Ata global level, capital moves in search of lowwage flexible labour and the developing coun-tries compete with each other to attract foreigninvestment. De-unionization kills the gains of thelabour movement made after long periods ofstruggle. The outcome of pursuing neoliberalpolicies in the case of Pakistan is an economywhich has lost its way. It is not on a trajectory ofhigh growth. Labour absorption has declinedand rights have been undermined. CompetitionCommission and Securities and ExchangeCommission exist but special interest groupsand monopolies are wielding more power. AsStiglitz (2003) put it: "For a quarter-century,there has been a contest among developingcountries, and the losers are clear: countriesthat pursued neoliberal policies not only lost thegrowth sweepstakes; when they did grow, thebenefits accrued disproportionately to those atthe top. This mixture of free-market rhetoric andgovernment intervention has worked particularlybadly for developing countries." Noam Chomsky(1997) laid bare the strategy of private profit atthe cost of public in these words: "free enter-prise means that the public pays the costs andbears the risks if things go wrong; for examplebank and corporate bailouts that have cost thepublic hundreds of billions of dollars in recentyears. Profit is to be privatized, but cost and risksocialized, in really existing market systems."


IMF policiesIn 2007-08, the economy of Pakistan was in direstraits. The consumption-based growth of theprevious 5 years had run out of steam.Commodity and oil price shocks created a mas-sive current account deficit and the failure topass on the burden of oil price caused debilitat-ing budgetary imbalance. Reserves were deplet-ing fast. Inflation was galloping at 22 per cent.Pakistan had to go to the IMF for 23-monthStand-By Arrangement (SBA) in November2008. The IMF imposed a strict regime of fiscaldiscipline. However, Pakistan has failed toachieve the target of fiscal deficit. It has alsofailed to complete the reform programme either.The imposition of Reformed General Sales Taxhas been stalled in the face of stiff politicalopposition, amendments in the State Bank Actto protect its autonomy are pending in theSenate and restructuring of public sector enter-prises is being resisted by workers. While inflowsfrom the IMF have stopped, the repayments willfall due next year. For a government alreadypressed for resources, the debt servicing burdenwill rise enormously. The problem is worsenedby the fact that the World Bank and the AsianDevelopment Bank have also stopped budgetsupport until the IMF gives a green signal. As aresult, the development programme has beencut drastically. The most serious cuts have beenmade in the social sector. Education and healthspending is at their historic low. As education,health, women development, indeed the entiresocial sector, is devolved to the unpreparedprovinces under the Eighteenth Amendment tothe Constitution, there is every likelihood thatsocial sector will be further short-funded in theperiod of transition.

Poverty in PakistanGiven the correlation of poverty and informalemployment it is important to give an overviewof the state of poverty in the country, eventhough poverty estimates are the subject of con-siderable controversy. Official figures on thebasis of head count suggest that povertyincreased in Pakistan up until 1993-94, fell by13 percent in 1996-97 and increased again in1998-99. By 2001-02 it was estimated that34.5% of the population was living below thepoverty line. Subsequent figures showingdecline in the numbers living below the povertyline to 23.9 percent (2004-05) and to further22.3 percent in 2006-07 have been strongly con-tested on the basis of skewed sampling.Notwithstanding the debate on headcount andpoverty line, there is enough evidence (as noted

above) to show that informal sector employmentis the principal mitigating strategy of the poor.Moreover, Pakistan's security situation com-bined with inflation, high oil prices, energy crisisand the closure of industries has contributed fur-ther to exacerbate the condition of the poor inthe country. Fig.2 shows the trends of headcountpoverty.

Despite the absence of data for gender relatedpoverty in Pakistan, studies have shown thatindeed poverty has a female face. Poverty isdeclining but inflation rate and employment in

informal sector is increasing. Poverty in Pakistanis associated with large family size and concen-trated in rural areas where 80 percent of thepoor of the country live.

Per capita food availabilityFood availability per capita in Pakistan, despitebad harvests, is satisfactory though not accord-ing to norms. As can be seen in the Table 7, the

availability of cereals is stable, while it hasincreased for milk, meat, edible oils. Itdecreased for pulses and sugar. Per capita avail-ability of proteins has also increased. Yet malnu-trition is persistent in women and young chil-dren. Half of infant and child deaths occur due tomalnutrition.

Food insecurityFood insecurity is the major reason for malnutri-tion. A World Food Programme report in 2003found that 37.6 percent of rural population wasfood insecure. A follow-up report for 2009 con-cluded that food insecurity had increased fur-


Figure 2: Poverty in Pakistan

UrbanRural

Headcount rate (%) 13.1 27.0

Share of poor population (%) 20.5 79.5

Source: Federal Bureau of Statiscs, PSLM FY 2005-06,Government of Pakistan.

Table 6. Poor Population

ther: 61 percent of the districts compared to 45percent in 2003 were food insecure. Similarly,districts with reasonable conditions for access tofood have declined from 13.3 per cent to only7.6 per cent. Increased poverty has increasedaverage household expenditure share on food to61.6 per cent in 2009 from 55.6 per cent in2005-06. Food absorption, an important ele-ment in food security, is influenced by female lit-eracy rate, which is only 23 per cent in 25 percent of the districts. The prevalence and per-sistence is significantly related to gender-basedinequalities "from farm to plate". Their role firstat the level of agricultural production and in foodand nutritional security at the level of householdis not fully recognized. Women are crucial in thetranslation of the products of a vibrant agricul-

ture sector into food and nutritional security fortheir households. Women choose food and itspreparation, the care and feeding of children liesin their domain. In fact, they are the key toensuring food security (Quisumbing & others,1995). Within the household, division of labourbetween men and women, control overresources and income and social status impactupon food security.

Poverty Reduction StrategyAs noted above, the government formulatedPRSP I & II with a view to reducing poverty. Italso identified the poverty related governmentexpenditure, which is monitored every quarter. Itcovers 17 important sectors falling in 5 broadcategories. These expenditures are not gender


01/02 07/08 08/09 09/10 I. Market Access and Community Services 11 104.5 121.8 123.9II. Human Development 86.8 256.8 329.4 361.0

Education 66.3 187.7 240.4 259.5Health 19.2 62.4 83.7 94.4Population Planning 1.3 6.7 5.3 7.1

III. Rural Development 24.3 151.5 140.0 163.2 Agriculture 10.1 122.9 88.9 104.8 Land Reclamation 1.9 3.1 2.7 2.0 Rural Development 12.3 22.8 20.4 24.6 Peoples Works Programme-II 0 2.7 28.0 31.8

IV. Safety Nets 11 435.2 272.8 303.9 Subsidies 4.3 398.5 220.6 234.9Social Security & Welfare 3.7 22.5 29.1 54.6 Food Support Programme 2 4.3 - - Peoples Work Programme-I 0.8 1.9 3.3 8.4Natural Calamities & Disaster 0.2 7.4 10 12.6Low Cost Housing 0 0.6 0.6 1.8

V. Governance 33 94 113.9 154.6 Law & Order 31 88 104.7 143.6 Justice Administration 2 6 9.2 11.0

Total 166.1 1042 977.2 1,110.8 As % of GDP 3.8 9.7 7.5 7.6

Source: Ministry of Finance

Table 8. Poverty Related Expenditures (Rs. Billion)

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 (E) 2009-10 (T)Cereals (Kg) 148.8 166.3 166.1 159.8 Pulses (Kg) 7.2 7.2 6.1 7.2 Sugar (Kg) 32.2 31.5 25.6 30.8 Milk (Ltr) 170.1 172.1 175.2 176.2 Meat (Kg) 20.6 20.1 20.8 21.6 Eggs (Dozen) 5.4 5.3 5.7 6.0 Edible Oil 12.8 13.3 13.4 13.3 Protein per day 69.0 72 72.5 72.9

Source: Pakistan Economic Survey 2009-10

Table 7. Per Capita Food Availability

disaggregated. During 2001-02 to 2007-08, atotal amount of Rs 2,441.5 billion was spent. Aspercentage of GDP it went up from 3.8 to 9.7 inthe same period. After that there has been adecline to 7.5 per cent of GDP in 2008-09 and7.6 per cent in 2009-10. However, poverty hasbeen on the increase. In this situation, expendi-ture on safety nets, instead of rising, has beenfalling. A 5-time increase in the expenditure onlaw and order is a reflection on increasinghuman insecurity.

Socio-economic inequalityin genderAlthough half of Pakistan's population consistsof females, their participation in the develop-ment process is far from equal. Socio-culturaltraditions—reinforced by lack of access to oppor-tunities and resources—relegate the majority ofwomen to traditional roles. In some direct mar-ket-oriented economic activities like agriculture,their contribution is substantial, but it remainslargely undervalued and unappreciated. Lowfemale participation in formal economic activi-ties can lead to gender disparities in education.The role of education and health for creatinglevel playing field which empowers the vulnera-ble and poor, is proven. It not only empowers thepoor but also reduces social and incomeinequality. The constitution of Pakistan givesequal rights to both men and women. But menare preferred in all areas of social and econom-ic opportunities. Table 8 indicates only a modestincrease in the expenditure on education. Overthe years, the share of education as a percent-age of GDP has declined.

In the shrinking pie of the expenditure on edu-cation, even fewer resources are allocated forwomen. This disproportionate allocation resultsinto gender inequality and a hindrance forwomen's empowerment. Gender gap in schoolenrollment reflects constraints that impede bothschool attendance for girls and female teacher

availability. It is one of the reasons for poor

achievability and performance of MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs).

The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) for primaryschools (Age 5-9) has remained constant at91 per cent between 2006-07 and 2008-09and GER for the middle level has increased neg-ligibly from 51% to 53% (Table 9). The NetEnrolment Rate (NER) was 57% in 2008-09, sub-stantially lower than the GER. The Gender ParityIndex (GPI) is the ratio of female enrolment tomale enrolment. The GPI for Pakistan as awhole in 2008-09, is 0.65 compared to 0.64 in2007-08. Pakistan's progress on MDGS is slow.It has missed the GPI goal in primary and sec-ondary education. With the current scenariothere is every possibility that GPI will remainunachievable by 2015. It is possible to deal withsocio-economic gender gap with appropriate pol-icy measures. A new Article 25A Right toEducation has been inserted in the Constitutionunder the Eighteenth Amendment, which states:"The State shall provide free and compulsoryeducation to all children of the age of five to six-teen years in such manner as may be deter-mined by law." As education is a provincial sub-ject, the provincial assemblies are required tolegislate within a maximum period of two and ahalf years. No progress is in evidence in thisregard.


Literacy rates(10 years & above) GER Primary (age 5-9) NER Primary (age 5-9)2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Male 67 69 69 99 97 99 60 59 61Female 42 44 45 81 83 83 51 52 54Both 55 56 57 91 91 91 56 55 57Rural 45 49 48 84 83 85 52 51 53Urban 72 71 74 106 106 106 66 66 68Gender Parity Index 0.63 0.64 0.65 0.82 0.86 0.83 0.85 0.88 0.87


Table 9. Disparities in Education

Figure3 : Public Expenditure as %of GDP in Pakistan

There are also serious gender gaps in health. Arecent estimate of rural malnutrition ratesshows 65 percent of rural girls to be chronicallymalnourished (low height for age). Health indi-cators reveal a range of female disadvantages.When the various indicators are pieced togetherto explain the existence of excess female mor-tality in Pakistan, it appears that gender differ-ences in access to preventive and curative med-ical care are responsible for the pattern of gen-der gaps in health outcomes observed.According to a report compiled by the Ministry ofWomen Development, the health status ofwomen in Pakistan "is poor as compared withother countries in Asia. Some 30,000 womendie each year due to complications of pregnan-cy, and 10 times more women develop life-longpregnancy-related disability. Many girls die pre-maturely because of common infections andmalnutrition, which could have been easily pre-vented and treated." There is some progress inthe area of maternal mortality ratio as it isdeclining in Pakistan. It was 350 in 2001-02 andreported as 276 in 2006-07. However, it is one ofthe highest MMR in the South Asia and far moreefforts are required to bring it down to half by2015.

Overall expenditure on health has been low anddeclining as a percentage of GDP. This can beseen in Table 10. Of the total amount spent, theshare of women is far less than for men.

Low expenditure on human development andinefficiencies in spending related to women pro-duce poor outcomes in key indicators. Accordingto the Human Development Report 2010,Pakistan ranked 112 out of 169 countries interms of Gender Inequality Index (GII). The GIImeasures women's disadvantage in reproduc-

tive health, empowerment and the labour mar-ket. It reflects human development lost due toinequality between female and male achieve-ments in the aforesaid dimensions. GenderEmpowerment Measure (GEM) rank of Pakistanamong 109 countries was 99, really at the bot-tom. The GEM quantitatively measures empow-erment of women and includes the measure ofinequality in control over earned economicresources, participation in political decision-making and economic decision-making.

Social security andunderemploymentPeople without social security coverage in devel-oping countries usually work in the informalrather than the formal economy. No access tosocial security coverage is usually part of thedefinition of informal employment. Even indeveloping countries with high economicgrowth, increasing numbers of workers—mostoften women—have less than secure employ-ment, such as casual labour, homework andself-employment, lacking social security cover-age. This has an enormous impact on their livesand on work itself. What little earning power theimpoverished have is further suppressed by mar-ginalization and lack of support systems—partic-ularly when they are unable to work because ofold age, illness or disability.

The social security net in Pakistan is far fromexhaustive. The distribution of assets is highlyskewed and something to fall back on in rainyseason is simply not available to most of thepopulace. Thus, a miniscule minority canafford to remain off the work. Further, employ-ment scene is preponderated by agriculture andinformal activities with low threshold of entry,exit and paraphernalia of requisites. As such,


Total Health Development Current Percentage Health Expenditures Expenditure Expenditure Change Expenditure as

% of GDP 2000-01 24.28 5.94 18.34 9.9 0.72 2001-02 25.41 6.69 18.72 4.7 0.59 2002-03 28.81 6.61 22.21 13.4 0.58 2003-04 32.81 8.50 24.31 13.8 0.57 2004-05 38.00 11.00 27.00 15.8 0.57 2005-06 40.00 16.00 24.00 5.3 0.51 2006-07 50.00 20.00 30.00 25 0.57 2007-08 60.00 27.22 32.67 20 0.57 2008-09 74.00 33.00 41.10 23 0.56 2009-10 79.00 38.00 41.00 7 0.54

Source: Pakistan Economic Survey 2009-10

Table 10. Health & Nutrition Expenditures 2000-01 to 2009-10 (Rs. billions)

most of the people tend to get engaged intosome sort of economic activity irrespective ofany consideration regarding size of reward andworking age, in order to make both the endsmeet. Thus, unemployment rate in Pakistantends to be estimated lower than perceived.

Weak labour legislation andimplementationConventionally, the issues of labour market fallwithin the domain of social policy. Legislationand proper implementation is part and parcelfor providing efficient work environment anddecent work in labour market. Government hasto provide enabling environment which can pro-tect the workers' right with proper legislation. Allworkers have to enjoy basic work rights and theemployer has to take care of labour standards.The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principlesand Rights at Work requires that governmentshould protect all types of workers.

Right to work and earn a decent living under con-ditions of freedom and dignity is recognized asone of the fundamental human rights. Accordingto the Constitution of Pakistan, "the state shallmake provision for securing just and humaneconditions of work…" (Article 37c), and "…shallensure the elimination of all forms of exploita-tion and the gradual fulfillment of the funda-mental principle, from each according to hisability, to each according to his work" (Article 3). Pakistan is a signatory to the UN UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights 1948 that recog-nizes “the right to work, to freely choose employ-ment and to have just and favourable workingconditions." Pakistan has ratified all eight coreconventions that codify four most basic humanrights related to the world of work—right toorganize and engage in collective bargaining,right to equality at work, abolition of child labourand the abolition of forced labour. The constitu-tional framework, ratification of ILO conventionsand labour policies fail to satisfactorily securelabour rights in Pakistan, particularly of women.Implementation of the policies needs will anddetermination for resolving the labour issues.

RRoollee ooff iinnssttiittuuttiioonnssInstitutions play vital role for the decent work,improvements in living conditions, reduction ofpoverty and developing linkages between infor-mal and formal sector. Labour institutions relateto working hours, training and unemploymentinsurance. Within the neoliberal framework,World Bank has developed an indicator of work-

ing time regulations. It disregards essential reg-ulatory distinctions and says nothing about actu-al work time. There is need to apply the insightsof new institutional economics to understandthe relevance of unemployment insurance sys-tems in developing countries. A number of insti-tutions exist in Pakistan, but their workingleaves much to be desired.

In Punjab, the Centre for the Improvement ofWorking Conditions and Environment (CIWCE) isresponsible for ensuring better employment con-ditions. The Centre is part of the LabourDepartment. It provides training to the labourand government official. It also deals with occu-pational health and safety. Finally, CIWCE carriesout and sponsors research on various issues fac-ing labour.

Wages are a key channel through which labourmarket institutions are thought to affect eco-nomic performance. In particular, wage floorscan be created by collective bargaining agree-ments, unemployment insurance benefits(argued to raise the "reservation wage"), andthrough minimum wage policies. The negativeeffect of the minimum wage on employment isoften overestimated by standard quantitativemethods, while its positive effects in reducingwage inequality, sustaining the demand forgoods and services and contributing to socialcohesion tend to be ignored.

Poor unionization andbargaining positionRise of neoliberalism is associated with theweak enforcement of existing labour laws footdragging on improving legislation. It hasadversely affected unionization and collectivebargaining. Women workers should benefit fromthe application of ILO Convention on EqualRemuneration, 1951 (No. 100), ratified byPakistan in 2001. Minimum and above-mini-mum wages have to be ensured on the basis ofequal pay for equal work, and equal pay for workof equal value, as between men and women, inaccordance with Pakistan's obligations underILO Conventions 100 and 111 concerned withequality and non-discrimination respectively.Women workers are also entitled to better infor-mation concerning their working conditions andarrangements in the informal economy, fromimproved maternity arrangements, codes of con-duct relating to sexual harassment and, wherepossible, day care arrangements for their chil-dren.


However, labour rights, especially of womenworkers, have suffered in Pakistan as a result ofthe rising openness to the world market andlinkages to globalization. Export processingzones and special economic zones are no-goareas for unions. Whether stronger trade unionrights and higher wages in formal employmentgive rise to more informal employment is a mat-ter of empirical evaluation. The common findingis that stronger trade union rights are associatedwith higher shares of formal employment.

As women are mostly contract workers, pieceworkers, informal workers and least unionized,their wages are generally lower than male work-ers across industries as well as occupations.Table 11 relates to major industry divisions. Itshows that for all industry divisions total nomi-

nal wage has risen by 12.9 per cent between2008-09 and 2009-10, but it increased by 12.2per cent for women. Monthly wage for womenwas 64.9 per cent of monthly wage for men in2008-09 and 64.6 in 2009-10. Generally, thenominal wage for women increased betweenthese two years. There was, however, anabsolute decline in the wholesale and retailtrade, and restaurants and hotels, the mostimportant subsector in services. In mining andquarrying, electricity, gas and water transport,storage and communication, financing, insur-ance, real estate and business services, month-ly wages for women were higher than men. This,however, is a sampling error as women consti-tute a very small proportion of the sample. Wagedifferentials by occupation are given in Table 12.In the categories of professionals and skilled


Major Occupational Groups 2008-09 2009-10Total Male Female Total Male Female

Total 7635 7998 5189 8623 9017 5821Legislators/senior officials & managers 18612 18653 17849 21688 21707 21365Professionals 15368 15322 15650 17761 17510 19463Technicians & associate professionals 9878 10975 7525 12154 12385 8071Clerks 10903 10935 9390 11125 12181 10905Service workers/shop & market sales workers 6888 6900 5777 7942 7989 5867Skilled agricultural & fishery workers 6187 6402 6550 7220 7182 8263Craft & related trades workers 6412 6985 2536 7586 8141 3167Plant/machine operators & assemblers 7149 7155 5784 8560 8577 6024Elementary (unskilled) occupations 5305 5691 3095 5716 6118 3474


Table 12. Average Monthly Wages of Employees by Major Occupational Groups

Major Industry Divisions 2008-09 2009-10Total Male Female Total Male Female

Total 7635 7997 5189 8623 9017 5821Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing 4194 5096 2972 4968 5730 3358Mining & quarrying 7661 7666 7333 6976 6963 9600Manufacturing 6769 7385 2912 7534 8080 3437Electricity, gas and water 12383 12401 10050 14548 14398 25325Construction 6510 6531 5020 7389 7397 6207Wholesale & retail tradeand restaurants & hotels 5705 5708 5479 6609 6660 4013Transport, storage andcommunication 8069 8026 11139 9396 9328 13685Financing, insurance, realestate and business Services 16440 16363 18158 18174 17897 31240Community, social andpersonal services 9718 10519 7104 10984 11771 7761


Table 11. Average Monthly Wages of Employees (in Rs.)by Major Industry Division

agricultural and fishery workers, the higherwages for women relative to men are the resultof the same sampling error.

Policies and actions Two major women-specific programmes havebeen started by the government, the BenazirIncome Support Programme (BISP) by the feder-al government and the land distribution pro-gramme by the Government of Sindh.

A cash transfer programme, the Benazir IncomeSupport Programme (BISP) was started with anallocation of Rs.34 billion in 2008-09. It wasallocated Rs. 70 billion in 2009-10 and Rs 50billion in 2010-11. The objective is to coveralmost 40% of the population below the povertyline and 15% of the total population. Womanhead or an adult female member of the family iseligible to receive cash grants. In 2009-10, atotal of Rs. 32 billion was actually disbursed to2.29 million beneficiaries against Rs.15.8 billionand 1.76 million respectively in 2008-09. Thedisbursement under BISP's cash grants wasalmost doubled and beneficiaries increased by30 percent in comparison with previous fiscalyear. The registered families are given a month-ly cash assistance of Rs.1000 at their doorsteps.The programme has been extended to all fourprovinces, FATA, Azad Kashmir and IslamabadCapital Territory. It has now become the mainsocial safety net programme of the country. Thevulnerable are identified on the basis of povertyscorecard and a countrywide survey is beingconducted for the purpose.

In addition, the BISP is envisaged as a platformfor other social assistance programmes. Theseinclude transition to a Conditional CashTransfers (CCT) programme, complementarypoverty exit programmes, health insurance pro-grammes, and workforce programmes. Onemember from each qualifying household will beequipped with technical and vocational skillsmaking them employable. In the second phase,micro finance will be made accessible for poorfamilies to start small businesses. The compo-nent of health insurance will cover the entirefamily including household head and spouse,children up to 18 years, dependent parents, andunmarried daughters aged 18 and above. Thepolicy benefit will cover full hospitalization, preg-nancy, daycare treatment and diagnostic tests.Accident compensation for bread earning familymember will also be given insurance cover. Toavoid dependency, there is an exit strategy. TheManagement Information System of BISP does

not provide exact beneficiary details about thegraduating clients and the new clients separate-ly for each province. It is not possible to assesshow many have actually exited from abjectpoverty.

Disbursements have lagged behind budgetaryallocations. This is not just because of themacroeconomic difficulties. Utilization has beenslower than the release of funds. There are anumber of implementation bottlenecks. Storiesof corruption and political favouritism have beenreported in the media.

In Sindh, a significant section of those below thepoverty line are landless haris. Their number isvariously estimated at round 2 million. TheGovernment of Sindh has prepared a pro-gramme to distribute state land to these haris.In giving the titles to land, preference is given towomen. In the first year of the programme, i.e.2009-10, 43,000 acres were allotted to 4100beneficiaries. Women constituted 70 per cent ofthe beneficiaries. These haris are too poor to buyrequired inputs. In addition to land, they werealso provided seed and fertilizer free of cost.Official estimates claim there was an averageincome of Rs one lac per family from the Kharifcrop of 2009. In the second phase of 2010-11,the target for land allotment has been increasedto 53,000 acres. The Government aims to allotland to 5000 landless peasant women. Freeinputs and other services will continue to be pro-vided. After the completion of Darawat Dam,another 50,000 acres will be allotted to peasantwomen without land. The same policy will applyto the forest land.

Although no substitute for a genuine pro-gramme of land reform in the feudal dominatedprovince, Sindh's state land distribution pro-grame is unique in the sense that the preferredallottees are landless women. It will contributeto the objective of economic and social empow-erment of women. As rural poverty has the faceof a woman and it is significantly associatedwith increasing assetlessness, the programmewill also contribute to poverty reduction. This willhowever be a drop in the ocean as mass povertycontinues to rise at an increasing rate.

Laws and measures bythe governmentA number of women-specific laws have beenenacted. Despite being a support to the family,women in the work force face domestic vio-lence. To address this, Prevention of Domestic


Violence Act was passed in 2008. Harassmentat work place is another serious issue faced bythe working women. It violates their right to workwith dignity. The Parliament has passedProtection against Harassment at Work Act,2009. Employers are required to implement theAct, institute a code of conduct and set up aninquiry committee. Relevant amendments werealso made in Pakistan Penal Code and the Codeof Criminal Act. 25. Women Centres have beenset up in selected districts for legal and otherassistance.

In the Federal Government jobs, the quota forwomen has been increased from 5 per cent to10 per cent. Two new women universities havebeen approved for Multan and Sukkur, and athird one is proposed for Sialkot. Pilot projectsfor economic empowerment have also been setup. A land allotment policy has been made toallot state land to peasant women. FederalMinistry of Women Development is spending 3-4 per cent of its total development budget on theadvancement of rural women on a programmecalled Jafakash Aurat Programme. Its othermajor overhead is for building crisis centre inmajor cities of Pakistan.

International Labor Organization's projectWomen Employment Concerns and WorkingCondition in Pakistan (WEC-PK) funded by CIDAhas been implemented in collaboration withMinistry of Labour and Manpower to enhancethe quality and number of women employmentin Pakistan with ultimate goal of economicempowerment of women in rural and urbanareas. A number of productive programmeshave been completed under this project aimedat creating conducive working environment forwomen such as sensitization and capacity build-ing of policy makers and implementing partnersin public and private sectors; direct assistance towomen in getting decent employment; promot-ing gender equality in private sector employ-ment in Pakistan; and promoting women's par-ticipation and leadership in trade unions inPakistan.

Another project titled "Towards Gender Parity"was initiated in January 2010 in collaborationwith Ministry of Labour for a period of one year.The focus of the project activities is the capacitybuilding of stake holders in relevant areas andInternational Labour Standards (ILS); establish-ment of coordination mechanism among part-ners to monitor, learn and share experience; pro-motion of gender-responsive data collection,

analysis and reporting through a joint effort ofall stakeholders; strategy for gender equality inskill development; small and medium enterpriseprogramme; strategy for implementation ofWomen Empowerment Act; Advocacy for theimplementation of national policy of home-based workers and pilot activities for integrationof HBWs into main stream.

Conclusions andRecommendationsIn various policy documents, the Governmenthas declared its commitment to provide womenwith equal opportunities for employment andhas promised to re-examine existing legislationto ensure that women are not denied access tosuitable jobs that are arising due to Pakistan'schanging labour markets. However, the agree-ment of the Government with the IMF since2008 has led to further strengthening of the pol-icy prescriptions of the neoliberal economics,which essentially views women as low-cost sub-stitutes for organized workers.

The problem in Pakistan is not labour inefficien-cy but poor economic performance, low andfalling growth and rising inflation. These prob-lems, macroeconomic in nature, cannot besolved by the microeconomic approach of dereg-ulating labour markets, union busting and softenforcement of minimum wages. The situationis made worse by the grossly inadequate socialsecurity arrangements. Domestic market has tobe developed and the global market engage-ment has to be a strategy to maximize workopportunities rather than holding on to a falsenotion of real wage resistance. Good labourinstitutions and regulations continue to add eco-nomic and social value.

References1. Asad Sayeed and Sohail Javed, (2001),Household Characteristics, Poverty andIndebtedness among Women Workers in UrbanPakistan, Working Paper No.3 , PakistanInstitute of Labour Education and Research(PILER), Karachi.2. Bell, E. and Brambilla, P. (June 2002), Genderand Economic Globalization: An AnnotatedBibliography, BRIDGE, Institute of DevelopmentStudies, Brighton.3. Bergeron, S (2001), Political EconomyDiscourses of Globalization and FeministPolitics, Signs 26,4:983-1006.4. Coulter, Kendra (2009), 'Women, PovertyPolicy, and the Production of Neoliberal Politics


in Ontario, Canada', Journal of Women, Politics& Policy, 30: 1, 23 - 45.5. Demery, Lionel and Addison, Tony (1987),'Stabilization policy and income distribution indeveloping countries', World Development,Volume 15: 12, Pages 1483-1498, OverseasDevelopment Institute, London, UK6. Elson, D. (1996), 'Appraising RecentDevelopments in the World Market for NimbleFingers', in A. Espino & I. Staveren (2001)Instruments for Gender Equality in TradeAgreements, GEM, WIDE, CISCSA, CIEDUR.European Union, Mercosur, Mexico.7. Elson, D., and Grown, C. (1995), WorldDevelopment, Vol. 23 No. 11, Special Issue on'Gender and Macroeconomics.'8. Farida Shaheed and Khawar Mumtaz,Invisible Workers, GOP, 1981; Shahanz Kazi andZeba Sathar; Akmal Hussain et al, UNHDRPakistan. 20039. Federal Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan Social& Living Standard Measurement Survey 2005-06 and 2007-08, Government of Pakistan.10. Freeman, C. (2001) Is Local: Global asFeminine: Masculine? Rethinking the Gender ofGlobalization, Signs, 26,4:1007-1038.11. Gibson-Graham, J.K (2002) ‘’Beyond Globalvs. Local: Economic Politics outside the BinaryFrame’, in Geographies of Power: Placing Scale,edited by A. Herod and M. Wrights, Oxford,Blackwell Publishers.12. Government of Pakistan (2009-10),Pakistan Economic Survey, Finance Division,Economic Adviser's Wing, Islamabad. 13. Hutton, W., and Giddens, A. (2000), On theEdge: Living with Global Capitalism, London,Jonathan Cape.14. Jeong, Joo-Yeon and Choi, Seung-Min (2001)Neoliberalism through the Eyes of Women,International South Group Network (ISGN) AsianWorkshop on Women and Globalization inManila, http://www.focusweb.org/popups/arti-cleswindow.php?id=8915. Luta Bertulfo, Fatima Ihsan, and LucetaLazo, Home-based Workers Scoping Exercise, areport for CIDA. July 2009, (unpublished), 16. Mumtaz, Khawar and Saleem, Nadia (2010)'Informal Economy Budget Analysis in Pakistanand Ravi Town, Lahore' Urban Policies ResearchReport, No. 3, Women in Informal Employment:Globalizing and Organizing.17. Noam Chomsky(1997) ‘Market Democracyin a Neoliberal Order: Doctrines and Reality’ in ZMagazine, November, 1997.18. Noam Chomsky (1999), Profit over People:Neoliberalism and Global Order, New York,Seven Stories Press, 1999. 19. Noam Chomsky (2005), Government in the

Future, New York, Seven Stories Press, 2005. 20. Obando, Ana Elena (2003), Women FacingGlobalization: The impact of neo-liberal global-ization on the economic, social and culturalrights of women, Women Human RightsNetwork (WHRnet), Madrid. 21. Pakistan Labour Force Survey 2001-02,2005-06, 2007-08 and 2009-10 Federal Bureauof Statistics, Statistic Division, Government ofPakistan.22. Pakistan Participatory Poverty AssessmentNational Report, (2003), Government ofPakistan.23. Pakistan Participatory Poverty Assessment,National and Punjab, Sindh, NWFP, Baluchistan,AJK, FANA Reports, Government of Pakistan,Planning Commission, Islamabad. 2003 24. Pearson, R. (1998). 'Nimble fingers' revisit-ed: Reflection on Women and Third WorldIndustrialization in the Late Twentieth Century’,in C. Jackson & R. Pearson, Feminist Visions ofDevelopment, Gender, Analysis and Policy,London and New York, Routledge.25. Royanian, Simin (2003) Women andGlobalization: Iran as a Case Study available at(www.women4peace.org/women_globaliza-tion.html) 26. Sandbrook, Richard (2000), 'Review:Globalization and the Limits of NeoliberalDevelopment Doctrine, Reviewed work(s):Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen inThird World Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 6, CapturingGlobalization (Dec., 2000), pp. 1071-1080 27. Sen, Amartya, 2002, 'How to JudgeGlobalism: The American Prospect’, SpecialSupplement: Globalism and the World's Poor.Winter:2-6.28. Shahanz Kazi and Zeba Sathar, AkmalHussain et al, UNHDR Pakistan, 200329. Shaheed Farida and Mumtaz, Khawar(1981), Invisible Workers, Government ofPakistan30. Smith, Dorothy, 1987, The Everyday Worldas Problematic, Boston, Northeastern UniversityPress.31. Soto, H. de (1989), The Other Path: TheEconomic Answer to Terrorism, New York. 32. Standing, Guy (1999), 'Global Feminizationthrough Flexible Labour: a Theme Revisited'World Development, Vol. 27, No.3: 583-602.33. Stiglitz Joseph, (2003) The End of Neo-liber-alism? http://www.project syndicate.org/com-mentary/stiglitz101/English34. Stiglitz, J. E. (2003), Globalization and ItsDiscontents, London, W.W. Norton.35. United Nations (1999). World Survey on theRole of Women in Development: Globalization,Gender and Work, New York, United Nations.

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Occupational health and safety in thebrick kilns of Shahdadpur

Introduction

Occupational Health is a multidisciplinaryfield which encompasses healthy andsafe working environment leading to good

health of industrial workers. Safe environmentshould not only be made available to all workersbut should also take care of health and safety oftheir family members, customers, suppliers,nearby communities, population and environ-ment as a whole. Every worker has a right tohealthy and safe work environment and needs tobe made aware of the effects of his/her particu-lar industrial environment. The conditions atwork place should promote the highest degreeof quality of working life by protecting the work-er's health, enhancing physical, mental andsocial well being and preventing work relateddiseases, injuries and accidents.1

According to revised definition (1995) by JointILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health:

Occupational health should aim at: thepromotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and socialwell being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst workers of departures from health caused by their workingconditions; the protection of workers in theiremployment from risks resulting fromfactors adverse to health; the placing and maintenance of the worker in anoccupational environment adapted to his physiological and psychological capabilities; and, to summarize, the adaptation of work toman and of each man to his job.2

A well-placed occupational health and safetysystem helps in identifying and assessing healthhazards in the work place. This could beachieved by surveillance of working practices,work processes and the factors in the workingenvironment which may affect worker's health.A proper record keeping of accidents/injuries

and occupational diseases is essential. Workersshould be made aware, trained, educated andinformed on occupational health, safety andhygiene and also on ergonomics. The occupa-tional heath services are the component of theprimary healthcare applicable with the princi-ples of occupational health.3

Occupational health and primaryHealthcare in PakistanPrimary healthcare is essential healthcare provi-sion at the first level of contact of individuals,the family and communities. Although occupa-tional health is a part of primary healthcarewhich runs the basic healthcare system in manycountries, however, these services are availableto only 10-15 per cent of workers worldwide. Inareas where these services are available, theirquality and appropriateness may not be enough.Basic occupational health services are mainlyrequired for those countries and sectors that donot have primary healthcare system in place andif it exists it does not provide coverage for mostof the people.

Pakistan does have a good primary healthcaresystem on paper but in reality it is very much dis-organized and deprived of facilities. It not onlycovers very few people but also most of the timevery low quality services are being provided.

Occupational health has always been a big issuein under developed countries. In recent decadesthe situation got worse because of the shrinkingfull-time or permanent employment and anexpanding contract-based employment culture.Laws related to the provision of occupationalhealth and safety at work places are in placebut in practice these laws are not implementedand monitored. Non applicability of these lawshas further deprived workers from safe workingenvironment. Ultimate result is an increasingnumber of accidents/injuries and physical and

DDrr NNaahheeeedd NNaabbii

mental illnesses among workers in many sec-tors and particularly in hazardous occupations.

In Pakistan most of the workers are not aware oftheir rights related to occupational health andsafety. Even if they have some knowledge, theyare forced to work without availing those facili-ties. As a result, they suffer from many treatableand preventable diseases. The data about occu-pational heath and safety in Pakistan is notavailable, however, what is available relatesmainly to accidents and injuries at work, andvery little is known about diseases caused byoccupational hazards. No epidemiological dataabout incidence and prevalence of occupationaldiseases is available although it is presumed tobe very high because of poor working conditions.

There are no checks on prevalent health hazardsin different industries. Lack of awareness abouthealth hazards by owners and workers, denial onthe presence of diseases and hazards and lackof implementation of existing laws are pre-sumed to be main factors for high prevalence.

According to ICD classification of occupationaldiseases by WHO, an occupational disease is notcharacterized merely by the disease itself, but bya combination of disease and exposure, as wellas an association between these two. Diseasescan be caused either by agents—chemical, phys-ical or biological agents—or by target organssuch as respiratory diseases, skin diseases,musculo skeletal diseases, occupational can-cers and some other diseases.4

Epidemiological research in different parts ofworld has shown that there is increase in inci-dence and prevalence of pharyngitis, chroniccough, eye allergies, bronchitis, allergic rhinitis,asthma, emphysema, silicosis, chest pain, diffi-culty in breathing and diseases like lung cancerand skin diseases in workers associated withbrick kiln industry.

Brick kiln industryThe brick manufacturing is as old as about 4000BC. The first sun-dried bricks were made inMesopotamia (present day Iraq), in the ancientcity of Ur.

Brick is a major building material in many devel-oping countries because not only buildings lastlonger but also it is a perfect material for curveddesigns and structures in confined places.

There are 300,000 brick kilns worldwide.

Seventy-five per cent of global brick productionis done in four countries of South Asia. Out of thetotal production, China produces 54 per cent(700-800 billion/year), India 11 per cent (140billion/yr), Pakistan 8 per cent (100 billion) andBangladesh 4 per cent ( 50 billion).5

According to an estimate, there are 11,000brick kilns in Pakistan and about 5000 are situ-ated in Punjab, and around 1500 each in Sindh,Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and Balochistan.6 Brickkiln manufacturing industry in Pakistan con-tributes about 1.5 per cent of GDP according torecent estimates, however, it is an unregulatedsector. The performance of brick manufacturingis affected by many factors which in turn lead tolow productivity. Most of the brick kiln relateddata available in Pakistan is in the context tobonded labor, technologies of manufacturing,and social analysis of the brick kiln production.There is hardly any data available related tooccupational effects of this industry on thehealth of human beings, on agriculture and theenvironment.7

Scoping study at ShahdadpurA survey was conducted in March 2011 to collectqualitative data through a mix of tools—focusgroup discussions, one-to-one unstructuredinterviews with select stakeholders and observ-ing the occupational health environment and itseffects on the health of brick kiln workers in sixbrick kilns located near Shahdadpur city. Sincehealth has a strong relationship with living con-ditions, water supply and sanitation, data wasalso collected related to these issues.Information was collected by interviewing work-ers and their wives, family members, children atfield and home and the administrators at thekilns called munshis.

City of ShahdadpurOne of the oldest cities of Sindh, Shahdadpur,located in district Sanghar, was founded by MirShahdad Khan in 1713. Today the city is inhabit-ed by a mix of castes and communities (Talpur,Soomro, Chandio, Abbasi, etc.). Majority of thepeople living in the city are Sindhi-speaking (70per cent), Urdu is the language of 25 per centand 5 per cent speak different languages.

Selection of the SiteShahdadpur was selected because of the pres-ence of a PILER partner, a registered union,Bhatta Mazdoor Union Shahdadpur, formed in2002. The union is dynamic, autonomous andengaged in rights-based activities for the benefit


of workers. The union has about 250 membersand has good linkages with relevant stakehold-ers, i.e. brick kiln owners and the the LabourDepartment. The union facilitated the PILERresearch team to access workers and employersat the site.

Kilns in Shahdadpur There are 17 brick kilns in Shahdadpur with aworkforce of around 1800. Town Jalal Noonari,situated near the city, has a large concentrationof brick kiln workers who commute to and fromthe kilns scattered in different towns locatedaround Shahdadpur city, i.e. Bahadar Kaloi,Allahyar Town, Swai Road, Bacahal KhanBodani, Nai Basti, Aqsa Colony, Sohni Nagar.According to the president Bhatta MazdoorUnion Shahdadpur, all brick kilns of this area areregistered with the labour department. However,the workers are not registered with the SindhEmployees Social Security Institution (SESSI)and neither with the Employees old-Age BenefitsInstitution (EOBI). Hence, the workers cannotaccess medical care facilities and cash benefitsfrom these institutions. The union is currentlyworking with the Labour Department to get allthe workers registered with SESSI and EOBI sothat they can avail the benefits provided bythese state-run labour welfare institutions.

Living on-site versus off-siteAlmost all brick kiln workers, approached forthis survey at different kilns around Shahdadpurcity, belonged to nearby villages located at a dis-tance of 2-4 km and were of the same commu-nity, known as Noonari. These workers commut-ed daily mostly on donkey carts and a few usedmotor cycles. In these kilns there was no womanworker as Noonari caste does not allow itswomen to work and also because the workerswere not residing on-site.

In the Noonari village living conditions were bet-ter compared to on-site shelter of brick kilnworkers. Almost all houses were brick-walled/pakka houses. There was open drainagesystem throughout the village, hand pump inevery house, proper roads, electricity and gascylinders supplied by a company for cooking.However, there were garbage dumps, opendrainage lines were full and blocked with plasticbags and sewerage water overflowed. This groupof brick kiln community seemed to be more eco-nomically sound and secure and their womenwere also skilled in cloth designing, stitchingand rilli-making.

At Bhittai Brick Kiln, the workers were migrantfrom Ranipur, district Khairpur, which is at a dis-tance of about 500 km. The workers of this kilnwere residing in the vicinity of the kiln with theirfamilies in mud dwellings or katcha houses.There were 18 families living in that area. Thedwellings had one small room for a family of fiveto six. There was a small kitchen in the openarea with unhygienic surroundings and one handpump used by 18 families for all purposesincluding cooking and drinking. There was no toi-let facility and all of them used open land. Therewas no drainage system.

Thirty-year old Rajab Ali, working as a munshi(administrator) of Bhitai brick kiln had beenworking at the kiln for last many years. This kilnis at about one to two kilometers distance fromShahdapur city. Total number of workers was150 including men, women and children. Theages of children were mostly between 10-12years.

Imran and Shafique, who were currently atnikasi, were working for the last 10 years andhad entered this industry at the age of 18 years.The common diseases or symptoms theydescribed were cough, breathlessness, fever,skin diseases and body aches. They drank a lotof water and washed their hands before everymeal in order to keep themselves healthy and toprevent body aches. They were not able to tellhow many glasses of water they drank per day.Both of them told that once in the past, theywere provided with protective goggles and hel-mets. Although they knew that these deviceswere for their health and safety still they did notuse them. According to them, it hindered theirwork speed and made it difficult for them toachieve their targets. On enquiry, they told thatwere never encouraged/forced by the owner oradministrator of the brick kiln to use these pro-tective devices on regular basis.

All family members, including women and chil-dren, were involved in brick making processes atdifferent levels and stages. The Bhitai kiln wasthe only brick kiln where two women were preg-nant. Many of the workers were smoking.According to the munshi, more than 50 per centof workers are smokers including some women.The pregnant worker, who was working on thefield along with her husband, said that she usu-ally worked till the last days of pregnancy. Therewas no concept of ante-natal checkups. Nor thefamily was aware of supplementary nutritionduring pregnancy, neither they could have


afforded it.

When questioned about the health facilities, thewomen said that they usually went to nearbyclinics or the government hospital. In the gov-ernment hospital presence of medical staff andphysician has always been an issue. However, ifstaff is available, the women at the kilns saidthey ask the patients to get investigations donefrom private laboratories and to purchase allmedicines at their own expense. The cost oftreatment is so unaffordable that they prefer toeither use some home remedies or wait forsymptoms to resolve on their own. They visit pri-vate doctors in case of emergency or severesymptoms.

Malnourishment among children was noticed. Amother was worried about her malnourished boywho looked about 10-12 years of age but hisactual age, according to her mother, was 17-18years. Almost all children in the area lookedmalnourished and much smaller than their ageand none of them were going to school. Theother pregnant worker at the site was almost fullterm but never had any antenatal checkup. Shewas looking very pale and had not been vacci-nated for tetanus.

Najma, 20 years old, was working at the kilnfrom last one year. She made 1000-1500 bricksper day through molds and put them away fordrying. She had two children and lived in a one-room house with another wife of her husband.She said that when pregnant, her working hoursare reduced to 7-8 hours /day. However, therewas not much change in diet except, if availableoccasionally, she did have some milk.

Munshi at the Abdul Hakim Brick Kiln, Nizamtold that the kiln was set up three years backand there were fifty workers, manufacturing20000 to 25000 bricks per day, and manufac-turing was mostly done at night.

Mushtaq of the New Saifla Brick Kiln, estab-lished in 2008, said that there were 85 workersand daily manufacturing of bricks was 25000-30000 units. He was working as a munshi forthe last one and half year. He shared that duringthis period there were two major accidents, onewas a serious burn to a worker and another wasa fall which resulted in serious injury. Accordingto him in both cases, 70 per cent of the medicalcost was shared by the owner.

Common disease symptoms noticed by him and

also shared by other workers were almost thesame as at other kilns, such as upper respirato-ry symptoms, asthma, body aches, skin rashesand backache.

There was a small child who was very shy to tellhis name but was working from the last 2 yearsat the Saifla brick kiln. He comes daily with hisfather and worked for six to eight hours. Oncethe bricks are dried, he changes their side anddid mixing of brick material and sometimes alsotransports them to other places.

There was no health facilities close by, nor anyconcept of antenatal care and neither aware-ness about vaccination during pregnancy, partic-ularly for tetanus. All deliveries are carried out athomes by available dai (birth attendant) or anyolder woman in the vicinity.

Children are immunized when government vac-cination team comes, but they were not aware ofany schedule. Community women did mentionpolio teams coming to their place from time totime.

At other brick kilns, like Abdul Hakim brick kilnand Saifla brick kiln, most of the workers cameeveryday either by donkey carts or by motorbikesto the place of work from their village Noonariwhich is at about 3-4 km.

At the brick kilns, men work 10-12 hours andwomen and children 6-8 or 8-10 hours daily atdifferent wages, usually from late evening toearly morning. Most of the time of the year-weather is quite hot except in winter when theywork during day time. The workers do not haveany health coverage for themselves and theirfamilies. In case of work-related injury some-times they are provided with little money by theowner as compensation.

Available HealthcareIn case of any acute or chronic illness, workershave to seek help from the local healthcareprovider and pay from their own pockets. Localhealthcare providers are usually paramedicsrunning their own clinics and even if they arequalified doctors, majority do not have any train-ing in dealing with occupational health issues.

Dust InhalationThe traditional fired clay brick manufacturingpasses through many processes which includemining, crushing, screening, forming and cut-ting, drying, kiln loading, firing and kiln unload-


ing and supplying to major cities where majorityof construction is carried out. These multipleprocesses lead to environmental pollutionalmost at every stage if precautionary measuresare not taken.8

After completing the process of mixing of mud,molding and drying, clay is baked at a tempera-ture of 900-1000°C.9 The area where bricks areextracted after baking, stored and later onloaded to donkey carts or Suzuki pick up was fullof dust which is a by-product of brick manufac-turing.

Although the workers were aware that protectivemasks could protect them from inhalation ofdust (a worker told that once masks were pro-vided to them), but they do not use masks. All ofthem were of the view that mask makes breath-ing more difficult and it takes longer time to fin-ish their work. They feel discomfort rather thanbeing at ease. They denied any long term respi-ratory problems. However, when visiting theirhouses a worker's wife mentioned that in theirvillage many people had respiratory issues butthey hide or deny the symptoms because of thefear of losing jobs.

Research has shown that long term inhalation ofdust can lead to a lung disease known as silico-sis which makes breathing difficult. There is nospecific therapy for silicosis cure or alteration ofthe course of the disease. Prolong dust inhala-tion does not only affects the health of workersbut impacts the people living in nearby commu-nities. It can also hamper the productivity ofworkers.

Fuel used in brick kilns and air pollutionBrick kilns causing air pollution has always beena great concern not only for workers but also forthe population of catchment areas. The fuelused at Shahdadpur brick kilns comprises main-ly of animal dander, coal and waste of textileand wood industry. Brick kilns usually emit thickblack smoke in the form of carbon monoxide,carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxideand fine particulate matters. These gases arenot only very dangerous to the workers but alsoto animals, plants and the nearby communities.There is no system of measurement of theseemissions in any of the kilns hence there was noknowledge amongst workers about emission ofdifferent types of gases. There was no aware-ness that they could be harmful to human andanimal health and can affect agriculture.

Almost all chimneys were fixed, cemented andBull's Trench type but had a height of only about50 feet (as told by the kiln in-charge). There wasno information whether they had filters in themor not. The recommended size for chimneyheight is 115 feet. Higher chimneys have theadvantage that their smoke and the gasesspread in the upper atmosphere, so they do notcome in contact with the population.10

Common diseases and symptomsThe common symptoms identified by differentworkers in Shahdadpur brick kilns were legpains and frequent attacks of fever. These symp-toms are mostly treated with multiple drugs andwith a provisional diagnosis of malaria as nofacilities are available to confirm diagnosis.Those working as jalai wala in areas wherebricks are baked at high temperatures andtransported either by donkey carts or by Suzukiseither for storage or supply to end users, gave ahistory of symptoms such as cough, difficulty inbreathing, frequent bouts of fever and abdomi-nal pain. Different types of injuries to body partsmainly hands, feet and abdomen, were alsoidentified by workers which they encounteredduring the shifting/loading/unloading of bricks.Backache was also mentioned by a number ofworkers and the reason is most probably liftingof weight with an inappropriate posture. Jalaiwala are exposed to very high temperatures sosymptoms of dehydration, heat exhaustion andburns were mentioned by the workers. Skin dis-eases are also common in workers.

All the mud mixing is done either by feet or byhand and filling of steel molds/frames is donemainly by hands. Since mud used is from thenearby lands, which are also used as open toilet,chances of parasitic infestations and infection inthe working population cannot be ruled out. Asmost of the work is done in open fields, snakebite does occur, particularly in rainy season.

The brick kiln workers mostly belong to same vil-lage/community and are settled in isolatedareas adjacent to brick kilns. Their social con-tacts with other relatives, friends and othermembers of society seem to be very limited.This isolation, along with poor living conditions,can have unhealthy psychosocial impact on thehealth of workers.

Prevalence of mental health problems in brickkiln workers is not known but there is some datawhich supports their existence, particularly inchildren, leading to alcoholism and drug abuse.11


Young age marriages among blood relations area norm in the brick kiln workers. It has beenproved biomedically that consanguineous mar-riage could be a causative factor in the preva-lence of genetic disorders from generation togeneration. Apart from genetic componentsthere could be increased chances of non-com-municable diseases and presumably communi-cable diseases.12

Good health, safe working environment, properhousing and clean water supply can lead toincreased productivity and increase in incomefor the employers. Based on this hypothesis, astudy was planned in Kathmandu, Nepal toprove the outcome of reduced absenteeism dueto water borne diseases in brick kiln workers. InDecember 2010, the result showed not onlyincreased productivity and reduced work hoursbut also increased awareness among the work-ers' community of water borne diseases.13

Brick workers are known for their poor healthand poor access to healthcare. A study conduct-ed in 2010 in Gujrat, India, revealed that brickkiln workers suffered from three system dis-eases: majority were suffering from muscu-loskeletal disorders, second most common wererespiratory and then digestive diseases.14

Mechanized brick kiln pilot projectMechanized brick kiln making system, whichwas introduced at Bhitai brick kiln (importedfrom China), did not prove successful. Reasonsneed to probed whether it was low qualitymachinery, unskilled and untrained people run-ning those machines or fear of workers of loos-ing jobs. According to the brick kiln owner, thebricks once come out of the mould would oftenbreak. The system required less labour, hencewas cost effective for the owner. However, thenumber of damaged bricks was high and after amonth, the owner shifted to the manual proce-dure. Another case of mechanized brick kiln sys-tem introduced in a Sukkur brick kiln sufferedthe same fate and was abandoned, according toa worker.

RecommendationsA proper health surveillance is required toassess the health status and impact of workingenvironment on the health of brick kiln workers.This should include complete health examina-tion to identify current health issues and risk fac-tors mainly in relation to exposure to harmfulgases, dust, extreme temperatures and their

long term effects on health and appropriatenessto carry out particular job. The health examina-tion should be planned and scheduled in theform of pre-employment and on-job physicalperiodic health checks related to exposure torisks, general health examinations and healthchecks at the end of services. Mental healthassessment should also be included in healthchecks.

There should be a first aid box present at all brick kilns and managers/munshis andfew workers should be trained with the basicknow-how of administering first aid.Workers should be advised to stop smoking.They can be helped in quitting smoking by arranging smoking cessation sessions for them. Workers should be immunized on regular basis for preventable diseases and those with respiratory symptoms for influenza andpneumococcal pneumonia.In order to minimize environmental effects, exposure to dust should be minimized by increasing awareness and education of bothworkers and employers and implementing preventive measures. There should be regular screening programsfor those with symptoms mainly fortuberculosis and silicosis. Control measures should be adopted by occupational health services in the form of dust control, ergonomic measures, use ofpersonal protective equipment andregulation of thermal control.Periodic checkups of women workers of reproductive age should be ensured andadequate referral system with talukahospital be established.Employer should be aware of safety hazards,ergonomics hazards, chemical and biologicalhazards, physical and psychological impact on the health of workers. Regular checks on air pollution, sampling ofsoil and water for regular and safe watersupply and appropriate sanitation should bethe part of environmental checks. Every siteshould have a disaster plan and all workers and management staff should be aware andtrained in dealing with disasters. There is a strong need to conduct an epi-demiological research to find the impact of environmental pollutions from brick kilns onhealth of workers and community and to develop a structured program to improve theoccupational health in Pakistan.There is a strong need for community


orientation program.The primary carephysicians and paramedics working in Shahdapur should be trained in identifying occupational health hazards of the exposed populations and are enabled to manage such patients in an appropriate and cost effective manner.There should be regular health and safety education sessions for workers andemployers. Health camps should be organized.

References

1. World Health Organization (WHO), 19802. ILO-WHO, 19953. What is Occupational Health?http://www.agius.com4. ‘International Statistical Classification ofDiseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10)’in Occupational Health, WHO,http://www.who.int/occupational_health/publi-cations/5. Clay Brick Manufacturing in Australia,Australian Industry Report, 10 Nov 2010, http://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/6. The state of Bonded Labour in Pakistan,

2009, National Coalition against BondedLabour, Islamabad.7. ‘Pakistan's Kiln Workers Bricked in by Debt’,Pamela Constable, Washington Post ForeignService, July 3, 2009, http://www.washington-post.com/wp,dyn/content/article/20098. Environmental Pollution from Rural Brick--making Operations and their Health Effects onWorkers, http://www.ca-lchina.org/documents/9. Particulate Matter Effects on RespiratoryHealth of Brick Kiln Workers, A SpirometricAssessment,http://www.bod.com/index.php10. Brick kiln workers exposed to diseaseshttp://www.dawn.com/2010/12/11/11. Endogamy, Consanguinity and CommunityDisease Profiles, A.H. Bittles, Centre for HumanGenetics, Edith Cowan University, Perth,Australia, http://content.karger.com/produkt-edb/12. Nepal, VSBK ‘Clean water for brick kiln work-ers raises productivity’,http://www.antenna.ch/en/programs/wata-sol/nepal-vsbk13. H e a l t h l i n e, Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December 2010, ‘Morbidity profile of Brick Kilnworkers around Ahmedabad city, Gujarat, Dr.Rajesh Mehta et al.


Labour Rights in Pakistan6

4


Overview

Pakistan is the world's sixth most populouscountry with an estimated population of177.1 million.1 According to recent esti-

mates, 63 per cent of Pakistan's populationresides in rural areas and 44 per cent of thecountry's workforce is engaged in agriculture.Though agriculture is a vital sector of Pakistan'seconomy, its share in GDP has shrunk to 20.9per cent and the decline is attributed to structur-al issues and policy gaps. It is not just the agri-cultural sector but rural development at largehas suffered neglect for decades. Physical andsocial infrastructure—link roads, basic utilitiesand services, markets and transportation—is indismal condition. Overwhelming majority, 80.84per cent, of rural population live in housingmade of mud bricks and wood, 26 per centhouseholds live in one-room shelter, 69 per centuse wood/charcoal as fuel for cooking and only21 per cent have access to tap water and 33 percent have no toilet facility.2

Sindh, the second most thickly inhabitedprovince has bulk of its population living in thecountryside with agriculture as their mainsource of living. But for the majority, workingarrangements in agriculture—wage work, tenantfarming, share cropping—are exploitative and/oryield little earnings. The households cannot sur-vive on agricultural income alone and the mem-bers supplement income through non-farmmanual labour or other activities. In addition toscarce livelihood resources, majority of the peo-ple who are concentrated in the rural areas ofthe province and associated with agriculture, sel-dom own (with legal documents/official authori-zation) the houses they live in. The landless agri-cultural workforce comprises sharecropperswho live either in their age-old villages set up bytheir ancestors or on the lands owned by land-lords. Either way, in the majority of cases, thehouseholds do not have ownership docu-ments/entitlement deeds. Lack of ownership of

the houses they live in makes them more vul-nerable to exploitation by the feudal lords.Dependence for shelter/housing on landlord per-petuates the vulnerability of the poor thatranges from the extremes of forced eviction tobonded labour. The housing insecurity, there-fore, continues to be used as an instrument ofsocial marginalization which systematicallyexcludes the poor from apparently open process-es such as labour markets, public services andpolitical representation.3

Objectives and methodologyThis scoping study aims to investigate relevantlaws, procedures and schemes of residentialland management in rural areas introduced andimplemented over the years by the state, focus-ing on 'village regularization' in TalukaShahdadpur The objective is to look in to thefactors contributing to lack of access to legalownership of the dwellings of rural citizens, andsecondly, to help the landless access the gov-ernment departments responsible for registra-tion process and the issuance of legal docu-ments.

Two villages each from three Union Councils ofDistrict Sanghar, Sindh, were selected for inves-tigation. Province of Sindh was chosen for tworeasons: one, Sindh has the most skewed landdistribution, and consequently, exploitativeworking arrangements in agriculture; two, Sindhis the province where PILER is based (in Karachi)and its rural areas are accessible. DistrictSanghar was selected for its peculiar politicaldynastic characteristic of the feudal system, andfor the fact it is the researcher's home district,thus access to stakeholders is relatively easier.

Sanghar District: OverviewSanghar District, with an area of 10,728 kmsand 1.4 million people as per census 1998,4 issituated in the centre of the province bordering

65

Right to Shelter: Rural workers andresidential land entitlements AAllttaaff HHuussssaaiinn


India to the east. Historically Sanghar is famousfor the Hur movement during the British raj. PirSyed Sibghatullah Shah Pagaro declared hiscommunity hur (free from the British rule) andorganized them into a rebel military group whichfought against the British. Hanged by the Britishin 1943, shaheed Pir Pagaro's family turned intofeudal-spiritual dynasty.

Sanghar comprises six administrative units(talukas)—Sanghar, Khipro, Sinjhoro,Shahdadpur, Tando Adam and Jam Nawaz Ali.Out of these six talukas four have considerablefollowing of Pir Pagara. Besides, Sanghar alsohas followers of Makhdoom Amin Fahim of Halaand the sajaada nasheen of Bahauddin Zakariaof Multan.

Parallel to the tribal-based political and socialsystem, the district has some huge land hold-ings owned by the spiritual-political dynastieswho are masters of the people of the area anddecide their fate when it comes to freedom ofassociation, freedom of speech and the right toballot. Due to the prevailing system of largelandholdings the landless peasants—in particu-lar sharecroppers—do not even own the shel-ter/abode they live in. Thus, in addition to thelack of ownership of the land they till, agricultur-al workers are deprived of access to the landownership for housing and shelter.5 Land man-agement and tenure systems, policies and legis-lation that help achieve adequate shelter andsecurity to rural population are non-existing orobsolete.

The peasants, tenants, wage workers and smallfarmers live at the outskirts of the villages closeto the agricultural lands. Though the villagershave had the abodes on the land for the lastmany years, or since several generations, theyhave no sanad (official certificate) or lease doc-uments to prove the ownership of houses or hut-ments.6 The outmoded land record manage-ment systems and the vulnerability of peasants(low literacy, low status) deprive them of accessto registration and documentation process. Evenin the case of government land where peoplehave settlements for years the local landlordwith the help of Revenue Department can force-fully evict them and acquire that land.7

The practice of expelling poor peasants and ten-ants out of the villages has added insult to theinjury of the tenants. The cases of forced evic-tion have been taking place in the districtSanghar, specifically in talukas Shahdadpur andSinjhoro time and again. Irony is that many of

these cases are not reported in the mediabecause of the fear of the landlords and the factthat the affected people do not have legalcourse to follow and stand against the landlords.

Right to shelter The right to housing or shelter is recognized uni-versally as one of the basic human rights. Article25 of the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rightsproclaims and renders it mandatory for themember countries that "every one has right tostandard living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family, includingfood, clothing, housing and medical care andnecessary social services, and the right to secu-rity in the event of unemployment, sickness, dis-ability, widowhood, old age or other lack of liveli-hood in circumstances beyond his control".8

Pakistan is also a signatory to the Declaration.

Right to Shelter and the Constitution of PakistanThe Constitution of Pakistan has clauses dealingwith the right to shelter and adequate housing toits citizens in line with the International commit-ments. Article 38 (D) makes the state responsi-ble for providing basic necessities of life to thecitizens such as food, clothing, housing, educa-tion and health irrespective of sex, caste, creedor race.9 However, the implementation of therights enshrined in the Constitution is seldommaterialized owing to the fact that politics andlaw making is dominated by the landlord-cumpoliticians who have kept the landless peasantsand tenants at arm's length and tightened theirown grip over the system.

66

International Conventions that inlcude right to shelter

1 The Convention on the Elimination of AllForms of Discrimination against Women, 1979. Article 14

2 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1965. Article 5

3 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 1950. Article 21

4 Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. Article 27

5 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families,1990. Article 43

6 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966. Article11

Labour Rights in PakistanSindh Goth Abad HousingScheme (SGAHS)

Provincial Rules The Sindh Goth Abad (Housing Scheme) Act1987 was introduced in February 1987 with anobjective to confer institutional arrangementsfor undertaking of regularization of villages ofrural areas of Sindh including Karachi. Accordingto this Act, the Deputy Commissioner, nowDistrict Officer (Revenue), being Collector of hisrespective District, is authorized to sanction thevillage and issue sanads to the genuine personsresiding in the village.10 However, the administra-tive structure of the SGAHS has been alteredand is now led by a Project Director and a five-member team given as under11:

According to Mukhtiarkar Gothabad, Sanghar,the scheme allows villagers to apply for the reg-ularization (accessing sanads) of their hous-es/hutments. The regularization of a village

requires a group of people to extend a formalrequest/application to the District Officer (DO)revenue at the district level. The DO sends theapplication to the Mukhtiarkar GothabadScheme, while Mukhtiarkar, for further adminis-trative procedures, mails the application to thetaluka revenue department for survey of the con-cerned settlements.12

According to the officials, the SGAHS defines avillage as a settlement of at least ten houses.The application should include documents, suchas survey map, list of households, population,written consent of the landowner if the subject-ed land is private, and 'no-objection certificate'(NOC) from the concerned government depart-ment which owns the land, electoral list and thecopies of the Computerized National IdentityCards (CNICs) of the villagers living in thosehouses/shelters.13

Previously private land subject to regularization

was used to be acquired by the government bytaking revenue department on board and com-pensation given to the land owning persons/landlords. This practice continued till late 1990sbut was abandoned due to the allegations of cor-ruption in the process.

The Allotment Committee formed under the aus-pices of SGAHS comprises Chairman (ProjectDirector SGAHS), and six members—DeputyDistrict Officer (DDO), Mukhtiarkar Revenue,Mukhtiarkar SGAHS of concerned district andthree naek mard (honest men) of the area.14 Theland regularized for one household underSGAHS is two ghuntas, equaling 2178 squarefeet. In the early days when this scheme waslaunched, specially during early 1990s, the rulespertaining to land regularization for singlehousehold were flexible and the regularizedhousehold had no limit on size of the land forhousing.15

Village regularization inShahdadpur TalukaAccording to the official record of the SindhRevenue Board under the SGAHS up to year2008, out of 66,923 human rural settlements(according to the survey of 1987) in Sindhprovince, 11,872 villages have been regularizedand 722,129 people have been issued sanad orcertificate of ownership of the house.16

In district Sanghar, as per statistics of the Boardof Revenue, Sindh, 339 villages, out of total3261, were regularized by 2008 which clearlyindicates that the process of regularization of vil-

67

PROJECTDIRECTOR

Accountant PlanningOfficerMUKHTIARKAR

MUKHTIARKARGOTHABAD DISTRICT

DeputyDIRECTOR

S # Taluka /Tehsil Total No ofHouseholds regularizedin Taluka/Tehsil villages in each

Taluka/Tehsil1 Sanghar 45,064 662 Shahdadpur 54,532 713 Sinjhoro 34,635 1074 Tando Adam 36,496 505 Jam Nawaz Ali 15,992 146 Khipro 64,476 117

Total 251,195 425

Source: 1998 Population Census, Sanghar Report &SGAHS, Sanghar

Current status of villageregularization at DistrictSanghar


lages has not been up to the mark.17 However,according to the SGAHS Sanghar, the number ofvillages regularized in Sanghar are 425 but byand large the process remains unsatisfactorilyslow.18 According to the most recent statistics ofSGAHS, Sanghar, following are the details oftaluka-wise regularization of villages. However,only the number of total villages is available.According to the Population WelfareDepartment Sanghar, the total number of vil-lages in district Sanghar stands at 6,055.Therefore, still a large number of villages aredeprived of regularization benefits.19

Village regularization in TalukaShahdadpurTaluka Shahdadpur with eleven Union Councils(UCs) and the population of 340,778 (as per1998 Census) is situated on the main railwayline 50 miles north of Hyderabad and 25 mileswest of Sanghar. Shahdadpur city, founded byMir Shahdad Khan Talpur, has a railway stationand is connected with Tando Adam, Sinjhoro,Nawab Shah, Hyderabad and Sanghar by road.This is a bustling trade center for agriculturalgoods—cotton, wheat, oil seeds, sugar,bananas.20

Village MaldasiVillage Maldasi, being one of the largest villagesin Taluka Shahdadpur, comprises 500 house-holds. Basic facilities including road, hospital,school, drainage system, water supply scheme.The village has traditional social system of land-lord-cum political leader being in charge ofaffairs of the people of the village. The village isinhabited by different castes—Dero, Khaskheli,Hoat, Umrani, Soomro, Syed, Kumbhar andMalah. However, the day to day affairs—includingballoting by the people of the village—are under-taken on the whims of the landlord.

This village was regularized and asnaad issuedin the late 1980s when the SGAHS was intro-duced by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan,Muhammad Khan Junejo. The process of regu-larization of village under SGAHS to award enti-tlement deeds to the residents in village Maldasistarted when the settlers were approached bythe officials of the revenue department (Tapedaron the orders of Mukhtiarkar Revenue).According to Babal Dero, a resident of the vil-lage, most of the residents have got the deeds.21

When the people of the village were furtherasked of the advantage regularization haveextended to them, they were unanimous in say-

ing that the landlord of the village can not expelthem from the village and they are the legalowners of their homes. The people believe thatthe ownership document provides them with asense of security and that they have some thingworthwhile they can rely upon. Settlers in the vil-lage are supporters of one of the largest politicalparty (PPP) of the country, which they believehas not lived up to the promises of itsleadership.

Village Hashim KhaskheliHashim Khaskheli village is part of the UnionCouncil Maldasi. The village has 40 households,inhabited by Khaskheli tribe. The village is locat-ed on the government land owned by theIrrigation Department. According the people ofthe village, it was populated quite a few yearsago. The village has one primary school for bothboys and girls, and is electrified, but is devoid ofbasic health unit, gas and other facilities.

The village has a population of around threehundred people who are engaged in agriculture.They are mainly sharecroppers of different land-lords. When asked about the regularization ofthe village under SGAHS, the villagers said theyhave never heard of the scheme. AttaMuhammad Khaskheli, a resident of the village,said the villagers feel the threat of encroach-ment by the influential people and wish to getlegal ownership.

Village Murad Ali RindMurad Ali Rind is one of the cluster of villagescalled Deh (Murad Ali Rind) in Union CouncilLundo. The village comprises approximatelyhundred households and is inhabited by threecastes/tribes. The dominant among them areRinds and the others are Lakha and Meerani.This village has a primary schools each for boysand girls, brick-paved streets, but has no watersupply scheme, drainage system and the basichealth unit (BHU). The village is among thosesettlements afflicted with severe water shortagein Deh Murad Ali Rind because of the high-hand-edness of powerful landlords who have largeland holdings and who divert water to their landsdepriving the people of the village of the verybasic necessity.

The village was regularized and asnaad awardedin 1989 to the majority of the households.However, some of the people who have settled inthe village after 1989 have yet to get theirhousehold regularized largely because of theirown weary approach towards the issue. The vil-

68

Labour Rights in Pakistanlagers were not aware of the process of regular-ization which took place in 1989 till aMukhtiarkar of Shahdadpur approached themthrough a Tapedar. Their village was surveyed bythe Tapedar and a local school teacher. The vil-lage was located on the land of the government.According to the villagers the revenue depart-ment was accessed for No Objection Certificate(NOC) by the SGAHS, Sanghar, resultantly NOCwas issued by the concerned department andofficial certificates awarded to them.

When asked about any leverage the ownershipdocument could have brought, the villagersbelieve that with the regularization of village andhaving security of shelter, influential people ofthe area cannot evict them from the village.They are also aware of the fact that being theowners of their houses they could avail differentgovernment and private schemes initiated foragricultural purposes.

Village Wali Muhammad RindWali Muhammad Rind is also located in DehMurad Ali Rind, Union Council, Lundo, The vil-lage comprises 40 households inhabited by Rindcaste. In terms of provision of basic facilities thevillage has electricity and a primary school, butno Basic Health Unit (BHU), water supply andsanitation facilities are available. The village,according to the residents, is located on the gov-ernment land and no private person has everclaimed ownership of the land here.

The residents of the village, however, are con-fronted with an issue: an aspiring landlord,Muhammad Yousaf Rind, who belongs to anoth-er village called Bhajhi Khan Rind is claimingthat he has got ownership of 12 acres in the vil-lage from the government which is occupied bythe villagers and they should vacate their hut-ments. The proof available with the villagers oftheir residence is that their names are regis-tered in the voters' list of village WaliMuhammad Rind.

Manzoor Hussain Rind, a resident of the village,says the issue was taken to the local MPA andleader of a political party but so far nothingworthwhile has come out of it and the issueremains a matter of concern between the twoparties. People fear forced eviction because ofthe influence Muhammad Yousaf yields. Whenthey were asked about the regularizationscheme of the SGAHS, they were not aware of itand hence never accessed the ownership docu-ments. The prevailing tension between the peo-

ple of village Wali Muhammad Rind andLandlord Muhammad Yousaf may culminateinto serious conflict any time in future.

Village Izat Korai. Village Izat Korai, Deh Shahdadpur, UC-4Shahdadpur, is a cluster of 100 households.Majority of inhabitants of the village belongs toKorai tribe, and the remaining are Lanjwanisand Maghanhars.22 The village has a primaryschool and proper water supply scheme. Since itis located at a distance of just one km from theShahdadpur town, the villagers can accesshealth facilities.

According to the villagers only seven householdsare registered in the village and possess owner-ship document of the houses they live in, therest did not avail this opportunity. The process ofthe regularization took place during the late1980s when the villagers were approached bythe Mukhtiarkar. The Tapedar, along with a gov-ernment appointed school teacher, carried outthe survey in which majority of the people due tolack of interest did not cooperate, as a resultthey were left out of the process. According tothe villagers, the land on which the village islocated was purchased by the Korai tribe from alocal Hindu landlord about 80 years ago and wasnamed after their elder (Izat Korai).

From the perspective of gender equality andwomen’s rights, people of the village when ques-tioned said that they would get the ownershipdocument in the name of their women indicat-ing less influence of the tribal and conservativemindset.

The sad part of the story of this village is that thedominant Korai tribe is least willing to allowLanjwanis and Maghanhars to apply for the reg-ularization of their households. The Lanjwanis,according to the people of the village, are alsoearly settlers. The Korais consider Lajwanis to beassociated with criminals. This dormant conflictalso has the potential to surface if and when theregularization process begins in the village.

The benefits of regularization availed by thehouseholds include access to the soft agricul-ture loans from several banks and from theHouse Building Finance Corporation. The ZaraiTaraqiati Bank also awards loan for agriculturaland livestock development purposes.

Village Shafi MuhammadVillage Shafi Muhammad is part of Union

69


Council-4 of Taluka Shahdadpur and comprises35-40 households. The village is located on gov-ernment's land (irrigation department) populat-ed by Arain, Mahesar, Sheikh, Hajana andMaachi with no caste having dominant positionhence absence of tribal conflicts. The village hasno electricity, water supply scheme, gas and pri-mary school. People earn their living throughagriculture and livestock.

Residents of the village submitted an applica-tion for the residential rights under the SGAHS in2006. Survey of the village was undertakentwice during this period but Tapedar is unwillingto sign the application. The irrigation depart-ment has also written its consent on allotting theland to the residents. But the officers in local rev-enue department keep lingering on the issue ofregularization of village Shafi Muhammad. Theresidents believe that corruption is the main rea-son behind their indifference towards signingthe application of regularization of village underSGAHS.

Conclusions/RecommendationsThe investigation reveals that most of the vil-lages were regularized under SGAHS in the ini-tial years of the announcement of the scheme inearly 1990s. However, in recent years regular-ization has been minimal despite the fact thatmost of the people fear eviction and encroach-ment by the powerful landlords.

This study reveals that people living in the vil-lages are without legal ownership documents oftheir abodes primarily due to their lack ofawareness and indifference towards the SindhGoth Abad Housing Scheme. The villagers byand large did not know that SGAHS wasannounced long ago and that they couldapproach the local offices any time and accessthe document. It is also evident that there hasbeen no effort on the part of the concerned gov-ernment departments to disseminate the infor-mation and the details of the procedure where-by the villagers could access entitlement deeds.

Information about the village regularization scheme can be provided by the civil society organizations working with rural communi-ties on human and civil rights.As powerful landlords, already in control of large chunks of agricultural lands, are out tograb more land to increases their power, it is of utmost significance that

steps should be taken for land reforms and aceiling must be put in place for land

holdings. The requirement of obtaining writtenconsent from the landlord of the village if thesaid house is on private property should be done away with. Government must ensure that laws are implemented in letter and spirit. A well organized and wide scale villageregularization movement should be launched by the civil society to make sure the majority of the rural populace is able to achieve residential security. Media can be mobilized on the issue ofvillage regularization so that information could reach maximum number of people. The land records of village regularization in district offices of SGAHS are poorlymaintained. Government of Sindh needs to make sure record keeping is computerized todiminish tempering of record.

End Notes 1. Pakistan Economic Survey 2010-11 2. Ibid.3. Haris Gazdar, Sobia Ahmed Kaker andHussain Bux Mallah, Residential Security asSocial Protection, Pakistan Review 2009,http://www.sindh.gov.pk/dpt/PopulationDev/sanghar.htm4. Labour Rights in Pakistan: Declining DecentWork and Emerging Struggles, 2010 Ed. ZeenatHisam, PILER,5. Ibid.6. Ibid.7.http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml8. Haris Gazdar, Sobia Ahmed Kaker andHussain Bux Mallah, Residential Security asSocial Protection, Pakistan Review Paper, 20099. Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan10.http://www.sindh.gov.pk/dpt/bor/pages/Organizational%20Structure.html 11.http://www.borsindh.gov.pk/index10. Muhammad Hassan Khaskheli,Mukhtiarkar Sindh Goth Abad Housing Scheme,District Sanghar11. Ibid.12. Ibid.13. Sindh Goth Abad Housing Scheme. SGAHS,Sanghar14.http://www.borsindh.gov.pk/index15.http://www.borsindh.gov.pk/index16. Sindh Goth Abad Housing Scheme. SGAHS,Sanghar17. Population Welfare Department, Sanghar18. 1998 Population Census, District CensusReport Sanghar, 1998

70

Labour Rights in Pakistan19. When contacted Babal Dero, nephew ofthe landlord of the village confirmed that vil-lage was regularized during 1980s whenSGAHS was initiated and his family supportedpeople in their bid to get (sanads)19. Residents of the village Izat Korai confirmthat the majority of residents is of Korai tribe,while the other two tribes, Langwanis andMaghanhars, are also part of the village 20. Amjad Rafee, resident of the village whohas been involved in the process of regulariza-tion of village Shafi Muhammad.

71



Women Workers in FisheriesYYaassmmiinn QQuurreesshhii && SSaammeeeennaa HHaaiiddeerrmmoottaa

It is ironic that a country whose main city,Karachi, is named after a fisherwoman, MaiKolachi, should so ignore the role of its fisher-

women that not a mention is made of them inThe Handbook of Fisheries Statistics ofPakistan,1 once an annual publication ofPakistan's Marine Fisheries Department. Theoversight notwithstanding, the fact remains thatwomen have, since time immemorial, played animportant role in sustaining and developing thefishing industry in Pakistan.

Overview of the sectorAbout 200 million people around the world,almost half of them women, depend on fisheriesfor a living. In South and Southeast Asia, coastalfisheries employs around 6.7 million peopledirectly and another 8.3 in ancillary industries.2

Pakistan, with a coastline of 1,046 kms and anExclusive Economic Zone of 240,000 sq. km,has a total maritime zone of over 30 per cent ofthe land area.3 The coastal ecosystem, rich infisheries, mineral, and hydrocarbon resource,includes numerous deltas and estuaries withextensive inter-tidal mudflats and their associat-ed wetlands, sandy beaches, rocky shores, man-groves, and sea grass beds. In addition, an exten-sive inland water system—rivers and their tribu-taries, canal irrigation system, natural lakes,storage reservoirs, and small and large sizedponds—covers another eight million hectares.4

All of these serve as an important source oflivelihood for many. The total production of fishfrom marine and inland waters is 0.60M tons.Yet the country's fisheries sector—inland andmarine—remains comparatively small, contribut-ing one percent to overall Gross DomesticProduct (GDP)5 and providing jobs to about oneper cent of the country's labour force.

Defining workers The Marine Fisheries Department of Pakistandefines fishers as crew members employed on

crafts playing offshore and on inland water bod-ies as well as those engaged in fish processingplants, curing yards, fish carriers, fish farming,and other auxiliary industries. Fishers are thosewho depend on the seas and freshwater bodiesfor their livelihood and who consider waterresources their common property resource.

Based on earnings and work time spent in fish-eries and related activities, the Marine FisheriesDepartment categorizes these workers into fulltime workers, i.e., those who spend 90 per centof their time in fishing and its ancillary activities;part time workers, i.e., those who spend up to 30per cent of their time in fishing and its ancillaryactivities; and occasional workers, i.e., thosewho spend less than 30 per cent of their time infishing and its ancillary activities.

Interestingly enough while the Marine FisheriesDepartment restricts the definition of fishers tothose directly concerned with fishries, the localcommunity enlarge the definition to includewomen who work and are a part of the fishingcommunity as fisherwomen.6

EmploymentEmployment in the primary sector was highest in1997 with a record number of 416,405 fisher-men, but this figure declined to 324,489 in2006. The decline is most apparent in the inlandsector which is somewhat more labour intensiveand less productive (177,572 fishermen eachproducing an average of 0.80 tonnes per year)compared with the more mechanized marinesector (146,917 fishermen each producing 2.59tonnes per year).

Karachi is by far the largest fisheries hub of thecountry. In addition, fishing communities arescattered all across the coastal areas of Sindh(in Thatta and Badin districts) and Balochistan.(Gwadar, Pasni, Jiwani, Ormara, Kalmat, Sur,


Sonminai, Damb, and Gadani). Other thanmarine fisheries, freshwater carp farming is amajor aquaculture activity in the interior.

Different sources place the number of boatsoperating out of Pakistan at 16,0007 and19,0008. Most of these are traditional woodenboats of 12-15 m, with capacity of 16 hp out-board engines operating in the shallow coastalwaters and offshore areas of the country.Fishing trips range from a few hours to as longas 25 days depending on the nature of fishingand the type and size of the fishing boat. Severalsmall marine landing centres exist along thecoastal areas where traditional and motorizedcraft land their catches. There are four majorfish harbours (two in Sindh and two inBalochistan), of which two serve deep-sea ves-sels. In addition, there are 15 major fish landingcentres for inland fisheries. There are also 29fish processing units with storage capacity of10,000 tons around these harbours.9

General issues facing fishers

Occupational health and safetyMarine fishing is considered to be the most dan-gerous of all civilian occupations. According toan ILO report, 24,000 people die annually whilefishing. The rate of loss of life and other casual-ties is much higher where small-scale fishermenfish in conditions for which their vessels, andtheir safety and communication, are less thanadequate or non-existent.

Working in a difficult environment with long andirregular shifts increases the risk of work-relatedillnesses and accidents among fishers. On deck,fishermen are exposed to the weather and thesea, fishing gear and other equipment and usu-ally to the catch itself. On or below deck theymay face dangers associated with fish process-ing. There is always the possibility of fire, sinkingand other traditional maritime dangers.

The ILO survey indicates that many fishermensuffer from skin and respiratory diseases, aswell as from the effects of noise and vibration.Hypertension, coronary heart diseases, stom-ach, lip, and lung cancer are common. Some dis-eases, such as salt-water boils and injury by orallergic reactions to marine life are peculiar tofishing. Non-fatal accidents are common. Othercommon problems include occupational asth-ma, hearing loss, fatal poisoning and asphyxia,and skin diseases as a result of handling fishand other marine life without using gloves.

Lack of social protectionIn Pakistan, the problems fisherfolk face areboth natural and man-made. In addition to occu-pational hazards identified in the ILO survey, thefishing community in Pakistan lives on thefringes of society in endemic poverty. Illiteracyfigures are high for lack of schools in fishing vil-lages and those boys who do go to school tendto drop out after the fourth or fifth grade, optingfor the unpredictable life at sea over an evenmore unpredictable future that a poor educationwould provide.

Since the Government clubs fishing togetherwith agriculture, fishers, like farm workers, areexcluded from labour rights hence are deprivedof benefits offered by the state-run labour wel-fare institutions (ESSI, EOBI) to workers in theformal sectors. Workers in the fishing sector aremarginalised and poorly paid and remainamong the most vulnerable in society. Employer-worker relationship is informal. On an average, afisherman works for 25 years but few, if any, arefinancially secure after retirement.

In addition to occupational hazards, the liveli-hood of fisheries' workers is under threat due torapidly depleting fish resources. Fishing commu-nities blame increasing population, overfishing,activities of foreign deep sea trawlers, use ofharmful nets, pollution, and reduction in freshwater flow from River Indus as causes for thediminution of fish resources.

A major problem for the fishers is the depletionof the mangroves and the sinking of the jazeeras(sandbars) which the fishing communities useas landing posts on extended fishing trips.Shahid Amjad, a marine biologist, who untilrecently, headed up the National Institute ofOceanography is quoted as saying, 'Unplannedindustrialization, and a lack of government regu-lation to prevent pollution is slowly but surelydestroying the islands and the islands are erod-ing at an alarming rate.' This is corroborated bythe fishermen themselves.10

Ever since the dams were made in Mangla,Tarbela, etc., it has been bad for fish. There is notenough fresh water coming down and the man-groves are dying. Because of the dams, notenough silt is coming downstream either and thejazeeras are no longer viable; since they do notget enough silt, they are sinking.

Till the time of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, we used tofish in Ibrahim Hyderi and sell fresh fish from


here. We would also go on long trips—as faraway as Sri Lanka at times. Now we go up toBalochistan for fish. The trip can take anywherefrom 10 to 20 days. It is really bad nowadays.We don't earn any more from the fish. Nets,boat, ration, wood—we cannot cover the costs.There is very little fish here.

There was a time when fishermen used to eatthe best of the catch. Now the situation is suchwe take daal with us so we can sell all the fishwe catch. Fishermen don't eat fish anymore.

Mohammad Bajro

Fisherwomen in Pakistan:Then and nowWhile it is universally agreed that conditions offishermen are not good11, the changes the lastfour decades have wrought in the lives of fisher-women hve been more far reaching.

Till the 1960s, fishing was a family business.Entire families would embark on fishing boats tocamp on small offshore islands for the durationof the fishing season. Temporarily lodged insmall hutments and shacks, the women workedalongside the menfolk, helping in the actual fish-ing as well as in the cleaning and drying processand in marketing the fish. In cases, when themen left for major voyages lasting 10 to 20 days,the fisherwomen would continue fishing in theshallow waters of the coast selling their catch innearby and remote markets. Many of thesewomen were regarded as businesspeople intheir own right. A case in point is the legendaryMai Kolachi, who was the chieftain of a smallfishing community running her own trade in hervillage.

Since the mahigeer community was recognizedas a single community, women moved freelyamongst the men; there was no concept of pur-dah for women. With men away for extendedperiods of time, women assumed the role ofheads of the families. Significantly, among thefishers everyone is still identified by their moth-ers, not their fathers.

Since all the fishing families belonged to onecommunity, women had no reservations aboutgoing out on a boat. One did not do purdah fromone's own community. It was also common forfisher families to go out on picnics. The hillsaround here were very beautiful once. Therewere a lot of open spaces. People used to comefrom afar to picnic here.

The mahigeers have a matriarchal family sys-tem. The community people recognize childrenby their mothers; so children are referred to asTahira's children or Zebun's children and not bythe father's name. Women are responsible formost of the decision making. Men go out to fish.Women stay at home and do the cooking andthe housework.

Tahira Mohammad Ali

Changes in lifestyle and loss ofwarning powerHowever, with commercialization of fisheries inthe 1960s, and the expansion of fishing into anindustry came a change in practice. What hadbeen a family business turned into a large-scaleindustrial business diminishing the role ofwomen in the fisheries. Fisheries became 'pro-fessionalized' with only men being recognized asfishers; fishing crafts and gears were modern-ized with technical know-how restricted to menonly and women's access to the commonresource was restricted.

When our men used to go on the boats, wewould go with them. At that time, I was very lit-tle. We used to catch fish and prawns and wewould cook for the men and help the men catchfish; and we would help extract the fish from thenet. There were all kinds of fish and lots ofshrimp. Now some of the fish have becomeextinct. Men now go faraway—they are away forfive days at a time and we don't go with themany longer.

Sughra Maasi

Mechanization of fishing also meant thatwomen lost their role in the post-harvest activi-ties of fish vending and marketing. In areaswhere export agents took over the catches,women workers lost access to fish for sale andwere turned into wage labourers for sorting outand drying the fish for the exporters and others.From being co-partners with their menfolk, anumber of women have ended up performingthe most menial and hazardous tasks in the fishprocessing and prawn peeling units. These work-ers now form an integral part of the work forcein the fisheries industry.

There were other changes too affecting thelivelihood and lifestyle of fisherwomen.

A major source of income for fisherwomen inthe past had been from the making of cotton


fishing nets, which gave them a stable, if mod-est, income. The earnings from net makingdepended on the complexity, strength andweight of the net. When nets were made exclu-sively of cotton thread, fisherwomen earned Rs.5 to 10 per day.12 In the late 1960s, the processof modernization and mechanization suddenlyhit hard the indigenous cotton net-making pro-fession of the fisherwomen. Nylon machinemade nets replaced the home-made, cottonthreaded nets which women used to weavedepriving them of this livelihood in the samemanner that they were ejected from fishing.

The commercialization of fisheries combinedwith the degradation of the Indus Delta also ledto an influx of non-indigenous fishermen fromthe deltaic creeks and inland agricultural/inlandfarming to the deep waters off the coast-bring-ing with it a new, more conservative culturedetrimental to the freedom of women.Traditionally, women from fishing communitieshad always enjoyed greater freedom in theireveryday lives as compared to women in theagricultural sector. As mentioned earlier, amongthe coastal communities, the purdah system forwomen in fisherfolk society was virtuallyunknown.

While the freedom women enjoyed was perhapsinevitable with the absence of men for extendedperiods of time, it was also the result of beingone of an extended unit. With the influx of out-siders, this was no longer the case.

People from other areas also started movinginto Ibrahim Hyderi from the interior of Sindh;also Bengalis, Pathans, Punjabis, and Burmesemoved in to this area. Because of this influx,women no longer felt comfortable coming out inthe open. They stopped sailing with their men;they stopped going to the seashore and on pic-nics. Now, they mostly stay home. When it wasjust people from within their own fishing com-munity, they did not mind going out but now theyfeel it is inappropriate to do so.

Tahira Mohammad Ali

At present, there are two distinct and diversetrends among the fisherfolk communities withregard to the status of women. Among the tradi-tional fisherfolk community, the mahigeer, set-tled along the coastline, women continue to par-ticipate in varied activities along with the men.However, women of those communities whohave in recent decades migrated to the coastal

areas and switched professions from agricultureto fishing, continue to be governed by rigid tradi-tions, their mobility relatively restricted.Deprived of their basic rights and freedom theyremain confined within the four-walls of thehouse in the name of morality and decency. Incase of inland fisheries too, women remain poor-er, socially and economically weaker, andrestricted in mobility.

Present statusHaving lost their traditional livelihood, womenfrom the fishing community have turned to othersources of livelihood. Many now seek work asmaids in the richer localities of Defence HousingSociety where they can earn as much as Rs5000 a month. Some have taken to merchan-dising, buying goods from the city's wholesalers,mostly from Leah Market, and selling them inthe local market. A popular item for trade isutensils for cooking and home use. Others, moreenterprising, go as far as Quetta to buy cloth tosell in the villages. Some buy and sell dried fish.Yet others have taken to making pakoras,cholay, samosas, achaar to sell from small stallsset up outside their houses in the lanes.

Around 35 years ago, I used to go on long fishingtrips, sometimes for up to a fortnight. However,the role of women in fishing activity slowly start-ed diminishing and as a result, we had to searchfor other means to make a living. I started work-ing in a chappra but that involved heavy lifting.So I started my own business: I opened my teastall from where I now sell tea and kulfis.

Hawa Masi

Among the younger generation, however, thetrend is towards education—becoming teachersor learning a skill like sewing so that they can beemployed in garment factories. A very smallnumber of women workers are involved in weav-ing/repairing nets and making fish baskets aswage labourers. Few women want their daugh-ters to remain in the trade. Most look towardseducation to give their daughters a better life.

For the future, we want our children to be edu-cated: if they are educated, they will be able tomake a life for themselves. They will find differ-ent ways to earn money. If they get educated,they can become doctors, teachers etc. then wewon't need people from outside. Teachers, doc-tors and professionals for this area can comefrom within our own community.

Hanifa Ebrahim


New migrants, mostly Bengalis and Burmese,now form the bulk of women working in the fish-ing industry. Far from being co-partners withtheir menfolk, these women work in dismal con-ditions as daily wage workers in fish processingfactories and chappras (sheds) for the lowestwages possible.

Scarcity of clean water and gas in parts of the vil-lage force women to spend much of their timetracking down these essential resources.

We can buy water from the water tanks pulled bydonkeys but these cost Rs 200 per tank. Bigwater tanks cost Rs 1000 to 1500. The fisher-folk with great difficulty barely earn Rs 50 perday. Then, how will they have the money to buywater?

Hawwa Maasi

In some areas, the Government has put up filtersfor clean water. In other parts, women and chil-dren wander around all day trying to get cleanwater for their requirements. If two women areworking in the house, four go out in search ofwater because when the fishermen return fromwork, they need water for their baths.

The men go at dawn and come back at noon.Then they go out in the evenings again. Theydon't have time to look for water. The women areleft to do this. They go to and fro with matkas ontheir heads and because of the load on theirhead, they tend to lose their hair. They go bare-foot to fill water because if they have slippers on,they can slip. So they get pricked by thorns andsometimes their feet get cut by glass not to men-tion the germs they pick up along the way. Theirmission is to get water so they do it irrespectiveof the problems they encounter in the process.

We have gas in Ibrahim Hyderi in most houses;where there is no gas, we buy wood from thestores, but in Rehri Goth, some women go waistdeep in water or else they go out in small boatsto the mangroves and cut wood for their dailyrequirements.

Tahira Mohammad Ali

Equally essential is the need to tackle the mas-sive pollution problem.

Garbage dumps are all over the place. We burnthe garbage or we throw it into the sea. The pol-lution that is caused by either of these methodsleads to many diseases and illnesses. Womenhave been diagnosed with tumors in their uterus;

cancer is prevalent, espesially oral cancer.Hepatitis is commonplace because of the utiliza-tion of unclean water. And illnesses like diar-rhea, etc., in children and older people happensfrequently.

Tahira Mohammad Ali

Lack of opportunities compels women to seework in the chappras and warrahs despite harshworking conditions and meagre pay.Interestingly enough while all the women weinterviewed spoke of a better life for their daugh-ters—education and employment in the garmentfactories—none complained about the hardshipsthey face at work. The worry expressed over andover again was lack of work during the non-fish-ing season and a loss of income. While a returnto the times when fishing was a family businessand the community was held together throughnurturing values of resource sharing is not possi-ble, the government can take immediate stepsto alleviate the lot of these workers.

Processing plants and women workersOf the thirty registered processing plants inPakistan, twenty-seven are located along thecoastline of Karachi; twenty-three in the FishHarbor at West Wharf; two in SITE and two in theKorangi Industrial Area. Four processing plantsare located in Gwadar and Pasni.

In addition to the processing plants, there aremore than fifty chappras (work sheds) inKarachi, located largely in Ibrahim Hyderi andRehri Goth, which are run by contractors. Thechappras mostly work in two shifts employing anaverage of twenty women per shift.

The overall employment in the processing/mar-keting sector is estimated at around 55,000.13

Of these, approximately 10,000 are womenworkers.14 The highest proportion of these arethose who are engaged in peeling, sorting, andpacking work in shrimp processing plants andchappras. Women also constitute most of thelabour force involved in net repair.

Working conditionsWomen work in the processing plants and chap-pras cleaning fish, cleaning and peeling shrimpsand shelling and processing crabs. They are alsoinvolved in drying fish, as well as grading andsorting shrimps and in packing the items for saleand export.

Working conditions in the plants appear some-what better and more regularized than in the


chappras. A visit to a processing plant nearChasma Goth showed an organized culture withregular working hours, proper lunch breaks, toi-let facilities and a uniform for working women.

The average age of the women in this plantappeared to be in the twenties and thirties. Theaverage pay was Rs 6000. The women inter-viewed expressed satisfaction with their workingconditions. They had transport facility to andfrom work and regular weekly holidays. Thosewe spoke to generally expressed satisfactionwith their employers. While the general workingconditions appeared good, it must be said thatthe ground was completely wet although beingcemented, it was not slippery. Also, the womenhandling live razor clams in murky water werenot wearing gloves. It must be emphasized, how-ever, that these observations refer to one pro-cessing plant.

Working conditions in the chappras and war-raahs on the other hand leave much to bedesired. The chappras are primitive structureswith no facilities and no provisions for protectionfrom heat. Most of these are small one roomaffairs with thatched roofs leading off the mainroad in Ibrahim Hyderi and Rehri Goth. Womenwork in unhygienic conditions, cleaning ice cov-ered fish, shrimps, and crabs with their barehands. Thus these women work in the sizzling

Tasks Female Male BothCatching fish ✓ ✓ ✓

Drying of fishCleaning of fish ✓ ✓ ✓

Working in fish ✓ ✓ ✓

meal plants Preparing fish ✓ ✓ ✓

mealPowdering solid ✓

to poultry formProcessing of ✓

crabsPeeling shrimps ✓

Grading ✓

Sorting ✓

Packing ✓

Repairing nets ✓

Gender roles in Fisheries15

A long winding road runs alongside the sea.Mountainous heaps of garbage line the roadon both sides. Predators in the form of kitesare everywhere. They circle the sky andswoop downwards. As we drive towards thechappras, the road meanders along the sea.The sea stretches out on the right side andyou can see the beach as you drive along.Fishing boats are adrift on the sea. Thekites are everywhere, in the sky and dottingthe beaches like tiny black specks on thepolluted sands. All the garbage fromKarachi is dumped here so the stench isunbearable. As we approach the area wherethe chappra is, it seems like the driver isgoing to veer off the cliff. But there is actu-ally a road there, bumpy and rocky, goingdown the cliff.

As the car lurches along the broken road, wemake our way to the chappra. Stray dogs runalongside the car. We reach the chappra. It isa long empty yard with a thatched roof, partsof which are in tatters exposing the floor tothe hot open skies. There are wooden stoolson which the women squat. Today, the yard isdeserted. The last batch of shrimps wascleaned and sent to the company almost a

week ago so there is no work being donehere now.

Since shrimps perish fast, peeling has to becompleted before noon each day. Thus, workfor these women often begins at 4 a.m. andends at midday. All days in a week are con-sidered working days as work is dependentupon the arrival of the catch. Thus, no fixedhours can be observed and workers are calledin as and when the catch arrives, even if it is inthe middle of the night. During the season,when the maximum catch of seafood isbrought in, women work for continuous peri-ods of 14 to 15 hours. There are no labourunions here to protect the interests of theworkers.

The fishing season extends for a period ofnine months. The season for shrimps is frommid April to July. Fishermen earn about Rs200 daily during the fishing season. Theirincomes vary from about Rs 2500-3000 amonth to 10,000-12,000 a month. They haveon average six people in the family to support.When they have money, it is alright. But some-times for about 3-4 months, they go hungry.

SH

A Visit to a Chappra


heat while they sit in icy water with no protectiveclothing, handling ice covered shrimps with barehands. Since these women are simultaneouslyexposed to hot and cold conditions, they areeasy prey to diseases.

Perhaps the biggest problem in these chapprasis the failure to provide a proper sitting arrange-ment. The women squat either on the bare flooramidst filthy icy water or on low wooden stools,for hours at a time, cleaning, peeling or shellingas the case may be. Their misery is compound-ed by the fact that there is no arrangement forthe disposal of fish, shrimp, shells, and crabs'wastage. Everything is dumped on the floor ren-dering the floor slick and slimy, making it notonly slippery to walk on but a health hazard ingeneral. It is little wonder that these women aresubject to skin disease, asthma, allergies, andbackaches. Squatting in dirty water in anunchanged position for hours at a time alsoleads to many gynecological complications. Forpregnant women, miscarriages are a constantoccupational hazard. Since a large majority ofwomen workers are of a child bearing age, thisis a major issue.

There is no concept of protective clothingalthough the women work for hours on at astretch in ice covered material. There is no pro-vision for gloves or aprons for these workingwomen. Rubber boots are unheard of. Womenwork in their daily wear: if any were to bring workclothes or clothes to change into before return-ing home, there is no changing room to changeor keep the extra pair of clothes.

The women are not provided with any workingtools. This combined with the fact that theirhands are immersed in ice cold water for hoursat a stretch means that many women havechilblains, (red itchy swelling on the hands andfeet caused by exposure to cold and damp), cutsand bruises on their hands and fingers—a factthey hide from employers for fear of losing theirsole source of income.

Toilet facilities are inadequate. In most chap-pras, there is one toilet for 100 women workersand the condition of these toilets is deplorableand unhygienic. Given that women often startthe day at 4:00 am and stay in the chappras foran average of 7-8 hours, the situation is unten-able.

There are no dispensary or first-aid facilities forthese women. A simple thing as a hand washing

facility is not provided. Even though work oftenstarts as early as 4 a.m. when it is still dark,there is no proper lighting system, which makesit difficult for these women workers to work.

Thirty per cent of women working in the pro-cessing plants and chappras are over 30 yearsold; 60 per cent of them are in the 20-30 yearage bracket while 10 per cent are below the ageof 20 years.16 Some women bring their youngdaughters to work with them to peel shrimps sothey make the maximum income for the day.But since these children accompany their moth-ers and the work they do is calculated as part ofthe work done by the mothers, they are notregarded as part of the labour force.

A worrying trend in recent years has been thatfactories are employing women between theages of 18 and 25 only. This means olderwomen find it difficult to find work. There arealso some factories that employ only Bengalisand Afghanis as they can get more work fromthem for less pay. Among the most marginalizedof the communities, these women dare notprotest for fear of losing their jobs.

Occupational health and safetyissuesAs with any other industry, the health of theworkers is dependent on the work environment.Given the adverse working conditions in thechappras, especially the fact that women haveno proper seating arrangements and are forcedto squat in dirty icy water for hours at a time, ithas been noticed that fish processing workershave a high prevalence of muscular-skeletal dis-orders arising out of heavy lifting, awkward workpostures, repetitive work tasks performed in ashort time cycle and stress.

When a woman squats on the floor and peelsshrimps, the entire weight of the child comes onthe legs and this in itself can cause complica-tions. How long can a pregnant woman standand work? Also if a pregnant woman carriesheavy loads, it can cause problems.

Sakina Dai

Due to unhygienic condition of these chappras,the women workers are often affected bymalaria, gastrointestinal diseases andHepatitis-B. Tuberculosis, the scourge of thepoor, is widespread as are skin diseases likecoxcomb. Chronic back ache is another occu-pational hazard.


WagesThe wages of women workers in the fisheriesindustry is even lower than what has beenallowed in the Minimum Wages Ordinance1961, and the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 andthe West Pakistan Minimum Wages for unskilledWorkers Ordinance 1969. The figures for theamount earned by women workers vary.

Interviews with seven women from IbrahimHyderi revealed that an average pay is Rs 10 forevery 10 kg of shrimps peeled.17 `According towomen, they earn a mere Rs 40 to Rs 60 forevery 12-16 kgs of shrimps peeled. Anotherreport, The Case of Home Based Sub-contractedWomen in Pakistan, puts the earnings at Rs 88

a day for 11 kgs of peeled shrimps.

The majority of women peel an approximate 1kg of shrimp in an hour, while a few 'experts'peel as much as 1¼ to 1½ kgs of shrimp. Somewomen workers bring their young children ashelpers to earn maximum income in a day.

Conclusion andrecommendationsPoverty is endemic among fishers. Resourcesare few and needs many. The population alongthe coastal belt is increasing both by natural pro-gression and because of internal migration.Shipping, un-regulated industrialization anduntreated effluent pouring into the sea from the

Sharifa is in-charge supervisor at one of thechappras at Rehri Goth. Fifty to sixty womenwork in each chappra where 2000 kgs ofshrimp are divided between the women. Ittakes about four to five hours to clean. There isabout 15-20 kgs of shrimp in each basket.They get about Rs 40 to clean one basket.

The shrimps are cleaned and then the nass isremoved with a blade. Once they clean theshrimps, it is Sharifa's responsibility to do thesorting and grading. Then the shrimps arefrozen in ice boxes and sent to the company.

The people who work here in the shrimp peel-ing industry are almost always in debt. Thelocal moneylender charges Rs 3 interest forevery nine rupees they lend.

In Rehri Goth, there are three chappras. Thesame women go to the different chappras forwork. They are paid on a day to day basis. Theyget about Rs 120 to 160 a day depending onthe number of shrimps they peel.

They aspire for better jobs. If they would findbetter work, they would stop peeling shrimps.They do not want to do this work anymore orwant their daughters to do this. They wouldrather work in the garment factories than peelshrimps. Women who do not get work at thegarment factories out of desperation work atthe chappras. For three months of the year,when it is not fishing season, the men stay athome: they have no income. If the women hadjobs in the factories, they would be able to sus-tain themselves. The work in chappras is not

consistent and therefore the women who workin here often find themselves without anymeans of income.

When asked how the conditions in the chap-pras could be improved, Sharifa seemedunconcerned. They said that there is no pointhaving gloves as they need their bare hands topeel shrimps. They are not bothered about thegerms that they may be exposed to. The entiregarbage of Karachi is dumped in the sea here.The water supply line here is also polluted. Insome places, the gutter line is mixed with thewater line hence many people suffer from allkinds of allergies. There are many other ill-nesses rampant because of the dirty water.This is why they feel that peeling shrimps withtheir bare hands is nothing in comparison tothe pollution that exists in these areas.

Because of this pollution in the seas, now theyhave to travel 30 kms before they can find anyfish.

As supervisor, Sharifa makes Rs 400 per daythat she works at the chappra. If she had workin a garment factory, she would make Rs 5000per month, though the minimum monthlywage is set by the government as Rs. 7000 butthis law is not enforced. The women in the fac-tories are aware of this law but they are afraidto say anything. If and when they say anything,they lose their jobs so they continue to work atlower wages. There are no trade unions inthese factories.

SH

An Interview with a Supervisor


city's main industrial area, Korangi, coupled withthe lack of fresh silt laden water from the Indus,is slowly but surely destroying the islands andthe mangroves that have sustained the inhabi-tants of the coastal belt for centuries and pro-vided protection from the southwest monsoonwhich rips into the Sindh coastline almost everyyear. Buddo and Bundail, the two silt-formedislands just off the coast of Karachi, once hometo the fishing community, are gradually eroding,as are the smaller similar islands. The erosion ofthese islands coupled with rising sea levels isfurther threatening a livelihood already underthreat.

The best and probably the easiest way towardsimproving the lot of women workers in the fish-eries is to bring the sector within the ambit oflabour laws and through implementing theselaws. This would ensure a minimum pay scalefor women workers, adequate health coverageand a clean working environment. To improvethe lot of women in the the fisheries sector, thefollowing steps are recommended.

Policy levelTackle the poverty-environment nexus at the pol-icy level for poverty, environment and growth areinterlinked. Since fishers are dependent on nat-ural resources for their livelihood, environmentaldegradation can seriously precipitate a down-ward spiral further jeopardizing an already frag-ile living.

Implement laws on environment.

GeneralExpand the definition of 'worker' to include women working in the informal sectorincluding among others, fisherwomen, contract workers, piecemeal workers, home-based workers, and others.Adequate policies for home-based women workers, domestic workers, etc., bedeveloped.All 'workers' should be registered asindependent contractors/self employed/piecemeal workers.Written contract should be given to all employees.The Harassment at the Work Place Act 2010should be supported with rules and itsprovisions implemented in all workplaces.

WagesMinimum wages be fixed for the informal sector, contract worker, piecemeal worker,

using different methodologies, i.e., a certaincost for number of pieces produced in one hour.The minimum wage should reflect the rise ininflation.Equal pay for equal work should beguaranteed for women with adequatepenalization for violators.

Occupational health and safetyHygienic conditions of the chappras be improved. First aid facilities be made available at all facilities.Basic protective clothing—aprons, gloves, etc., be provided for workers.Adequate seating arrangements be made sothat the workers do not have to squat in dirtywater amidst the filth and trash. Changing room facilities be mademandatory along with facilities for hand washing.The provision of safe drinking water, clean latrines, clean environment be mademandatory.Where possible, rooms for child care beprovided so that women who bring infants and young children have a place to keep them. This is especially important since the majority of working women are in the 20-30year age bracket with young families.All women workers in the informal sector should have social security cards.All independent workers should beregistered enabling them to access social security benefits.Working hours, tasks at work should be revised for pregnant women, e.g., no heavy lifting.

Awareness RaisingRaise awareness among the fisherfolk abouttheir rights guaranteed under labour laws. The PFF has done excellent work in this sphere but other NGOs need to be involved inawareness raising.Local councilors, local socialpersonalities, Labour Inspector of the area, representatives of NGOs, personnel of area Police Station and others should be involvedto ensure implementation of labour laws. It should be clearly brought into the notice ofall exporters and employers that violation oflabour law could negatively affect theirbusiness.Workers' families be provided education assistance and health benefits.


Legal aid and free legal service be provided for female workers looking for redress.NGOs working in this sector could also teamup with other NGOs, the Orangi Pilot Project(OPP). Similarly, they could team up with NGOs like Gul Bahao, to tackle pollution at the community level.

EEnndd NNootteess

1. Last published in 1998.2. Tayyaba Ahmed, Role of Fisher Women inFishery Industry of Pakistan, A Power PointPresentation shown at the Sustainable FisheriesPolicy and Coastal Resources Management,Karachi, 7 August 2004.3. Workers in the Fisheries Sector in Pakistan,PILER, March 2006, (unpublished document)4. Ibid.5. Ibid.6. In an interview with Tahira Mohammad Ali.

Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum, Karachi.7.http://www.pakissan.com/english/allabout/fisheries/a/brief.on.fisheries.shtml8. Workers in the Fisheries Sector in Pakistan,op.cit.9. Ibid.10. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/pak-istan/101122/pakistan-climate-change-karachi11. Under the ILO definition fisher is a genderneutral word for the purpose of this study, theterms fisherman and fisherwoman are used.12. Mohammad Ali Shah, A Bleak Future:Women of Fishing Communities in PakistanFace Increasing Marginalization, SPC WomenFisheries Information Bulletin No. 11, November2002.13. Tayyaba Ahmed, op.cit.14. Based on an interview with Kamal Shah,Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum, Karachi.15. Tayyaba Ahmed, op.cit.16. Interview with fisher women.



4


Recent floods have underscored mass dep-rivation from assets that would havereduced intense misery, prompt self-

reliance in relief, and supported restoration andrehabilitation in lives and livelihoods. Exclusionfrom land and other assets, as well as lowreturns to labour are to blame—be it extortionarysharecropping or exploitative wages.

Pakistan illustrates the immense deficit in adecent wage. Official monthly minimum wage isfrozen at Rs 7,000, despite rampant inflation infood prices.

When updated for official inflation, the officialpoverty threshold would be well over Rs 9,000,for a single adult earner in a family of six. Hencethe minimum wage should be at least a thirdhigher than it is. Of course the poverty wage isofficially admitted as inadequate to overcomemultiple deprivations.

Were the state committed to equitable growth,its own poverty threshold would adjust to nation-al economic growth; the minimum wage should

then be well over Rs. 11,000 today to reflect thegrowth, of over 20% in per capita income andinflation over the decade.

Official documents—Economic Survey, LabourForce Survey and Household IntegratedEconomic Survey—allow illustration of state fail-ure in ensuring economic rights of citizens.

Urban manufacturing provided an averageemployee (i.e. excluding self-employed andunpaid family labour) with well above the officialminimum wage. But this conceals the absenceof an effective floor, where one-fourth of suchworkers received substantially less than the min-imum wage.

In part this is a consequence of odious discrimi-nation of not just wages but also of jobs betweenmen and women workers, with the latter aver-aging less than one-half of male wages in man-ufacturing. Surely, low wages for so many alsoreflects child labour, pervasive in spite of officialdenial.

Minimum Wage: Deficit in Decent WageAA.. EErrcceellaawwnn

FFiigguurree 11.. PPaakkiissttaann MMoonntthhllyy EEaarrnniinnggss,, 22001100-1111

Note: The official urban poverty line is based on 2230 calorie intake consumption daily per adult and esti-mated for a family of six with a single adult earner. The Asian floor wage is expressed in local currency byusing Purchasing Power Parity country indices from the World Bank, e.g. a budget of Rs 32 in Pakistanequals $ 1 budget in the USA.


Quite relevant is the average monthly wage ofskilled (craft) workers. At nearly Rs 8,500 it isalmost the same as a poverty wage. However,unskilled (elementary occupation) workers failto do better than the inadequate minimumwage. Both averages conceal a wide dispersion.

Increasingly, employment rests upon self-employed and unpaid family labour. This labourarrangement raises average compensation inmanufacturing to Rs. 11,000—well above wageworkers. However, across all sectors the urbanaverage earnings for skilled (craft) labourremained only slightly above wage workers. Unacceptable disparity between labour isreflected in the fact that while average urbanwage and salary income was over Rs 8,500 peremployee across all households, the averagewage even up to the third quintile (of incomeranked households) was much less than eventhe minimum wage; and employees in the low-est quintile could claim barely above Rs 5000per month of work.

Consider further the fact that the bottom 60% ofhouseholds (ranked by income) received lessthan five per cent of manufacturing earnings fortheir contribution of nearly half the employ-ment. Yet again, the relatively high average ofRs 11,000 conceals the substantial numberwho earn significantly less than the average.

Rather than label consider self-employment as

more decent than wage work, it must beremembered that higher earnings can reflectself-exploitation in very long hours of work atlow piece rates. In addition, it conceals costsborne by self-employed rather than the buyer ofservices—e.g. of infrastructure; purchase ofmaterials; and delivery of product. No lessadverse is the effect of constraining femaleaccess to public space, presence of childlabour, and reduced solidarity for collectiveaction amongst labour.

Pakistan's macro framework—decided byWashington and Manila obsessed by neoliberalgrowth—hopelessly fails in assured full timeemployment for two earners even at this lowlevel of income. Unlike India, there is no attemptin other South Asian states to even initiate anemployment guarantee.

Asian Floor Wage CampaignIn defense of decent work, a campaign has orig-inated from South Asia to protect labour againstsharp diminution of wages through export com-petition driven by cheap labour.

Since the textile sector now accounts for verylarge shares of export earnings, and of employ-ment, the campaign has begun with garmentworkers. The focus on textile and specially gar-ment workers also enables sensitivity to therights of women workers, including home-based

FFiigguurree 22.. AAssiiaann FFlloooorr WWaaggee 22001100 ffoorr MMoonntthhllyy PPPPPP $$ 550000

Note: Floor wage of $500 applies to an average family of 2 adults, 2 children, 1 earner. 3000 calories arerequired daily per adult. Non-food expenditure equals food expenditure, with children requiring half asmuch as adults. The floor wage is expressed in local currency by using Purchasing Power Parity countryindices from the World Bank, e.g. a budget of Rs 32 in Pakistan equals $ 1 budget in the USA.


employment.

A strategic reason for this focus is to leveragecampaigns for corporate responsibility toinclude living wages in export negotiations,going beyond inadequate national minimumwages. With recent textile and garment exportsexceeding $ 1 billion per month, there is sub-stantial scope for improving the lives of workersin Pakistan or Bangladesh.

What then should be the floor wage for garmentworkers in Pakistan? The campaign provides anotional level to protect workers against exportcompetition done unfairly on the backs oflabour. A recent campaign publication suggest-ed the floor to be a sort of average living wage

across across Asia in a family of 2 adults and 2children, one adult earner and no child labour.This suggested a monthly wage floor of over $500 in 2010.

At the prevailing exchange rate, this would trans-late for Pakistan into more than PKR 40,000 permonth. The campaign observes that export com-petition through suppressing labour costs is notgenerally done on the basis of nominal dollars,but is negotiated by importers on the basis ofdifferences in cost of living.

To capture such cross-country differences, anavailable adjustment factor across countries isavailable from the World Bank as PurchasingPower Parity indices. For example, a bundle ofgoods and services available for $ 1 in the USA

would cost around PKR 30 in Pakistan butrequire SLR 50 in Sri Lanka (or conversely, $ 1 inPakistan is much like $3 in the USA).

Hence considerably less than $500 should bethe nominal dollar floor wage in most countriesof South Asia, and correspondingly lower innational currency than that indicated by marketexchange rates. Using this method to equalize aliving wage of $500 yields a monthly compensa-tion floor of Rs 16,000 in Pakistan and Nepal,and around Rs 9,500 in India during 2010.

Using official inflation estimates, the compensa-tion floor for Pakistan would have risen by atleast 15 percent to over Rs 18,000 per adultworker in 2011.

Can Pakistan export manufactures "afford" sucha wage floor? Social productivity, such as(monthly) Manufacturing GDP (of over Rs 3000billion by 7.5 million workers), and of Textile andGarment exports ($12 billion by 2.5 millionworkers) exceeds Rs 30,000 per worker. Thiscomparison with prevailing wages affirm theobvious: the country produces enough, but theneo-colonial state, increasingly in thrall to neo-liberalism, fails miserably in enabling livingwages, with consequent unfair deprivation ofmillions of workers and their families from adecent life.

Poverty WageBased upon a daily male adult calorie thresholdof 2350, the official country poverty line inPakistan was taken to be monthly adult expen-

FFiigguurree 33.. TTaarrggeett MMoonntthhllyy UUrrbbaann WWaaggee iinn PPaakkiissttaann 22001111

Notes: Both the Asian Floor and Decent Wage are based on 3000 calories required daily by an adult; oth-ers follow official target of 2230 calories. The Asian Wage Floor applies to one adult earner in a family offour; all others use one adult earner in the prevailing average urban household of 6-7 persons.


Base Base Base Adults Estimated Inflation Current Current Current National National Urban per Urban Index Estimated Estimated Estimated

Adult Adult Adult capita Monthly Urban Average Urban Daily Monthly Poverty Poverty Monthly Household Earner

Calories Expenditure Daily Expenditure Poverty Size TargetCalorie Per capita Expenditure Monthly

(Rs) per capita Wage(Rs) (Rs)

Official Poverty Line 2350 Rs 750 2230 0.85 600 260 1560 6 9400Revised Poverty Line 2230 0.85 990 230 2280 6 13700Living Wage 3000 0.75 3290 115 3780 4 15100Decent Wage 3000 0.85 1270 230 2920 6 17500Asian Floor Wage 3000 0.75 PPP 115 4600 4 18400

$500 per earnerRs 16000per earner

Purchasing Power Parity Index was 32 in 2010.For sources see Weblinks.

Table 1: Wage Estimates for Pakistan 2011

diture (on food and non-food consumption) of Rs750 per adult in 2001-2. For urban areas a calo-rie intake of 2230 was considered adequate,implying an urban expenditure level of Rs 710per adult.

Using the (conservative) measure of inflation inthe official Consumer Price Index the currentpoverty expenditure per adult would be aroundRs 2,000 and Rs 1800, for country and urbanareas respectively. Per capita threshold forurban families would then be around Rs 1600,assuming an adjustment factor of 0.85 to reflectlower calorie requirements of children and offemales.

The average urban family of 6-7 persons is sup-ported by 1-2 earners. However, significantlymore than half of earners were overworked(beyond 48 hours) or underemployed (less than35). Hence we assume a single adult as earner,supporting 6 persons, who should then have alegitimate claim to more than Rs 9,000 asmonthly urban poverty wage.

Other data also support the premise of a singleadult earner as typical. More than half of urbansample households had a single earner; thisholds true even among the poorest quintile(ranked by income). Further, consider the factthat urban employment of 13.5 million adults(between 20 and 60 years of age) provided for65 million urban population, i.e. 4-5 personswere supported by a single adult earner.

The Social Policy & Development Centre (SPDC)revised the urban poverty threshold for 2004-5to Rs 1000 per capita. Assuming a family of sixwith one adult earner, and using the CPI toadjust for inflation, this standard implies a cur-rent poverty wage of over Rs 13,000 per month.This is almost twice the minimum wage. Werethe improbable to occur, 2 adult earners withofficial minimum wage jobs could just aboutreach the poverty line in a family of six.

Decent WageAdjusting for urban average household size of 6rather than the 4 persons assumed in the AsianFloor Wage of currently around Rs 18,000 for asingle adult earner, a first approximation to adecent wage is then over Rs 27,000 per month.Reducing non-food budget to the AFW standardas half of consumption expenditure (rather thanthe nearly 60% implied by average urban budg-et) would reduce decent wage to around Rs23,000. Interestingly, the recent demand of aminimum wage of Rs 25,000 by several tradeunions lies within these limits.

Underlying the Asian Floor Wage is the idea of aliving wage in each country, adjusted acrosscountries to arrive at a floor that prevents exportcompetition on the backs of the poor in anycountry. Such a living wage is to apply to a singleadult earner in a family of 2 adults and 2 chil-dren, with target calories at 3000 per adult andnon food expenditure assumed to equal target


expenditure. Using urban average food con-sumption, the total expenditure per capita wasalmost Rs 3300 per month in 2010-11, andhence over Rs 13,000 for a household of 2adults and 2 children.

Adjusted for inflation, a monthly living wage ofRs 15,000 would currently be a conservativeclaim by one urban adult earner in Pakistan.

Since average food expenditure corresponds toless than the target of 3000 per adult, it is bet-ter to use the urban calorie-expenditure functionobserved in 2004-5 (by SPDC). Adjusted forinflation, a family of 6 with base need of 3000calories per adult would enable an urban wageearner to claim a decent wage of more than Rs17,000 per month.

WWeebblliinnkkss

Asian Floor Wage,cleanclothes.org/resources/recommended/stitching-a-decent-wage-across-borders-the-asia-floor-wage-proposal. Economic Survey (Ministry of Finance),finance.gov.pk/survey_1011.html. Household Integrated Economic Survey (Federal Bureau oStatistics),statpak.gov.pk/fbs/content/household-integrated-economic-survey-hies-2010-11. Labour Force Survey (Federal Bureau of Statistics), statpak.gov.pk/fbs/content/labour-force-survey-2010-11. Purchasing Power Parity (World Bank) http://data.worldbank.org/indicator. Updating Poverty and Inequality (Social Policy & Development Centre),spdc.org.pk/Publications.aspx.


The passage of the constitutional reformswhich has modified more than one hundredsections of the 280-article Constitution in

summer 2010 is seen as a major step inPakistan's constitutional history that would havea "profound impact on the way the country isgoverned and its economy is managed."1 Thoughthe history and the long drawn process of thereforms, popularly called the "18thAmendment" is beyond the scope of this study,it is important to note that the set of amend-ments in more than one hundred articles of theconstitution have deep and powerful implica-tions on labour legislation and implementation.Key outcomes of the major reforms in theamendment include: strengthening of provincialeconomic, legislative and administrative autono-my; expansion of fundamental rights; empower-ing of the office and the authority of the PrimeMinister and the parliament; and a more con-sensus-based method for appointment of judgesin the superior courts.

Provisions related to the provincial autonomyare of particular interest for labour legislationand policy. For the purpose of provincial inde-pendence, two major changes have been intro-duced: the list of governmental powers sharedby the central government and the provinces—the Concurrent Legislative List—has been abol-ished and a joint dispute resolution body, theCouncil of Common Interests (CCI) has beenstrengthened. Prior to the 18th Amendment, theprovincial legislative authority remained resid-ual power under the 1973 PakistaniConstitution. Two sections guided the legislativeexercise on provincial and federal level: theFederal Legislative List, an exclusive domain ofthe central government; a Concurrent List carry-ing a list of subjects over which the provincesand the central government both had the powerto legislate. Over the years, however, the federallegislation mostly managed to override theprovincial legislation,2 creating unrest among

the provinces over their powers and autonomy.Sixty-seven subjects fell under the FederalLegislative List and 47 under the Concurrent Listbefore the 18th Amendment. After theAmendment was adopted in April 2010, theFederal List has been expanded to cover 77 sub-jects, and the Part II of the list now carries 18subjects (from 8 earlier)3 while the concurrentlist stands abolished, meaning subjects coveredunder the list have either been devolved to theprovinces or added to the Federal Legislative list.Labour was also a Concurrent List subject thathas now been transferred to the provinces.Provisions related to labour in the ConcurrentList included: 1) Welfare of labour; conditions oflabour, provident funds; employer's liability andworkmen's compensation, health insuranceincluding invalidity pensions, old age pensions;2) Trade unions, industrial and labour disputes;3) The setting up and carrying on of labourexchanges, employment information bureausand training establishments; 4) Regulation oflabour and safety in mines, factories and oil-fields; 5) Unemployment insurance. With theabolition of the Concurrent List, legislation onthe above-mentioned subjects is now thedomain of the provinces and not the federal gov-ernment.

The 18th Amendment not only grants greaterlegislative and administrative powers to theprovinces, it also affords more economicempowerment for provinces in terms of authori-ty and decision-making. Provinces will now havegreater autonomy on issues such as economicand infrastructure development, managementof labour and environmental laws, movement ofgoods and commodities within their own bound-aries; and improving education and health sys-tems in the province. This autonomy also meansraising funds and striking investment deals withforeign countries/corporations, and importantly,legislating in concerned areas to follow the eco-nomic direction adopted by the provinces.


The Devolved Course: ConstitutionalReforms and the Status ofImplementation of Labour ProvisionsZZeeeenniiaa SShhaauukkaatt

There have been varied arguments regarding theimpact of the constitutional reforms, mostlysupporting the process as a much-needed stepfor the purpose of provincial empowerment andautonomy. The objective of this article is to trackthe status of implementation of amendmentinsofar as the items related to labour are con-cerned. Admittedly, the implementation is along-drawn process and the resistance on thepart of the bureaucracy as well as inter-provin-cial disputes over the mode of implementationhave been further slowing it down. This way, weare unable to report beyond certain limits, large-ly depending on newspaper sources for informa-tion regarding the process. The cut-off point forinformation sought and referenced is December31, 2011.

The Implementation Process:The constitutional amendments also providedfor the devolution of federal functions by way ofproviding for the establishment of an'Implementation Commission' by the Federalgovernment "within 15 days of the commence-ment of the Constitution (EighteenthAmendment) Act, 2010".4 The relevant provi-sion, provided under Article 270AA (8), alsoenvisaged the completion of the devolutionprocess by June 30, 2011. The commission wastasked with and had the power to "make or passsuch directions, orders, undertake proceedingsor require the making of amendments to regula-tions, enactments, notifications, rules or ordersas may be necessary to further the objectives ofclause 8 of Article 270(AA) of the Constitutionand in this regard require the attendance of anyofficial of the Federal or Provincial Governmentsor the Divisions or the AttachedDepartments/Offices."5 In short, its job was tocreate and monitor the mechanisms and institu-tional procedures required to complete theprocess of devolution by 30th June, 2011. TheImplementation Commission undertook theprocess in four phases and the Federal LabourMinistry was to be devolved in the fourth and thefinal phase towards the end of its term.6 As withother ministries and divisions, the Ministry ofLabour was not completely devolved to theprovinces and some of its divisions and func-tions were retained by the federal government.

Devolution and Federal Ministryof Labour and Manpower:As a part of the devolution, the government dis-solved the Ministry of Labour and Manpower. Atthe same time, the two new ministries concern-

ing labour affairs were created: the Ministry ofHuman Resource Development (HRD) and theMinistry of Professional & Technical Training(PTT). The Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment is now responsible for maintainingtrade/labour unions at the national level andalso administers the National IndustrialRelations Commission. It also retains theresponsibilities of dealing with internationalorganisations and donors such as theInternational Labour Organisation over the areaof the implementation of conventions and com-mitments related to labour. The OverseasEmployment Corporation as well as the HumanResource Department will also remain with thecentre with the HRD Ministry. In the most con-troversial move, the government has also hand-ed over the social security institutions i.e. theWorkers Welfare Fund and the Employees OldAge Benefit Institution to the Ministry.7

The Ministry of Professional and TechnicalTraining has been assigned the National TrainingBureau, the Directorate of Workers Educationand the Pakistan Institute of Manpower.

Labour Legislation PostConstitutional Reforms:After the abolishment of the Concurrent List,there is a strand of argument that suggests thatthe federal government is no more authorised tolegislate on labour related issues and institu-tions. In a constitutional petition filed by the AirLeague of the Pakistan International AirlinesCorporation seeking recourse from the Article270AA of the 18th Amendment and pleadingthe Superior Judiciary to hold the IndustrialRelations Act, 2008 protected up till 30th June,2011, the Supreme Court announced on 2ndJuly 2011 that "… presently, no FederalLegislation can be made on the Labour mattersexcept recourse to the provisions of Article144(1) of the Constitution, which provide that ifone or more Provincial Assemblies pass resolu-tions to the effect that Majlis-e-Shoora(Parliament) may by law regulate any matter notenumerated in the Federal Legislative List in theFourth Schedule, it shall be lawful for Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) to pass an Act for regulat-ing that matter accordingly, but any Act sopassed may, in respect to the Province to whichit applies, be amended or repealed by Act of theAssembly of that Province." According to thisinterpretation, no law can be passed by the par-liament on devolved subjects until one or moreprovincial assemblies pass a resolution callingfor the parliament to legislate on the matter.


Though apart from the IRO 2010, no legislationhas been passed by the national parliament overthe issue of labour, the Supreme Court's rulingdoes call for a clear position on the authority ofthe legislature to legislate on devolved subjects.

Industrial Relations Orders andFramework for FundamentalRights: The status of the Industrial Relations Act (IRA)that guides employer-employee relationsremained most ambiguous following the consti-tutional reforms as the government's interimIRA 2008 had expired around the same time asthe constitutional reforms were passed. The IRA2008 replaced a repressive IRO 2002 by thePPP-led Government in September 2008. Whilepresenting the bill, the government had prom-ised to bring in a new act by April 2010 followinga thorough consultation process. However, nofederal level bill was announced after the expiryof the IRA 2008. Instead, all four provinces pro-ceeded to develop legislation on industrial rela-tions. Meanwhile, provinces largely adopted IRA2008 as an interim order. The PunjabGovernment notified the Punjab IRA onDecember 9, 2010; Sindh revived the IndustrialRelations Act, 2008 terming the adopted bill asthe Industrial Relations (Revival and Amended)Bill, 2010 in June 2010;8 the KhyberPakhtunkhwa Industrial Relations Bill, 2010was promulgated on July 14, 2010; and theBalochistan Industrial Relations Act was passedon October 14, 2010.

Like the earlier legislation regulating employer-employee relations, the IRA 2008 was criticizedfor its non-consensus character as it was passedin the parliament without any debate. It soughtto exclude 80% of the workforce leaving theinformal sector, the agricultural workers, armedforces, PIA security staff, Pakistan SecurityPrinting Corporation, government hospitals andeducational institutes, self-employed workersout of the ambit of the law. It was also criticizedfor encouraging individual employee-employeragreements, formation of paper federations,promoting policing on labour through the NIRCand making labour law violation an easy propo-sition through inadequate deterrents.

All provincial legislation on industrial relationspost 18th Amendment followed the same shapeas the IRA 2008 promoting a narrow order forindustrial labour on issues of unionization andinstitutes for dispute resolution. The Punjab gov-

ernment for instance, has earned major criti-cism from labour rights bodies that have identi-fied a range of issues with the province'sIndustrial Relations Act. The Punjab IRA restrictsthe right to unionization for organizations whereless than 50 workers are employed. This is overand above the exclusion of 80 percent of work-force that has been a part of all industrial rela-tions acts in Pakistan over the years. The ratio ofoutsiders in a union's executive has beenreduced from 25 percent to 20 percent, whichundermines workers' right to derive strengthfrom the society wherever a union lacks expert-ise. A tripartite mechanism of workers, employ-ers and the government that is used for the res-olution of labour disputes remains absent in thePunjab law. Workers' councils that had repre-sentation both from workers and from employ-ers have also been abolished. The provincial leg-islation changes much for labour unions too.The Act dictates the appointment of presidingofficers of labour courts and tribunals by theprovincial government without reference to theHigh Court. Labour rights groups argue that theabsence of a system of appointments at labourcourts without the approval of the High Courtwould undermine workers' confidence in labourcourts. The Act has also been criticised forremaining ambiguous about the role and obliga-tions of "contractor".9

The Sindh Government's Industrial Relation(Revival and Amendment) Bill, 2010, asexplained, is essentially a revival of theIndustrial Relations Act 2008.10 The governmenthad passed the legislation to fill the vacuum thatexisted following the lapse of the IRA 2008.However, the Sindh Government pledged torevisit the laws to re-enact them "into provinciallegislations in line with the spirit of the 18thamendment."11 The government also formed atripartite committee that worked with theWorkers Employers Bilateral Council of Pakistan(WEBCOP) to prepare Draft Sindh IRA - 2011.The Bill was presented to the Provincial LabourMinister in March 2011. However, it is yet to bepresented in the provincial assembly. Eventhough during the preparation of the draft, therewas unofficial information about the expansionof the laws to the informal sector, including thefisheries, agriculture and mining sectors, theactual draft turned out to be as exclusionary asthe federal IRAs have been. A Committeeformed by the Sindh Labour Conference held inOctober 2011, tasked to prepare recommenda-tions and mobilize workers for advocacy oflabour laws criticized the WEBCOP and tripartite


committee draft for not adhering to major con-stitutional provisions (Article 17 and 25) and ILOConventions (87) ratified by Pakistan, on exer-cising freedom of association, the right to union-ization, equality before the law, and no discrimi-nation on any grounds.12 The Committeeobserved that the proposed legislation contin-ues to exclude a large section of the workforcefrom the ambit of the law, defines contractor asemployers (amounting to legal protection forcontractors who have blatantly sought to abuseworkers' rights), and carries on with a narrow-based labour legislation regime. Labour rightsorganizations also complain of being denied theopportunity for participation in the consultationsfor the preparation of this draft legislation. It isalso important to note that the Coordinator,Government of Sindh, Mr Taj Haider (belongingto the ruling coalition of the Sindh Government),also issued a letter disagreeing with several pro-visions of the law.13

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Balochistanprovincial assemblies too enacted IndustrialRelations Bills the same year. In content, thebills did not deviate much from the FederalIndustrial Relations Act 2008. The KhyberPakhtunkhwa IRA does broaden the definition ofthe industry to include educational institutionsand private health centres. Following the PunjabIRA, it also abolishes the role of IndustrialRelations Commission. The Commission's pow-ers and functions have been conferred on theprovincial Registrar of Trade Unions, LabourCourts and the Labour Appellate Tribunal. TheBalochistan IRA following the pattern of theSindh Bill, establishes a provincial IndustrialRelations Commission having the same powersand functions as the NIRC.

Following devolution that made labour mattersessentially a provincial subject, the federal gov-ernment promulgated the Industrial RelationsOrdinance 2011. The said ordinance was meantto "consolidate and rationalise the law relatingto formation of trade unions in not onlyIslamabad Capital Territory but in Trans-Provincial Establishment and Industry through-out the country."14 However, the debate on itsneed, framework and significance continues. Ithas come under criticism for being a replicationof the earlier Industrial Relations Acts thatremained exclusionary, divisive and narrow-based. The Ordinance also lays down proceduresthat seek duplication of institutions. It has alsobeen criticized for carrying on with a defectivedefinition of "Industrial Disputes" covering

employer-employer, and employer-workman dis-pute as "Industrial Dispute". It has been arguedthat the concept of Industrial Dispute recognisedin Industrial Relations Law is a dispute betweenEmployer and Collective Bargaining Agent, andthat also should be restricted and confined tomatters related to employment, non-employ-ment, terms of employment or condition of workin relation to any workmen.15 Most importantly,the constitutional position of the IRO 2011 hasbeen challenged on the grounds of the Article144 (1) of the constitution - reiterated in aSupreme Court ruling in Constitution Petition No24/2011 in the case of Air League of PIAC - thatprovided mechanism for making central legisla-tion in respect of matters not covered under theFederal Legislative List. At the cost of repetition,the ruling is being quoted again for clarity: "ifone or more provincial assemblies passed reso-lution to the effect that the Majlis-e-Shoora(Parliament) may by law regulate any matter notenumerated in the Federal Legislative List in the4th Schedule, it shall be lawful that the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) pass an Act for regulatingthat matter accordingly."16

The Future of Labour InstitutionsAt present, the Workers Welfare Fund, theEmployees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI),the implementation of the International LabourOrganization (ILO) Conventions is the responsi-bility of the federal government. The WWF andthe EOBI receive contributions by the federalgovernment, which are disbursed among theprovinces equally keeping in view the number ofthe workers registered with these welfare wingsof the Ministry of Labour and Manpower.

The constitutional reforms did envisage thedevolution of the EOBI and the WWF to theprovinces that would then have to raise theirown resources to pay the social security items tothe workers. According to its mandate, theWorkers Welfare Fund extends grants to provin-cial worker welfare boards to execute welfareprojects. These projects include establishmentof housing estates or construction of houses forthe workers, educational facilities and scholar-ships to workers' children, death grants, andmarriage grants for the daughters of industrialworkers. The grants for these projects are for-warded to the WWF by the Federal Board ofRevenue (FBR) that annually deducts two percent of the total income of all registered indus-trial units with income in excess of Rs. 500,000.Similarly, the FBR collects from registered indus-tries six percent of workers wages (five percent


is paid by the employer and one percent by theworkers) and places the funds at the disposal ofthe EOBI. The EOBI then utilises these funds forpayment of benefits such as old-age pension,old-age grant and invalidity pension.

Even though the process of devolution and thehanding over of the concerned ministries to theprovinces has been completed, the devolution ofthe WWF and the EOBI is yet to take place. Apartfrom the mode of distribution of assets which isyet to be agreed upon, the very idea of the devo-lution of the two most important institutions ofsocial security for formal workforce is beingresisted by the provinces themselves. Since therevenue receipts for workers welfare as well asthe EOBI from any given province depend on thelevel of economic activity, especially of the for-mal industrial sector, as well as the workforceregistered with each province, all four provinceshave varied positions on devolution of socialsecurity institutes as well as on the process ofdecentralization.

According to the economic census of Pakistan,May 2005, sixty five percent of all major indus-tries including agriculture, forestry, fisheries,mining, manufacturing, construction, transportand financial businesses are set in the Punjabprovince. Sindh follows with 18 percent. KhyberPakhtunkhwa ranks next with 14.2 percentwhile Balochistan has the lowest ratio of eco-nomic activity with only 2.1 percent of majorindustries working in the province. 17

If the devolution of the social security institutesmaterialises, the provinces will have to financethe projects currently being executed from a con-solidated fund. The resources for these projectswould have to be raised from the collectionsacquired from the industries and the servicesoutlets established in the provinces.

One major bone of contention over the devolu-tion process is the formula for resource distribu-tion. The Punjab advocates distribution using theNational Finance Commission (NFC) formula,which based the process on the number of reg-istered industrial units and workers in any givenprovince. According to the Labour MarketInformation and Analysis Unit, there are 36,456establishments in Punjab while the number ofsecured workers is 631,686. The number ofestablishments in Sindh stand at 19,448; inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa it is 3,148; while inBalochistan the number is 271. The number ofsecured workers in the Sindh, Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan respectively are,371,887, 45,275, and 6,459.18 The Sindh gov-ernment, on the other hand, demands distribu-tion on the basis of source of collection anddeduction of welfare fund and pension. Thisarrangement suits the province better as thehead offices of most of the industrial units, reg-istered under the two organisations - WWF andthe EOBI, are working in Karachi.19 Revenuereceipts for WWF at the FBR website indicateSindh as the highest generator of revenue forWWF with Rs 5,076 million in 2005-06. ThePunjab follows with Rs 1,235 million the sameyear. There are no revenue receipts reportedfrom Balochistan while Khyber Pakhtunkhwaregistered Rs 67 million for the same year.20

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan continueto resist devolution as the minimal amount ofeconomic activity in the two provinces meanthere will not be enough resources to carry outprojects under the Workers Welfare Trust. Newsreports suggest that currently there are fiveschemes involving an estimated cost of Rs 937million underway in Balochistan and two proj-ects worth Rs 103 million in KhyberPakhtunkhwa.21 The Labour Minister KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Sher Azam in a recent statementsaid that the province would be in great loss incase of the devolution of the labour ministry."We will get only 8 percent share in theEmployees Old Age Benefit Institute (EOBI) andthe Workers Welfare Funds due to small numberof industrial units in the province, many of whichare sick and closed. Pakhtuns are working inKarachi, Lahore and almost every other industri-al city of the country whose shares will go toother provinces. We are in great trouble."22

Balochistan, likewise, would also be unable toundertake any projects too due to limited rev-enue and resource generation.

Another obstacle to the devolution of the socialsecurity institutes is the pressure of the bureau-cracy that has resisted devolution since thebeginning. The financial assets of the WWF andthe EOBI stand at Rs 230 billion.23 Both institu-tions remain very a strong source of additionalrevenue generation for the centre. In a recentmeeting, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)of the National Assembly was informed that only30 percent of the WWF is being used for the wel-fare projects of the industrial workers while theremaining 70 percent, or Rs 126.8 billion stayswith the federal government.24 Concerns havealso been expressed over the WWF's bid toinvest its funds in non-governmental securities.25


On their part, labour rights organisation demanda one-window operation for the social securityinstitutions of the country with the coverage ofbenefits and entitlements extended and univer-salized so that these services are deliveredacross the four provinces regardless of the affili-ation of workers to any province.26 As of now, theWWF and the EOBI continue to function underthe federal government. No decision has beenannounced by the government over the future ofthe two institutions addressing social securityfor workers.

Registration of Trans-ProvincialIndustrial Unions:Registration of trade unions of institutions/cor-porations with branches across provinces isanother ambiguous territory following the devo-lution of the labour affairs. The IndustrialRelations Ordinance 2011 was presented on thevery pretext that there was needed a law thatcould provide for the consolidation and rational-isation of systems "relating to formation of tradeunion and management relations betweenemployers and workmen in the IslamabadCapital Territory and in Trans-ProvincialEstablishment and Industry."27

The critics of the IRO 2011 have targeted theordinance on the grounds that the "Trans-Provincial Establishment and Industry" has notbeen mentioned in the Constitution ofPakistan’s Federal Legislative List. The List onlyrefers to inter provincial matters and coordina-tion which is "altogether different from Trans-Provincial Establishment and Industry."28

However, the need for a consolidated law toaddress the legal position of cross-provincestrade unions is certainly significant since a sin-gle organisation, with branches across any spe-cific provincial territory cannot be expected tofollow different legislations for its trade unions.

The Supreme Court in its judgement on AirLeague’s petition (C. P. No 24/2011) has notedthat the IRA 2008 remains protected till June2011 - covering the issue of trade unions regis-tration till that period. However, the Apex Courtin its remarks advises invoking the Article 144(1) of the constitution by the provinces that canpass a resolution and authorise the FederalGovernment to promulgate the IRO 2011 sincethe subject of tans-provincial establishments isnot covered by the Federal Legislative List. So farthe trade unions registration issue remainsambiguous as neither the IRO 2011 has beeninvalidated nor has there been any progress on

the Supreme Court ruling.

Fate of ILO Conventions andInternational ObligationsPakistan has ratified 35 ILO conventions includ-ing eight core conventions. Likewise, Pakistanhas also ratified the Convention on Eliminationof All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of theChild along with its two additional protocols.Pakistan is also a signatory to the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and CulturalRights (ICESCR) that carries a number of specifi-cations linked to labour rights and economicindependence. The country is also a part of glob-al initiatives such as the UN Global Compact.Implementation of ILO Conventions and labourrelated provisions of other international treatiesfalls within the exclusive legislative domain ofthe parliament, as enumerated in item 3 of Part1 of the Federal Legislative List. The parliamentis competent to legislate to ensure Pakistan'scompliance to international and bilateraltreaties organizations and has been legislatingand creating necessary institutions to follow upon the commitments made.

The status of the responsibility for the imple-mentation of ILO and other international com-mitments after the 18th Amendment has notbeen too clear since the devolution. Labourrights bodies have repeatedly demanded a com-mon framework at the federal level to guide theprovincial legislation on the subject while alsodemanding that all provincial laws adhere to theinternational conventions and ILO charters.29 Ithas been argued that while provincial assem-blies are competent to legislate on matters relat-ed to labour welfare, social welfare (pursuant toitems 25 and 26 of the Concurrent LegislativeList), omission of this list does not curtail theparliament's competence to legislate in order tocomply with and give effect to Pakistan's inter-national obligations under Item 3 Part 1 of theFederal Legislative List.30

Following the devolution of the Federal LabourMinistry, the responsibility of dealing with inter-national organisations and donors such as theInternational Labour Organisation has also beenretained at the Centre with the Federal Ministryof Human Resource Development.31

ConclusionThe implementation of the landmark constitu-tional reforms is an ongoing process and it is too


early to make a comment on the impact of thedecentralisation of institutions and resourcesthat was ushered in by the 18th Amendment.However, the entire devolution process hasstruggled bureaucratic resistance as well as judi-cial intervention, both leading to a point where aclearer position on behalf of the federal and theprovincial governments regarding their commit-ment to decentralisation as well as the requiredframework and methodology for adopting sucha structure has become important. TheImplementation Commission, a body compris-ing public representatives from major politicalparties was responsible for carrying out thedevolution process. It completed its job of hand-ing over the federal legislative and administra-tive orders to the provinces on 30th June 2011.The four industrial relations legislations adoptedby the provinces following the constitutionalreforms do not deviate much in terms of contentfrom the Industrial Relations Act 2008 whichwas essentially exclusionary and narrow-based.The Punjab IRA further marginalises a large sec-tion of the industrial workforce by denying theright to unionization for workers of organizationswhere less than 50 people are employed. Thefate of the draft industrial relations bill in Sindhprepared by the WEBCOP in consultation with atrilateral committee formed by the SindhGovernment hangs in balance while the SindhIndustrial Relations (Revival and Amended) Bill,2010, passed by the Sindh Assembly in June2010, serves as the regulatory order for industri-al relations in the province. The KhyberPakhtynkhwa IRA does broaden the definition ofthe industry to include educational institutionsand private health centres. The Balochistan IRA,following the pattern of the Sindh Bill, seeks toestablish a provincial Industrial RelationsCommission with the same powers and func-tions as the NIRC. The position of the FederalIndustrial Relations Ordinance remains disputedin the light of the Supreme Court ruling in a con-stitutional petition, challenging its basic prem-ise.

Following the 18th Amendment, the FederalMinistry of Labour and Manpower has beendevolved to the provinces but two new min-istries, the Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment (HRD) and the Ministry ofProfessional & Technical Training (PTT), havebeen created to direct labour affairs at theCentre. The move while reflecting the urge onthe part of the Federal Government to keep itshold on labour administration matters, alsounderscores the need for a clear stand on the

necessary orders required to ensure that the fed-eral and the provincial governments follow acommon outline for legislative and administra-tive orders that adhere to the fundamentalhuman and constitutional rights framework.

The social security institutions have beenretained by the Federal Government and theprovinces so far, have not been able to develop aconsensus on the very idea of devolution ofthese bodies or the mode to be followed fordecentralisation. The two social security institu-tions are a powerful source of revenue genera-tion and this very feature of the EOBI and theWWF remains at the root of the disagreementbetween provinces over their future.

The registration of trans-provincial trade unions,likewise, remains another contested territory asambiguity persists following the SupremeCourt's observation on the IRO 2011. TheSupreme Court note calls for the provinces toseek recourse from the Article 144(1) of theConstitution and pass a resolution in the provin-cial assemblies to authorise the federal govern-ment to develop a formal legislation on trans-provincial trade unions.

Post devolution of the Federal Labour Ministry,the responsibility of dealing with (includingreporting on labour issues to) internationalorganisations and donors such as theInternational Labour Organisation has also beenretained at the Centre with the Federal Ministryof Human Resource Development.

NOTES1. Shahid Javed Burki, 'The 18th Amendment:Pakistan's Constitution Redesigned' Institute ofSouth Asian Studies, Working Paper No 112,September 20102. Cyril Almeida, 'Pakistan empowers itsprovinces', Federations: Forum of Federations,Dec 2010-Jan 20113. "Impact of the 18th ConstitutionalAmendment on Federation-Provinces Relation",PILDAT, May 20104. Babar Sattar, "18th ConstitutionalAmendment and Devolution of LabourMinistry", Pakistan Institute of LegislativeDevelopment and Transparency, June 20115. "Implementation Commission formed", AsimYasin, The News, May 05, 2010 athttp://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=28645&Cat=13&dt=5/8/20106. " Devolution of ministries to be completed by


June 30", Dawn Editorial, May 18, 20117. "One step forward, and two back", Kalbe A,Dawn, Sep 28, 2011 athttp://www.dawn.com/2011/09/28/one-step-forward-and-two-back-instead-of-being-devolved-the-former-labour-ministry-has-given-birth-to-two-new-ones-though-the-provinces-are-not-going-to-accept-this-quietly-2.html8. "Sindh wins the race and passes IRO first",Jun 29, 2010, Express Tribune athttp://tribune.com.pk/story/24468/sindh-wins-the-race-and-passes-iro-first/9. Altaf Baloch interview "Every governmentsuppresses trade unions", Salman Ali andTayaba Kanwal, The News on Sunday,September 04, 2011 http://jang.com.pk/the-news/sep2011-weekly/nos-04-09-2011/pol1.htm10. Sindh wins the race and passes IRO first,June 29, 2010 athttp://tribune.com.pk/story/24468/sindh-wins-the-race-and-passes-iro-first/11. "Draft of employer-worker relations lawfinalised", Mukhtar Alam,http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/21/draft-of-employer-worker-relations-law-finalised.html12. See "Sindh Industrial Relations Act 2011(draft) per tahafuzaat", prepared by the SindhLabour Conference Committee formed at theSindh Labour Conference in October, 11, 2011at the PILER Centre, Karachi.13. The copy of the said letter is at the PILERResource Centre.14. "Industrial Relations Ordinance, 2011:Inconsistencies, anomalies and omissions",Business Recorder,http://www.brecorder.com/articles-a-letters/single/626/187/1235793/15. "Industrial Relations Ordinance, 2011:Inconsistencies, anomalies and omissions",Business Recorder,http://www.brecorder.com/articles-a-letters/single/626/187/1235793/16. See Constitution Petition No.24 of 2011, AirLeague of PIAC Employees, Versus Federationof Pakistan, M/o Labour and ManpowerDivision Islamabad17. Economic Census of Pakistan, NationalReport, Government of Pakistan, StatisticsDivision, Federal Bureau of Statistics, May2005. 18. Labour & Human Resource Statistics 2000-2008, Labour Market Information and AnalysisUnit, Ministry of Labour and ManpowerGovernment of Pakistan athttp://www.lmis.gov.pk/publications/Human%20Resource%20Statistics%2020-08.pdf

19. "Distribution of WWF, EOBI assets to delaydevolution", Anwer Sumra, Express Tribune,March 25, 2011,http://tribune.com.pk/story/137293/distribu-tion-of-wwf-eobi-assets-to-delay-devolution/20. Source: FBR Website21. "Welfare fund used to ease budget deficit",Dawn, May 9, 2011,http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/10/welfare-fund-used-to-ease-budget-deficit.html22. "Concern over absence of law on workers`rights", Dawn, De 6, 2010 athttp://www.dawn.com/2010/12/06/concern-over-absence-of-law-on-workers-rights.html23. Dawn Editorial, "Devolution problems" athttp://www.dawn.com/2011/11/22/devolu-tion-problems.html24. "Welfare fund used to ease budget deficit",Dawn, May 9, 2011,http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/10/welfare-fund-used-to-ease-budget-deficit.html25. "Misuse of Workers Welfare Fund andDevolution", May 10, 2011, http://m.pay-check.pk/main/labour-report/social-security-and-pensions/news-items/misuse-of-workers-welfare-fund-and-devolution-may-10-201126. See Recommendations from NationalConference on "Labour Rights as Citizen Rights:Realising Constitutional Reforms", Islamabad,May 27-28, 201127. Industrial Relations Ordinance 2011 28. "IRO 2011", Business Recorder, August 3,2011, at: http://www.forexpk.com/economic-updates/exclusive-articles/iro-2011.html29. Recommendations, Sindh LabourConference, held at PILER Centre, Oct 11, 201130. Babar Sattar, "18th ConstitutionalAmendment and Devolution of LabourMinistry", Pakistan Institute of LegislativeDevelopment and Transparency, June 2011 31. "One step forward, and two back", Kalbe A,Dawn, Sep 28, 2011 athttp://www.dawn.com/2011/09/28/one-step-forward-and-two-back-instead-of-being-devolved-the-former-labour-ministry-has-given-birth-to-two-new-ones-though-the-provinces-are-not-going-to-accept-this-quietly-2.html
