chlablabinsp1

CHILD LABOR AND LABOR INSPECTION: PAKISTAN'S CRUSADE

BY

MAJYD AZIZ

Chairman: SITE ASSOCIATION OF INDUSTRY

SITE, Karachi, Pakistan

Member Managing Committee: EMPLOYERS' FEDERATION OF PAKISTAN

(Paper prepared for presentation at the Meeting of Experts on Labor Inspection and Child Labor, at ILO in Geneva, September 27 ---- October 01, 1999)

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GENERAL INTRODUCTION:

Child Labor has been transformed into a vociferous issue and has become a matter of extreme seriousness in the comity of nations. The issue began as a concern of conscience and soon became a cause celebré for those who desired implementation of human rights and cared for the welfare of children all over the world. Child Labor got more prominence after ILO became the focal point for the elimination of Child Labor all over the globe. Child Labor eradication, thru awareness raising, education, training, moral pressure, and legislative enforcement, became a sincere symbol of the urgency desired in this respect.

Child Labor became an economic issue too, more so due to the conditionalities of the World Trade Organization. The goods where Child Labor was intensively used for production purposes became vulnerable to trade sanctions, social labeling, and consumer backlash. The threat of economic boycott became a sore point of contention between the manufacturing countries and the buyer nations. Vivid pictures of children toiling away their childhood days in dreary workplaces, surviving in sub-human environments, earning a pittance inspite of laboring as adults, brought about a fundamental rekindling in those who cared to make this universe a better place to exist.

Child Labor was initially excused as a natural consequence of poverty with all members contributing to the economic requirements of the family. Child Labor also took refuge under the notion that the family trade was being passed down thru the generation and that the induction of children in learning this trade was like handing over the family heirloom. Child Labor also got a build up as an apology for growing population figures, insufficient educational facilities, and maintaining viability of products thru payment of low wages to children.

NATIONAL OVERVIEW:

CHILD LABOR in Pakistan has been a subject of intense scrutiny mostly by external forces, and the ramification of this opprobrium and brouhaha has put the country's export oriented industries on the edge of a precipice. The onslaught began with the widespread acceptance of exaggerated statistics spewed by certain NGOs who had personal stakes in propagating high figures of 20 million children employed. The devastation was evident in the shortest possible time and this figure became the basis for a clarion call for those who wanted economic chaos for Pakistan.

CHILD LABOR in Pakistan became a sinister omen for the manufacturing concerns. The domestic carpet producers who were put on the defensive by threats of loss of the export market had to also suffer the ignominy of being accused of murdering a pseudo-child activist, Iqbal Masih. An opportunist labor leader, Ehsanullah Khan, took substantial advantage of this episode and bilked European NGOs out of millions on the pretext that his organization was the savior of children subjugated to intolerable forms of Child Labor. Notwithstanding the fact that Iqbal Masih's murder was declared as the work of a mentally disturbed person, and the fact that Ehsanullah Khan conveniently managed to flee out of the country, the carpet manufacturers did change their mindset and proceeded to promote programs for the elimination of Child Labor in carpet weaving industries.

CHILD LABOR in Pakistan became a rallying point for those who saw disturbing pictures of children sewing soccer balls in Sialkot. The rapidity with which the FoulBall campaign took off in Europe and the United States, compelled the enlightened sports goods manufacturers in Sialkot to sign a historical agreement under the aegis of ILO, UNICEF, and Save the Children Fund (UK) to eliminate the use of Child Labor in soccer ball production. The partners in the agreement ensured that the program worked as per planned and recently even President Bill Clinton applauded the effort and declared it an obvious and clear-cut success.

CHILD LABOR in Pakistan became a malicious issue with the publicity given to children employed in the surgical instrument manufacturing industry, again in Sialkot. This industry, which provides US$ 125 million in scarce foreign exchange annually, does have Child Labor and the matter is under heated debate among the surgical instruments' producers and those concerned with the elimination of Child Labor. Since it is another export-oriented industry that has been targeted, it has become crucial for the manufacturers to develop alternatives so that the vacuum created by the displacement of children is filled with skilled adults.

CHILD LABOR in Pakistan is abundantly found in the rural agricultural sector where the children assist their families in the cultivation and harvest of agriculture produce. The children are also plentiful in automobile garages, primarily in the urban areas of the country. There is a proliferation in children employed as domestic servants and working on the streets as petty vendors, rag pickers, or errand boys. The Child Labor Survey sponsored by ILO and conducted by the Federal Government calculated Child Labor at 3.30 million, a figure disputed by many. More realistically, the figure could be atleast twice this. Nevertheless, it is accepted and agreed that it needs to be tackled from all levels and that the governmental machinery must be channelized in a pragmatic and sincere mode so that the goal of elimination of Child Labor is achieved. This is more critical now because as the urban metropolitan areas develop new industrial estates, the traditional agricultural economies do tend to lose momentum since there is evidently an exodus from the rural base to the cities. The trend in Pakistan is such that the conventional subsistence farming is unable to sustain the family and the children are forced to go to cities to earn to support their families in the village. There are numerous cases of children being susceptible to indentured servitude where apart from hard labor they are vulnerable to physical, mental, and even sexual abuse.

CHILD LABOR in Pakistan leading to its eventual elimination is now being vigorously pursued by the government thru progressive reforms to improve the social environment in the country. The protection of children is a strong component of the multi-dimensional policies launched by the government. The initiatives can be enumerated as follows:

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Government of Pakistan and ILO on June 21, 1994 to undertake a National Program for the Elimination of Child Labor. The Program was initially for two years but has now been extended until 2001. A National Steering Committee has been constituted to monitor and advise on the nature and scope of the activities and to review the action programs under IPEC.

The Task Force on Child Labor headed by the Federal Labor Minister has been formed to formulate policies and strategies for elimination of Child Labor and to prepare a plan for the implementation of these policies and strategies. The policy on Child Labor is also part of the Draft of the Labor and Manpower Policy announced in December 1998 at a tripartite meeting.

A Permanent Advisory Committee has been constituted in the Ministry of Labor to oversee and monitor the implementation of action plan formulated by the Task Force.

The Ninth Five-Year Development Plan (1998-2003) earmarks for the first time a substantial amount to initiate several projects for the elimination of Child Labor both at Federal and Provincial levels. The Trade Policy announced for 1999-2000 provides special grants to designated NGOs for their Child Labor related programs.

Close liaison with private sector to pursue the program thru such steps as the Partnership Agreements to eliminate Child Labor in soccer ball stitching, carpet weaving, and surgical instruments manufacturing, providing endowment funds to Child Care Foundation, approving the setting up of International Certification Agencies, like RUGMARK, CARE and FAIR, and STEP, to certify products as "Child Labor Free", etc.

CHILD LABOR in Pakistan is covered under related laws and legal framework that are atleast fifteen, both Federal and Provincial. They include:

The Constitution of Pakistan that has a provision, Article 18, that children below the age of 14 years cannot be engaged in any factory or mine or other hazardous occupation or employment.

The Employment of Children Act, 1991.

The West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance, 1969.

The Factories Act, 1934.

The Road Transport Workers Ordinance, 1961.

The Children (Pledging of Labor) Act, 1933.

The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, 1992.

The Workers Children Education Ordinance, 1972.

The Sindh Children Act, 1955.

The Punjab Children Ordinance, 1983.

LABOR DEPARTMENTS:

CHILD LABOR can be pragmatically dealt with if there is cohesion among the three social partners and if there is a sense of dedication in the implementation of legislation by those empowered to do so. There is a greater need for ensuring that the Labor Department hierarchy is well attuned in this respect and that it undertakes to acquire the objective with a sincere purpose. Labor inspection is dependent on personnel who are motivated thru training and awareness raising, so that when they come across infringement of laws, they are in a position to counsel the errant employers, they are in a position to prevent Child Labor thru subtle suggestions of enforcement of the provisions of law, and they are in a position to enable the government to initiate prosecution if violations are repeated.

CHILD LABOR is still prevalent inspite of so many laws and inspite of punitive measures prescribed in these laws. The fact of the matter is that enforcement was never a high priority feature of the implementation institutions, such as the Provincial Directorates of Labor Welfare and the Local Magistrates. However, the negative international publicity, the efforts of ILO-IPEC, the guidance of National Steering Committee, the agitational approach of NGOs, and the functional commitment of employers and workers organization, have spurred up the Provincial Directorates to set in motion hard-nosed programs to eliminate Child Labor.

CHILD LABOR elimination has now become a rallying point for Provincial Labor Directorates. The four Provinces have been working in close cooperation with ILO-IPEC, NGOs, and employers and workers organizations to effectively enforce and implement the desired action plans. The National Survey of Child Labor conducted in 1996 revealed the following Province-wise comparison of Child Labor:

Total No. of Total No. of

Children in age Economically active

Group of 5-14 years Children in age

(millions) Group of 5-14 years Ratio of Child Province (million) Labor

PUNJAB 22.63 01.94 08.60%

SINDH 08.62 00.30 03.50%

NWFP 06.71 01.06 15.80%

BALOCHISTAN 02.07 00.01 00.50%

Total for PAKISTAN 40.03 03.31 08.30%

CHILD LABOR related activities of the Provincial Directorates are channelized thru a broad-based program that includes, inter alia, awareness raising, labor inspectors training, preventive, establishment of database, and rebuttal of negative propaganda. In this action plan, the following measures have been proposed and initiated:

Creating an atmosphere of confidence and cooperation with the support and assistance of the social partners, certain governmental departments such as education, rural development, and home, experienced industrial relation consultants, lawyers, and parents of Child Labor.

Organizing seminars, workshops, exhibitions, and group discussions.

Soliciting the cooperation of clergy, notables, teachers, and social workers of the area and involving them in awareness raising programs.

Inculcating the risks and hazards of Child Labor in family members, especially the adults.

Preparing and distributing booklets, posters, pamphlets thru ILO-IPEC assistance for widespread distribution.

Involving the community hierarchy and the Labor Welfare Boards to organize community-oriented functions in worker colonies so that the message is conveyed in celebratory manner too.

Establishing book banks and toy libraries in cooperation with the employers and workers representatives so that direct educational instruments can be provided at the doorsteps.

Setting up of medical camps with the support of voluntary doctors and community representatives to provide the children with medical facility, to explain to them the hazards of working, and giving them simple remedies to treat on-job injuries.

Inviting the members of Pakistan Paediatric Association to recommend dietary plans for working children so that their basic nutrition needs are highlighted.

Utilizing the services of NGOs and educationists to develop non-formal and formal educational curriculum to meet the requirements of Child Labor.

PROVINCIAL ACHIEVEMENTS:

CHILD LABOR associated activities of the four Provinces are vital elements of a meaningful commitment towards the cause of eliminating this scourge, towards the cause of alleviating poverty, and towards the cause of enforcement of the provisions of law. Th activities of the four departments in the field of labor inspection are enumerated as follows:

PUNJAB:

The largest Province has nearly 2 million actively employed children as per the Survey. The provincial government also began a separate survey to determine the extent of Child Labor in the Province. The Labor Department also undertook training activities to enable the officers and inspectors to be well aware and well trained to commence the attainment of the objectives. The training modules were prepared keeping in view the neo socio-economic challenges and the important role of the labor inspectors. The topics on which the training is provided are:

Introduction to Child Labor issues and the core of ethics.

Laws and international convictions on the rights of child.

Convention on the Rights of Child.

Socio-economic aspects of Child Labor.

Cultural perspectives of Child Labor issue.

Resource management for elimination of Child Labor.

Shortages of resources and infrastructure deficiencies as contributing

factors for Child Labor.

Rights of child and adolescent workers under Factories Act and Shop &

Establishments Ordinance.

Rehabilitation of Child Labor in the automobile workshops.

Child Labor rehabilitation in the agriculture sector and brick kilns.

Rehabilitation of Child Labor in carpet industry.

Child Labor mapping/survey techniques.

In 1998, fourteen crash training programs on Child Labor were held in which 220 officers from the level of Joint/Deputy Directors to Labor Inspectors attended. The agenda for 1999 envisages 23 training programs for over 327 officers. 17 programs have been completed so far. There will be 13 programs for over 200 inspectors in the year 2000.

Moreover, under the Bonded Labor Systems (Abolition) Act 1992, there is provision for Vigilance Committees to prevent the economic and physical exploitation of the workers, etc. These Vigilance Committees inspect the concerned areas and report on a monthly basis. However, these committees have not been very active and they have failed to deliver the desired results.

The Directorate of Labor, in cooperation with ILO-IPEC, has planned to strengthen its capacity in order to combat Child Labor. The salient features of the program are:

The Director, Labor Welfare has been designated as the Program Coordinator to oversee the day to day implementation of the project.

Training and retraining of 175 inspecting staff of the Directorate will be carried out.

Twelve inspectors will be specially nominated to support the objectives of the project on the Community Education and Action Centers' sites.

A unit on collection, processing, and dissemination of information and data about Child Labor will be established within the Directorate by providing it with computers.

Publicity and information activities will be carried out to activate the social partners for combating Child Labor.

Seminars/Workshops in all parts of the Province will be held to mobilize the support of community on the issue.

SINDH:

The program to combat Child Labor in Sindh is a Government of Pakistan, ILO-IPEC, and European Commission project spread over a two-year period. The program is designed to combat the multi-faceted problem of Child Labor in Sindh. The strategy is to mobilize a broad-based alliance of governmental and non-governmental agencies, communities, employers, workers, parents, and children in taking joint action against Child Labor thru a three-pronged approach:

Establishing eighteen Community Education and Action Centers for selected number of children in specific sectors and occupations.

Strengthening the capacity of the Directorate of Labor.

Institutional development of other key governmental and non-governmental agencies.

The southern Province embarked on the establishment of a database thru three activities starting from May 01, 1999. The first activity of two months duration consisted of compiling the available existing data and verifying these thru site inspections. The next activity was the preparation and distribution of new survey forms in Karachi and Hyderabad regions within a timeframe of three months. The final activity has commenced under which specific data will be collected thru specially trained teams of inspectors and will be completed by end of 1999.

The Labor Directorate has initiated three activities for the training of inspectors. Activity One began with the training of 40 inspectors of Hyderabad region with the cooperation of the Directorate of Workers Education. Activity Two saw the training of 100 inspectors from Karachi and Hyderabad regions in order to motivate and educate them on the issue of Child Labor. Activity Three resulted in the training of 40 inspectors of Karachi region by involving the Directorate of Workers Education.

NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE:

Percentage-wise, this Province has the highest incidence of Child Labor and thus the provincial government, in association with ILO-IPEC and other NGOs, has launched the program to combat Child Labor. This in effect was the first of its nature in the whole country and thus gave this Province the lead. Initially, the NWFP government started the program in three divisions of the Province namely, Peshawar, Mardan, and Hazara. The scope was later extended thru the support of ILO to the southern divisions, Kohat, Bannu, and Dera Ismail Khan.

The project entailed training of all the 31 notified inspectors responsible for the implementation of the pertinent legislation, i.e., the Employment of Children Act, 1991. The Directorate also conducted a survey of industrial and commercial establishments thru 10 Outreach Workers programs to collect information on Child Labor. Inspectors visited 5407 establishments and detected 9120 Child Labor. Thereafter, 6297 notices were issued to the employers and 3674 notices to the parents of Child Labor. The purpose for the issuance of these notices was to orient them with the legal position under the relevant law regarding the prohibition of employment of children in hazardous occupations, regulation of working hours, and the punitive measures prescribed in the law. The survey teams also distributed a large number of brochures in English and Urdu. The other governmental officers were also briefed on the applicable law and the government's policy on Child Labor in subsequently to acquaint them with the problem and for bringing about desired change in their working environment and in working conditions. The Directorate is concentrating on continued awareness raising and strict implementation of the law in order to substantially reduce the number of Child Labor in the Province.

BALOCHISTAN:

There are 26 Districts in Balochistan, the least populated of all Provinces. A new survey is in the finalization stage and it is estimated that there are about 15,000 Child Labor in Balochistan. The Labor Department has formed a Task Force namely, Combating Abusive Child Labor thru Prevention (National Legislation), Withdrawal and Rehabilitation. The Department conducted 7587 inspections and prosecuted 215 establishments. 133 cases were decided and all employers were found guilty. The Department realized penalty amounting to Rupees 284,500.00 from these errant employers. The inspectors work with NGOs and Community Development workers to ensure that the program to rehabilitate, withdraw, and prevent the proliferation of Child Labor is successfully carried out. These inspectors adopt awareness raising initiatives, assist in mobilizing the community, and aid in building up the capacity of government and NGOs to combat Child Labor.

SOME THOUGHTS:

CHILD LABOR elimination requires dedication and a sense of purpose. Inspite of myriad difficulties, the program to eradicate it must be strengthened and implemented at all costs. Notwithstanding the fact that this is an assignment for all segments of society, it is imperative that the government take a leading position in ensuring that the provisions of law are strictly followed and enforced. In this regard, the role of the labor inspector takes on a paramount importance. It is, therefore, essential that they must address the issue with zeal and gusto and that there be no deviation from the objectives.

CHILD LABOR inspection is also susceptible to the free flow of the corruption syndrome in labor inspection and in the manner in which this is done. Violators have gone scot-free because the inspectors turned a blind eye to their transgressions. At times, the inspectors have been accused of intimidation and harassment by a section of employers and this has also created obstacles in the smooth functioning of the inspection system.

CHILD LABOR laws can be enforced if the inspectors acquire more knowledge and are more enlightened. This can be done by certain factors such as:

Establishing mutual trust and confidence amongst employers and inspectors.

Presenting a constructive approach towards the problem and advising employers on methods to improve the working conditions.

Providing knowledge about the law and the effects of hard work on Child Labor.

Adopting a more humane and civilized approach to solve the issue.

Holding of workshops and seminars where inspectors and employers can jointly participate and work out positive modalities.

Facilitating the inspectors to obtain the advice of experts drawn from relevant sources to acquaint them with new methods of inspecting establishments employing Child Labor.

Helping the inspectors in reduction of cumbersome procedures and introducing pragmatic and simple ways to conduct inspection and survey Child Labor.

Setting up of incentive systems for inspectors thus curtailing the chance of corruption and misuse of powers.

CHILD LABOR elimination requires a comprehensive social mobilization if it is to succeed. The enforcement of law is not the only panacea for this suffering. The social campaign must have important symbolic and moral dimensions. The right altruistic culture has to be created and the importance of poverty alleviation accepted as an added emphasis towards the solution of the problem. The consolidation of the activities of all social partners will lead to the correct understanding of the most modern concept of childhood: "Children are supposed to be studying, not working".

When you think of children laughing . . . . .

The whole world seems suddenly lit up.

Let us give them all the happiness and

Let us hope that when they grow up

They will have a better world to live in

Than we have had

And the stars will be kinder to them

Than they have been to us.

Thus mused Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the great poet of Pakistan, who inspired millions with his revolutionary poems and whose verses have continued to energize and arouse those who speak out against the tyrannical elements of the world. Use of Child Labor is surely one form of tyranny, and the Labor Inspectors must sincerely endeavor to end this oppression. This will then be deliverance time for the children of the world.

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