MAJYD AZIZ

Member Managing Committee:

Employers' Federation of Pakistan

and

Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry

CHILD LABOR: The employment of children under the age of fifteen outside of the home, with limited or no access to a recognized procedure of education, with scant regard for health or safety, and with minimal or non-available opportunities for recreation or mind development activities.

CHILD LABOR: A natural outcome of extenuating circumstances that evolved when the compelling forces of abject poverty, burgeoning population, and non-existent facilities of health, education and welfare exploited the deprived and disadvantaged populace.

CHILD LABOR: A pathetic blotch carved on the mosaic of world economic and social progress, blatantly portraying an elegiac reminiscence of the disregard for the future of humanity.

The issue of Child Labor has over the years continued to prick the conscience of the governments, the employers' organizations, the trade unions, and the human rights groups. PAKISTAN too is afflicted with this scourge, like any other developing Third World Country. There is then this need to consider the following points when discussing the Child Labor situation in PAKISTAN.

PAKISTAN is a country that has not been able to effectively and positively deal with the ever-increasing population. In fact, with an annual population growth rate of 3.2 percent, PAKISTAN has been one of the five nations declared as family planning failures of 1992.

The history of population planning in PAKISTAN is a brazen example of the frustration to program and implement effective strategies. It shows a lack of political commitment and official determination and speaks volumes of confused priorities.

The ninth most populous nation " represents a tragic example of a country unresponsive or actively opposed to the desires of women and men for greater control over their reproductive lives ", according to the 1992 Population Picks and Pans Report. The current population is nearly 125 million and may surpass 150 million by the year 2000. USAID has stated that by the year 2116, the population will be 234 million, making PAKISTAN the fourth most populous country of the world. At present 45 percent of the population is under 15 years of age.

PAKISTAN has a per capita income of less than US $ 400 with one third of the population below the poverty line. More than half of the population has no access to safe drinking water or to safe sanitary facilities or to proper health facilities.

The recent devaluation of the PAKISTAN Rupee has the potential to wreak havoc on the buying power of a large majority. Inflation is unofficially nearly 20 percent. Exports have decreased while the import bill has put constraints on the balance of payments. PAKISTAN has yet to lay a solid structure to bring forth basic strategic changes in her trade regime, in her development programs, and in her economic preferences that can usher in a marked increase and improvement in the standard of living.

About 2.12 million of the labor force in PAKISTAN is estimated as unemployed. The total number of employed labor during 1992-93 is projected at 31.68 million as against 30.75 million in the preceding year. The overall labor force participation rate in the country is about 28 percent. Furthermore, there is a large influx of illegal immigrants who have penetrated the domestic labor market and willingly work at low wages, ergo, influencing severe competition in the already depressed labor market. Thus, there is also compulsion to have more than one earning family member.

There is a historic system prevalent in many countries where a skilled craft is handed over from parent to child. It is a foregone conclusion that the tradition has to be kept so that the family's honor and trade are kept alive, and also that the mode of income is maintained and kept profitable. A child is tutored in the skills from an early age and on reaching teen years, the child is an expert and a steady breadwinner for the family.

Child Labor in PAKISTAN is either to supplement family income, to carry on the traditional trade, or done by force for varied reasons. It is estimated that over four percent of children between the ages of ten and fourteen form part of the workforce. Children are working for upto 72 hours a week in such diverse fields as domestic servants, as carpet weavers, on the brick-kilns, and even in motor garages, etc. And of course, there are thousands who are compelled to become beggars and work on the streets. Furthermore, countless children work at certain jobs on the roads such as selling newspapers, selling sweets and trinkets, loading and unloading goods, and are also heavily involved in sorting and picking up garbage etc.

There is inadequate consideration paid to working conditions where children are employed. It is due to their vulnerability and their under-privileged status that children are exploited by employers (and also parents). They have generally been the victims of the worst form of exploitation and abuse. They are seldom in a position to resist or protest against the manipulation or curtailment of their rights.

It is the lack of resistance, an ignorance of legal recourse, and the pressure of elders that prevent the child worker to get out of this quagmire. The ensuing result has been an " open invitation " for those who exploit and use Child Labor.

In the carpet industry, the child weaver sits for long duration in a particular posture on the weaving machine, in a dim, unhygienic, and a claustrophobic environment. There is constant strain on the eyes, while wool fluff and dust inhalation lead to respiratory aliments. Experts have discovered high incidences of respiratory tract infection, headaches, backaches, and joint pains in child carpet weavers. They are also prone to injure themselves while working on the looms. There are no medical facilities while first aid treatment, if any, is still archaic and limited to home remedies.

In match factories children apply Phosphorus and Potassium Nitrate on the top of wooden bars. There are no provisions for gloves and masks for safety purposes. Hence, the fingers and thumbs are continuously exposed to these chemicals which inevitably pose a danger to the child. This coupled with in-sanitary conditions and a carefree attitude can, and does lead to a serious impact on the child's life.

A very exploitative, demeaning and demoralizing occupation is working in the brick-kiln industry. In PAKISTAN, the family is hostage to the kiln owner. Men, women and children toil from sun rise to well after sunset, enduring the prevailing hardships, ensuring the fulfillment of their daily production quota, endeavoring to keep themselves sane and strong enough to survive, so that basic necessities of existence are achieved. Children work in inhumane conditions alongside their parents, helping in paying off the family debt which was taken as "Peshgi" (advance) from the kiln owner.

The brick-kiln workers have a high rate of tuberculosis, suffer from skin diseases, and have to tolerate the consequences of malnutrition and unhygienic living conditions. There are countless reports of child sexual abuse, physical torture, and involvement in fake cases of thefts, etc. These are the bonded laborers - today's slaves.

Child Labor is a common source from the workpool for auto garage owners. They are cheap, plentiful, and pliant. It is an everyday scene in the workshop to see young boys assisting in repairing the dents in cars, or using oxy-acetylene torches, or scrapping the car paint, or sliding under the car, face all black with grease and stale oil, trying to unscrew a mechanical part. These boys work for an excuse of a stipend, very conveniently designated as "trainees", wasting away their prime in sub-human conditions.

Young boys and girls work in residential homes, doing domestic chores such as washing, cleaning, sweeping and even cooking all at abnormally low wages. It is a sorry state of affairs, and psychologically traumatic for a child to work in a house, where at the same time, the children of the house are provided rich food, expensive clothes, meaningful education, and other facilities. This depravation leads to self-condemnation resulting in a torturous condition that could eventually leave disturbing scars on the child's mind.

There is one major consequence of Child Labor. This is the denial of an education to the children who toil away from morning to night. The government has totally failed in mobilizing an effective educational system for the have-nots. No force is used to motivate parents to understand the importance of education. Parents too share the blame for keeping their offspring away from school or vocational training institutes. For them, poverty is a big factor. Inflow of income takes precedence and prominence over zero income and the related expenses on fees, books and uniform. The rural gentry are notorious for discouraging the establishment of schools in their areas. Employers too are under no obligation to impart basic education to their Child Labor. They nevertheless pay the Workers' Education Cess of Rs 100 (US $ 3.33) per worker per year to the treasury in adherence to the Workers' Children (Education) Ordinance 1972. This " provides for the education of the workers' children and matters and ancillary thereto ". They are also paying millions of rupees to the treasury by way of the IQRA surcharge levied at 2% on the value of imports. Furthermore, major industrial organizations are required to set up a school or college depending on their paid up capital.

The Senate of Pakistan on April 02, 1991, passed the employment of Children's Act 1991 to prohibit the employment of children in certain occupations and to regulate their working conditions. Before the enactment of the above legislation the following laws relating to Child Labor were already on the statute books: -

1. The Mines Act 1923: It prohibits the employment of children in mines.
2. The Children (Pledging of Labor) Act 1933: It prohibits the pledging of labor of children in factories with more than ten workers.
3. The Factories Act 1934: It prohibits the employment of children in any factory employing more than ten workers.
4. The Employment of Children Act 1938: It regulates the employment of children in industrial establishments.
5. The Sindh Children Act, 1935: It provides for the care and protection of children in the Province of Sindh.
6. The Shops and Establishment Ordinance, 1969: It prohibits the employment of children in establishments and regulates the working hours of persons aged 14 to 17 years.
7. The Punjab Children Ordinance, 1983: It provides for the care, protection, treatment, and rehabilitation of children in the Punjab.

Unfortunately, even with the existence of these laws children suffer. This is because the political leadership and the administration are apathetic towards the implementation of these laws. The employers, in cahoots with corrupt officials, flaunt these laws wantonly. The trade unions have become the proverbial ostriches, ignoring the plight of these children, insolently adopting a non-chalant attitude in matters of Child Labor.

There is, therefore, the imperative need to protect Child Labor with the long-term aim to completely eliminate it. At this moment of time, COMPULSION OF EDUCATION AND ABOLITION OF CHILD LABOR CANNOT GO TOGETHER. A clarion call is required to mobilize efforts to protect children from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. A clear call is required to generate advocacy for children's rights and privileges. A blaring call is required to accord priority to promote the development of the children.

The Pakistany government, employers, and employees need to meet together on this issue and spearhead the campaign to eliminate Child Labor. The tri-partite moot should seriously consider the advise and suggestion of ILO expert ASSEFA BEQUELE who says that " the single most important instrument for ensuring that children do not work is to have them attending schools". That means a three-point agenda according to Bequele:

1. Gradually increasing the age of compulsory school attendance and enforcing it:
2. Increasing resources allocated to education, including school lunch programs and elimination of school fees and other student costs that, while small for the well-to-do, are a burden for families barely able to eke out a living:
3. Finding other ways to make sure that school enrolment for children of the poorest of families is not an impossible liability, for example, by making up a transitional basis for at least a part of the modest but necessary income a family loses when a child quits his or her job.

The author of this paper, being a member of the Managing Committees of the Employers' Federation of Pakistan (600 members), The Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (over 14000 members) and the Pakistan Readymade Made Garments Manufacturers and Exporters' Association (over 1100 members) is actively involved in trade and industry activities. A few months back, the author met Mr John Malott, the US Acting Assistant Secretary of State where the subject of Child Labor was also discussed. Mr Malott strongly urged the author to convey the sentiments of the US Congress and the American people regarding the proliferation and exploitation of Child Labor, especially in the carpet industry. The author was also approached by a Senior Commercial Officer of the US Consulate in Karachi with a request that meeting be held by trade and industry bodies to study the ramifications and implications of the Child Labor Deterrence Act of 1993 which was introduced by a Senator Tom Harkin (Democrat from Iowa). This Act would prohibit the importation of any product, made whole or part, by children under the age of 15 employed in industry or mining. The overtones of this Act are stupendous for exporting countries like PAKISTAN.

The Employers' Federation of Pakistan is very much concerned with the issue of Child Labor. It is strongly supporting the objectives of the ILO, viz. (a) elimination of Child Labor and (b) protection of working children. In this regard, a series of meetings have been organized on an informal basis to assess the impending situation of Senator Harkin's Act etc. Furthermore, taking cognizance of this matter the EFP has proposed to hold a series of two-day seminars in industrial and rural cities in all four provinces and three-day seminars in the four capital cities. Nearly 500 participants are expected in these seminars. It is hoped that these seminars will, alongwith a planned media project, create a positive sense of awareness and will, eventually, prepare the beneficiaries, i.e., children, their parents, and the employers, to absorb the action oriented program leading to the attainment of ILO objectives.

In conclusion, it is the hope and prayer that the political leadership, the eminent jurists, the far-sighted employers, the dedicated labor representatives, and the guardians of human rights, will assume the mantle of crusaders and bring into emergence a pragmatic and fundamental new thinking in the prevailing environment so that the future generation of this country is not sacrificed at the altar of Child Labor. They should also declare a holy war on exploitation and child abuse, not rhetorically but by application. They should cultivate a movement to provide education, health sanitation, and other infrastructures to the denizens of this nation. They should campaign with vigor to crush those who callously use bonded labor, those who savor the blood, sweat and tears of a Child Labor, and those who mercilessly destroy the young and innocent and turn them into emaciated ruins.

The momentum to stir up global concern about exploitation of children in the labor force is picking up. Now is the time for more vociferous world opinion mobilization. Now is the time for an eradication of this cruelty. Now is the time for the people of the world to echo the legendary US union leader, the late SAMUEL GOMPERS: " Shame on such crimes! Shame upon us if we do not demand action against them! "