This has reference to your editorial "Looming threat to carpet industry," dated 29th September 2004, in which you have highlighted the problem of child labour in the carpet industry.
The Pakistan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association fully shares your concern for improving the working conditions in carpet manufacturing. In this context I will like to draw your attention to some of the measures taken at the level of carpet industry, the government NGOs and UN agencies to tackle the problem of child labour in this sector on both short and long run basis.
In 1998, PCMEA signed an agreement with the ILO to set up 300 non-formal schools for children working in carpet industry in districts Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Hafizabad having a high concentration of carpet weaving.
By now 12,000 children have completed their primary education in these centres. Over 3,000 of these children are pursuing education at the post-primary level.
Besides basic education, these children have also received vocational training and health care facilities with a view to ensuring for them a healthier and better adulthood.
With the co-operation of the First Woman Bank Ltd, micro credit has been provided to over a thousand families to improve their economic conditions and enable them to remove their children from work.
Spurred by the success of the Sheikhupura-Gujranwala Project Phase-II of the programme has been launched in districts Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Multan where over 200 non-formal schools have so far been set up, while 200 more will be established in the next few months. These 400 centres will accommodate approx.16,000 carpet-weaving children who will be provided fee education, vocational training and health care facilities.
It may be pertinent to mention here that for the above mentioned project US Department of Labour has provided the bulk of fund while PCMEA has put up a matching grant of 2 million dollars.
PCMEA has also collaborated with the government and UN agencies in setting up Child Care Foundation which has in the last 5 years established about 300 centres and is running them on sustainable basis. STEP Foundation, Switzerland is collaborating with CCF in running 50 non-formal schools for 2,000 carpet-weaving children. STEP Foundation has now launched a scheme to improve living and working conditions of families in carpet weaving areas.
Care and fair, Germany has set up a large school in Sheikhupura for providing free education to the children of carpet weaving families.
Bunyad, Sudhar and a large number of other NGOs are also doing their bit for alleviating the condition of carpet weaving families.
The Department of Labour, Punjab has held a series of seminars and awareness raising campaigns in carpet weaving areas to sensitise the population to the hazards associated from carpet weaving and the need to take preventive and protective measures.
With the collaboration of ILO - PCMEA has now planned to launched Phase-III of its child labour rehabilitation project in Sindh early next year focusing on carpet-weaving areas like Tharparkar.
I am pleased to inform you a large number of foreign delegations from USA, Germany, UK Italy, France, Japan and other countries have visited the PCMEA-ILO children rehabilitation project and they have expressed satisfaction with the positive work being done in Pakistan to tackle the problem of child labour in carpet industry. The carpet project has been so successful that it has been held up as a model which ILO is trying to replicate in other countries.
One major indicator of the success of PCMEA-ILO Child Labour Rehabilitation Programme is that the propaganda on the issue in the world media has died down and carpet exports are gradually increasing.
In the end I will like to point out that the media while highlighting problems and difficulties in certain industries or sectors should also mention the measures and actions being taken to solve them.
This will help present a more balanced picture. The problem exists, PCMEA recognises it and is doing its utmost to change the station.
I wish we had an Alladin's Lamp to change it overnight. It does take time to convert wishes into reality. I just request the media to encourage us and stop criticising us.