It is a measure of the Sindh government's apathy that the 1992 Bonded Labour System Abolition Act continues to remain unimplemented despite lapse of 13 long years. The vigilance committees constituted under the Act in 23 districts have failed to evolve an effective mechanism to pursue the cases of breach of law.
This unhappy state of affairs came to light during the question hour in Sindh Assembly. Provincial Planning and Development Minister Shoaib Bokhari, replying to questions on behalf of the labour minister (where was he?), informed the House that efforts were afoot to make the vigilance committees more effective, and set up similar committees in other districts as well.
Despite the provincial government's resolve to implement the law, the vigilance committees in only three districts of Sindh ie Hyderabad, Khairpur and Mirpurkhas, have been able to hold meetings to take up cases of breach of the law.
This in effect means that only three district committees out of 23 constituted under the bonded labour law have taken the job seriously. A factor that has apparently complicated things is the vesting of deputy commissioner's powers in the elected city Nazims under the devolution plan.
The minister told the Sindh Assembly that the labour department could only try to persuade Nazims to constitute vigilance committees, but could not force them to comply with the labour department's advice.
Bonded labour is a form of slavery that has been declared illegal under various UN conventions, and a Supreme Court ruling had outlawed it way back in 1989. According to the available data, there are approximately 1.7 million landless agricultural workers (haris) and sharecroppers in five districts (Thatta, Dadu, Badin, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot) alone in Sindh.
This provides a measure of the prevalence of this odious practice. While those bonded in northern Sindh belong to the Muslim majority, most of the agricultural labourers in southern Sindh belong to the Dalit (untouchable) community. Interestingly, the racket operators, many of whom are believed to enjoy the patronage of higher administrative echelons, have evolved an intricate system of cash advances, which the poor labourers are never able to pay back.
Agricultural bonded labourers in Sindh or their counterparts in Punjab kilns are often guarded by armed toughs to stop them from escaping. In majority of cases, bonded labourers do not get any wages, and the cost incurred on food and clothing provided by the landlord is added to the debt along with interest on loans, thereby increasing the debt on a daily basis.
The labourer thus sinks deeper and deeper into the debt trap, from which there is no escape.
Trading in bonded labourers who are unable to pay back the loans is quite common among landlords under which these agricultural serfs are sold by one landlord to another, usually at a price higher than the debt they owed to the previous landlord.
This multiplies their debt manifold. What makes the practice more reprehensible is the use of children as bonded labour at brick kilns and agricultural farms. Female relatives of bonded labourers are also held in virtual captivity in some districts and in most of the cases rape of females is not uncommon.
There is clearly a need to update the data on the prevalence of bonded labour in Pakistan as a first step towards evolving a comprehensive national strategy to combat the evil practice. The government should ensure that vigilance committees composed of elected representatives are set up in each district of the country.
These committees should also serve as pressure groups to create awareness among the masses. The higher authorities in Pakistan will also hopefully find time to devote some attention to this grave humanitarian problem.