Representatives of sports goods association, civil society, non-governmental organisations, worker rights group and others have demanded that government should accept the suggestion made by Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) to initiate one window operation for provision of the benefits to the local industry workers.
They further said that the government should register all the home based women workers with the labour department and assume the responsibility of making all those contributions to EOBI and Social Security, which in case of the workers in the formal sectors are mandatory to be paid by their respective employers.
These demands were made during the deliberations in the seminar on "Analysis of the problems facing the home based women soccer stitchers and their possible workable solutions" organised by Baidarie Sialkot at Muhammad Shafi Auditorium Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) here on Tuesday.
The participants of the seminar welcomed the kind gesture of Zafar Iqbal Gondal Chairman Employees Old Age Benefit Association for having plans to visit Sialkot and address the problems being faced by the workers. The house, however, recommended that federal and provincial labour secretaries should also visit Sialkot along with Chairman EOBI.
The participants of the seminar also suggested that while the Government should take measures to ensure compliance of the requirements of corporate social responsibility by the concerned business and industrial enterprises, the brands/importers of the products from Sialkot should also step forwards by contributing to the economic and social empowerment of their workers whose toils enable them to earn huge profits.
Addressing the session largely attended by representatives of govt departments, civil society organisations, worker rights groups and home based women workers Ms Hina Noureen President Baidarie Sialkot said that home-based women workers are not satisfied with the wages they got. There is no practice of issuing them a written "employment contract" to regulate the employment practices and ensure availability of labour rights, she said.
Ms Hina said that overwhelming majority of the women workers expressed their interest to change their profession if they find some access to suitable options and opportunities for doing so. They desired to get training of some alternative income generating skill so that they may earn more money to help and support in improvement of their socio-economic status.
Ms Hina Noureen, Professor Arshid Mehmood Mirza Executive Director Mirza, Ms Anita Khawaja director SAHEP, Ms Nabila from Home Net Pakistan, Khawaja Zaka-u-din former president SCCI, Fayyaz Ali Farooq deputy Director EOBI, Syed Hamid Arshid from Punjab Labour Department, Tariq Awan Director Punjab Social security, Ms Afifa Fatima Punjab Social Welfare Department and Mirza Abdul Shakoor Executive Director Community Development Concern also spoke on the occasion.