Daily Times

If you work long and hard to make a living, you deserve to be paid. Pretty boilerplate, right? Apparently not in the land of the pure where millions of workers still languish as victims of exploitation and abuse.

On Saturday, a raid on a brick kiln in Bahawalpur uncovered a shocking case of abuse as the local police found a critically battered worker, chained in a secluded room for over 10 days for the unforgivable crime of asking for his wages. While the kiln owner is at large, it does not take much to guess what’s the most that would happen even if the law enforcement authorities manage to apprehend him.

Either a few wads of cash to placate complainants or a phone call from someone higher up in the chain and everything would return to business as usual. After all, people have gotten away with so much more. This is a common occurrence, with labourers toiling in cruel conditions for up to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, yet unable to earn a decent living, due to which high-interest loans are an inescapable option and once trapped, it becomes extremely difficult to step out of the vicious circle.

Far more distressing is the continued yet long-outlawed practice of helpless workers forced to work as slaves when unable to repay. One would expect an industry that amounts to the livelihood of almost 10 million people to abide by internationally agreed-upon laws, especially as Pakistan is a signatory to numerous conventions against forced labour. However, evidence of exploitation is usually tossed to the sidelines as the authorities seem to have too much on their plate to worry about unfair labour practices or how they affect those at the bottom of the social ladder.

As seen in the case of the textile industry, complaints about being paid less than the minimum wage, forced to work overtime, denied pension, maternity leave, breaks or any other provisions do not get their due attention. The government needs to take more significant steps to ensure the documentation of highly-fragmented localised industries to realise any hopes associated with the rights of these workers in line with the standards set by the International Labour Organisation. *