Daily Times

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Wednesday sought the summary of the Punjab government about the appointment of labour inspectors in the province.

The CJ directed a law officer of the provincial government to submit a copy of the summary until January 20. He was hearing a petition seeking implementation of child labour laws.

Petitioner counsel Sheraz Zaka said that the law did not allow child labour or keeping underage labourers at homes as servants or maids. He said that unfortunately, despite clear bar on child labour in the country, children were kept as servants at homes.

He said that the government had failed to implement the Punjab Destitute and Neglected Children Act, 2004 and the Punjab Restriction on Child Employment Act, 2016. He said that there had been many cases of violation of these laws across Punjab.

He submitted that under the constitution, it was the responsibility of the government to provide education facilities to the children. He stated that it was a tragedy that children serving at houses were subjected to torture and sexual assault.

He requested the court to impose a complete ban on keeping children as house servants and housemaids, and enforce the relevant laws to prevent violence against such children.

The counsel for the Punjab government claimed that the government was taking effective measures to curb child labour. He said that even a summary for the appointment of labour inspectors was pending before the labour secretary and it would be implemented soon.