Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Senator Dr.Sania Nishtar, has said that protecting economically most marginalized and vulnerable group is one of the top-most priorities of the present government.
She said this while speaking at the launching of ‘MazdoorKaEhsaas’ report, held by the Ehsaas Delivery Unit – Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division in collaboration with International Labour Organization (ILO).
Nishtar informed the participants that a bill for including workers from informal sectors of economy has already presented in the Senate of Pakistan. She said the experts’ report would provide the government a strategic dimension to implement its approach towards protecting vulnerable segments more effectively. She added further that we have good frameworks to extend protection to workers from informal sectors including daily-waged, domestic and workers contributing to rural economy. However, for the better implementation, we are working with different stakeholders including concerned ministries and private sector for the better implementation of these laws. During Covid-19 pandemic, the Emergency Cash Support was extended to workers from informal sectors to save them from the economic shocks.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OPHRD), Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari, on the occasion informed the participants that the Government is taking various initiatives to include workers from informal sectors of economy under social protection. In this regard, he said, Old Age Benefits are being extended to workers working in the informal economy. The government also aims to enhance pension up to at least minimum wage level. Ingrid Christensen, Country DirectorILO, while facilitating the session said that we need to devise mechanisms to ensure that social protection and social security must cover informal employment.
Mariko Ouchi, Sr Social Security Specialist, DWT, ILO, while presenting examples from various countries, highlighted the global development in extending social protection to informal economy, such as agriculture and self-employed. Melis U Guven, Senior Social Protection Economist, World Bank, said that during the pandemic, $600 million financing for the Crisis-Resilient Social Protection Program (CRISP), was approved by the World Bank. She said that it was aimed to support Pakistan to expand Ehsaas to protect vulnerable households and increase resilience to economic shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Aliya Khan, Labour Economist, informed the participants that while compiling the report, all stakeholders including academia, legal and experts on economy and workers representatives were consulted on reaching out to informal sector of economy.
Alia Shahid, Joint Secretary, MoOPHRD, was of view that only a small percentage of businesses and workers from informal sectors are registered. Therefore, national registry would be a key step to ensure that workers from these sectors are getting benefitted from interventions in the social sector.