Peasants' Rights Report Indicates Non-observance Of Bonded Labor, Tenancy Laws In Sindh

The speakers at a launching ceremony of a report on Sindh's peasants rights here on Friday underlined the need for implementation of the key laws pertaining to rights of agriculture workers including Sindh Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 2015 and Sindh Tenancy Act 1950

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Jul, 2021 ) :The speakers at a launching ceremony of a report on Sindh's peasants rights here on Friday underlined the need for implementation of the key laws pertaining to rights of agriculture workers including Sindh Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 2015 and Sindh Tenancy Act 1950.

Addressing the launch of "The State of Peasants' Rights in Sindh 2020" organized by the Hari Welfare Association (HWA) at Karachi Press Club, the speakers expressed their concern over the plight of agriculture workers of Sindh, who were facing social and economic exclusion, expulsion from the agriculture fields where they work and non-payment of their due by influential landlords.

The report while quoting the media reports has highlighted the problems of agriculture workers and revealed that 3086 bonded peasants, including 915 children and 1154 women were released in 2020 by the police on court orders but Sindh government did not take any step to rehabilitate thousands of families living in many Hari camps in Sindh.

From these 3086 bonded peasants, a vast majority (1436) were recovered from the illegal detention of landlords in Umerkot, a district marked by human development deficits in the form of under-five mortality, food insecurity, malnutrition, lack of health services, and poor quality of drinking water.

A significant number of bonded peasants and their family members were also released from Mirpurkhas (497), Sanghar (514), Matiari (234), and Badin (133) districts, the report added.

"COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated the situation of agriculture workers," said Akram Ali Khaskheli, president of the HWA adding that, a majority of agriculture workers did not receive minimum wages fixed by the labour department of the Sindh government as well.

Karamat Ali, executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour education and Research (PILER) demanded to distribute all government lands to the landless peasants and underlined the need for provision of rights to agriculture workers.

Vice Chairman, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Khizar Kazi, said bonded labour situation in Sindh was alarming and cases were increasing. He stressed on need of forming District Vigilance Committees in all 30 districts.

A representative of International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Pakistan Abid Niaz Khan said that Convention No. 11 of ILO for right to association of agriculture workers was ratified in 1919 by then British government in India. Sindh government has recently provided the right to association to agriculture workers under the Industrial Relations Act 2013.

Senior trade union leader and President of People's Labour Bureau (PLB) Habibuddin Junaidi said that after 18th Amendment many labour laws have been made in Sindh.

Implementation of laws was a matter of concern requiring a comprehensive struggle.

Chairperson of Sindh Commission on Status of Women Nuzhat Shireen said that the Commission has started holding a series of meeting with Hari women in Sindh to know their working conditions.

Secretary General of National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) Nasir Mansoor said a general workers trade union of peasants and two trade unions of women peasant workers have been established in Sindh.

The year 2020 did not bring any positive legal and policy changes directly affecting peasants, he said adding that instead, the Government of Sindh has filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan challenging the landmark October 2019 verdict by the Sindh High Court (SHC) in which the honorable court had struck down regressive amendments in the tenancy law and addressed measures against bonded labour in Sindh.

Despite assurance by Sindh Agriculture Minister, Ismail Rahu that his government would not file an appeal in the Supreme Court of Pakistan against this landmark pro-peasant decision, an appeal was filed in January 2020 while the provincial government continued to pursue the case in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, he said.

The report also highlighted that in eight years, from 2013 to 2020, 8725 bonded peasants were released. Of these, 2923 (33.5 percent) were women. In 2020, in the release of these 3086 peasants, there was no single case in which the DVCs played any role.

The report also underlined that out of 29 districts of Sindh, by 2020, only 12 District Vigilance Committees (DVCs) were made up after letters by the Secretary Labour Department (Sindh) and the repeated request letters by the HWA for the constitution and activation of the DVC under section 15 of the Sindh Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 2015.

Under the law, the district authorities must set up DVCs, comprising elected authorities and representatives of the district administration, bar association, media, social services, and labor departments.

The speakers at the ceremony urged the Sindh government, the district authorities, and the district and session judges to play their part in implementing the Sindh Women Agriculture Workers Act (SWAWA), the STA, and Sindh Bonded Labour System Abolition Act (SBLSAA) and activation of the DVCs so that menace of bonded labor could be eradicated in agriculture and other sectors of the economy.

After the launching event, peasants also held a demonstration outside Karachi Press Club.