ISLAMABAD: Minister for Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah Wednesday said the government would conduct the “Child Labour Survey” to combat child labour in Pakistan.
He said this while talking to David Kramer, US Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human rights and Labour, who called on him along with his two member delegation.
The minister said the survey, after a lapse of ten years, was being conducted in collaboration with International Labour Organisation.Khursheed Shah told the assistant secretary that it was Benazir Bhutto who had for the first time set up the Human Rights Division in the Ministry to address any form of violation of human rights in society. The minister said that poverty forced people into child labour.He said that government was addressing the issue seriously and said that Pakistan has successfully eliminated child labour from the formal industrial sector.
He briefed the delegation about the poverty situation and working conditions for workers in the country.Khursheed Shah said the government has lifted the ban on trade unionism so that the workers could play their due role as stakeholders in the industrial sector.
He said the government has set the minimum wage for unskilled workers at Rs 6000 to enable them to fight poverty.The minister lauded technical assistance from the US in eliminating child labour from the informal industry.
Source: The Nation
Date:4/24/2008
