Home-based workers: government asked to implement policy at national level

Tripartite stakeholders from Punjab have agreed with the draft of national policy on Home-Based Workers (HBWs) and asked the government to go ahead with it at the national level.
In this connection, a consultative workshop on "Formulation of National Policy for Home-Based Workers" was held in Lahore. The workshop was organised by the ministry of labour and manpower (labour welfare wing) in collaboration with International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UN-Women, and was chaired by Joint Secretary Labour Welfare Ministry of Labour and Manpower, Syed Mustafa Kazmi.
Addressing the workshop, Syed Mustafa Kazmi stressed the need of existence of a dynamic and comprehensive policy for HBWs to give them their due rights. He articulated commitment of the ministry of labour to support ratification of ILO Convention-177, which relates to HBWs.
Expressing his views, Joint Director Labour from Government of Punjab, Sakhawat Shah mentioned that due to the differing nature of work carried out by HBWs, it would be complicated to register them and include them in various support mechanisms. However, all these issues would be cleared once these are put forward for discussion. Shah assured full support of government of Punjab for the cause of HBWs.
Representatives from trade unions, civil society, social welfare department and social security institutions, also, supported the initiative and took part in the discussions to formulate various service mechanisms for HBWs. It was recommended that HBWs maybe registered at the union council level and a database developed for the purpose. The same data could be compiled at district and provincial levels for determining the exact number, nature and types of HBWs.
Regarding monitoring and inspection of working conditions of HBWs, a tripartite mechanism comprising a labour inspector, UC councillor and a local social worker was recommended for UC-level. At the district level, a member of trade union and employer were also suggested. In order to ensure social security benefits, modalities including self-contribution and contribution by other available sources, including Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, were advised.
At the workshop, it was also recommended that the per-piece-rates of products, being produced by HBWs, would be determined by the wage board to ensure that the workers receive at-least minimum wages as per the labour policy. The workshop was attended by senior officials from Punjab department of labour, social welfare department, Pakistan Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI), workers welfare board, employers, trade unions and civil society and home based workers.