National policy on home-based workers soon

KARACHI: A national policy on home-based workers is likely to be announced in next few months, said a senior official of Federal Ministry of Labour and Manpower on Monday.

S.M. Mustafain Kazmi, Joint Secretary (Labour Welfare), MoLM was addressing the participants comprising home based workers from Sindh at a provincial consultative meeting.

The Ministry has started a series of consultation with key labour-market stakeholders of the country to get their feedback on the draft policy in view of 18th Amendment in the constitution, he said.

The meeting was also attended by representatives from employers, workers/trade unions, provincial Department of Labour, Women Development Department, civil society organizations and research institutions.

Mustafain Kazmi said that the Home-Based Workers are an important but disadvantaged segment of our work-force who are yet to be given their due rights and recognition in the country.

"That is why, the Government of Pakistan through Ministry of Labour and Manpower has taken it seriously and is moving fast to develop a national policy that is based on national aspirations and aligned with our cultural needs," he said.

For this purpose, he said feedback from all provincial stakeholders is being sought through these consultative workshops.

Gulfam Nabi from Sindh Department of Labour said that Sindh Assembly has already passed a resolution demanding rights for home-based workers.

"However, due to its complicated nature, it would be difficult to collect accurate data about HBWs," he said.

Nasir Mansoor from Labour Education Foundation appreciated the initiative and suggested incorporation of proper definitions of workers, employers and workplace.

Saad Gilani from ILO elaborated the role of ILO and UN-Women in promoting workers' rights in general and that of women workers in particular through tripartite consultations.

He said this also encompasses Convention 177 which calls on all member countries to develop a support mechanism and national policy for the workers.

Ume Laila, Executive Director HomeNet Pakistan informed the participants about the process adopted earlier for the policy formulation and the current status of home based workers.

Participants actively participated in the discussions and thoroughly reviewed all aspects of the draft policy.

They suggested that the definitions of worker, employers, work, wages and workplace/establishment must be redefined to make it more inclusive for home-based workers.

Since Labour Department has limited outreach, it was recommended that women labor officers must be recruited and trained to support HBWs in collaboration with local bodies preferably women councilors.

The Ministry of Labour and Manpower is holding such consultations in all provinces.

These will continue to be conducted in other cities during the current month and feed back would be incorporated in the National Policy document expected to be presented to the Federal Cabinet by June this year.