Mazdoor Ka Ehsaas Report launched for labour welfare

ISLAMABAD: Ehsaas has launched ‘Mazdoor Ka Ehsaas Report’ to safeguard the labour welfare.

The report was launched in a webinar on Saturday on the eve of World Labour Day which was co-chaired by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Dr Sania Nishtar and SAPM on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Syed Zulfikar Bukhari.

The panel included Labour Economist Dr Aliya Khan and representatives from Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, International Labour Organisation (ILO), Employers Federation Pakistan (EFP), Pakistan Workers’ Federation (PWF), World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Addressing the webinar, Dr Sania Nishtar said the report is the first of its kind that will help the government focus on universalising the social protection system in Pakistan and with a particular emphasis on including informal economy workers in the fold of social protection.

As per details, the newly launched report recommends that every labour worker in Pakistan should be provided with the social protection and minimum standard of living.

Interventions for expanding social protection with maximum multiplier gains for the labour class have been proposed by the Ehsaas Labour Expert Group (LEG) which includes distinguished experts representing the government at the federal and provincial levels, employers, trade unions, academia, private sector, development partners and NGOs.

The report recommends a mechanism to register all informal sector workers, including those in the agricultural sector.

To this end, Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD) is setting up a dedicated unit to continuously work for the welfare of informal sector workers, agriculture sector workers as well as workers in the formal sector who are not protected by current social security measures.

SAPM Dr Sania said that the Labour Force Survey 2017-18 microdata suggests that 24.89 million workers are at-risk for jobs disruption and income losses; however, the government has taken unprecedented steps to minimise the economic damage due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The panel of experts widely lauded and endorsed the insightful findings of the report and its recommendations for implementation.