Child labour is an intricate issue especially for developing countries like Pakistan where there is no protection for people’s rights, leave alone children’s rights. But more importantly the use of Child Labour in the Textile Industry and Sports Goods Industry of Pakistan has been a source of serious concern for the country over the past few years. The use of Child Labour began in 1960 and since then it has been used as a means to expand the manufacturing base in Pakistan. Before the 60’s child labour was widespread within family businesses but seldom did children work outside the home. With the increase in the number of new factories and a desire by factory owners to lower labour costs, Pakistan’s explosion of a child based labor force stacked the country’s economy.
Poverty is by far the most important reason for the use of child labour in Pakistan’s manufacturing industry. Majority of the families in Pakistan lie below the poverty line which leaves them with no option but to send their children to work so they can add to the family income. The increase in inflationary pressure affects the poor and the underprivileged segment of the society the most. Rising prices of basic necessities adds to the vulnerability to the worst forms of child labour.
There is a deficiency of the Education System in Pakistan which leads to children going to work rather than going to schools to acquire education. The educational facilities available in small cities of the country are so poor and insufficient that parents have no motivation to send their children to schools so they prefer sending their children to work in the factories. For instance in Sialkot children engage in football stitching activities which enables them to learn vocational skills that helps them earn a living and hence it is a more viable option than acquiring education.
In a developing country like Pakistan there are hardly any traces of Labour Protection found. Although there are various laws to protect exploitation of labour they are rarely implemented. There have been numerous programs to eradicate child labour and various measures taken by the NGOs for protection of children’s rights but other than some instances the problem of implementation of these programs persists. ILO initiated an independent monitoring programme in accordance with the International Programme for the elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) to eradicate child labour from Pakistan’s manufacturing industry.
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ILO also acquired assistance from members of the industry. This programme required from the manufacturers, details of production for example the location and number of workers employed by the manufacturers. The manufacturers were bound to provide these details over a period of 18 months. Members of IPEC made regular visits to the production centers to determine whether there was any child labour employed in the industry. When traces of child labour were found IPEC ordered the manufacturers to take immediate action or else their membership from IPEC would be removed.
However various steps have been taken to eradicate child labour from the industries, a change in the local attitude of the workers is the most significant factor to maintain a long lasting impact on the prevalence of child labour in the country.