Karachi
May 2, 2021
Marking International Labour Day on Saturday, the Hari Welfare Association (HWA) lamented that in the rural areas of Sindh, millions of workers in agriculture and brick kilns are without social security and decent work, including the minimum wage.
HWA head Akram Khaskheli claimed that these workers hardly received Rs6,000 per month in salary against the Rs17,500 minimum wage promised by the Sindh government for unskilled workers in 2019.
The HWA stated that because of unemployment and lack of education and skills, millions of young people were forced to work around 14 hours a day at grocery shops, restaurants, and workshops just for Rs5,000 per month in rural parts of Sindh, and among them were women and girls who picked cotton and chillies but received meagre wages.
Wheat sown in fertile floodplains seen filling up Sindh granaries
Business
February 21, 2021
HYDERABAD: Harvest of early sown wheat has kicked off in flood-affected areas of Umerkot, Kunri, and parts of Tharparkar and Mirpurkhas districts and local farmers are betting on bountiful yields that will cover their losses to a good deal.
Being advanced in cultivation of all crops, the growers in these areas had sown wheat in mid-October and early November. Now the crop is ready for reaping in the early cultivated pieces of lands. Tractor-driven threshing machines can now be seen cleaning wheat in the areas near Nao Kot, Jhuddo, and Roshanabad.
KARACHI: Human rights activists on Friday sought withdrawal of “concocted charges” against the head of the FIA Cyber Crimes Wing and expressed their concerns over initiation of an inquiry against the entire team of the Cyber Crimes Wing officials in Sindh as “they had taken action against four private companies in Karachi”.
In a joint statement, activist Ali Palh, convener of Sindh Human Rights Defenders Network; Zulfiqar Shah, member of Sindh Human Rights Commission; Salam Dharejo, child rights activist; Naghma Iqtidar, youth activist; Zeenia Shaukat, labour rights expert; Jan Odhano, human rights activist; Akram Khaskheli, peasant leader; Pirbhu Lal, rights activist from Hyderabad; Roshan Ali Shah, advocate; Khadim Kaka, advocate and others, pointed out that according to media reports, the FIA head office had initiated an inquiry against a five-member team of the FIA Cyber Crimes Wing (Sindh) headed by Faizullah Korejo, deputy director of FIA Cyber Wing in Karachi for con
As sun sets on sunflower, mustard lights up farmers’ hopes
Business
January 24, 2021
HYDERABAD: Farmers in lower Sindh, particularly Umerkot, parts of Tharparkar, Sujawal, Thatta, and Badin districts have switched their priorities from cultivating sunflower to rapeseed-mustard this year, considering it a better option to earn a living.
Sharing their experiences, small-scale farmers said due to the declining average product of sunflower they were more and more inclined towards cultivating rapeseed-mustard.
For example, previously they used to get 20 to 30 maunds (40kg) of sunflower per acre, but now the yield has dropped to only 15maunds/acre or less. In some areas farmers could not get more than two three maund per acre.