Bonded labour trapping thousands
KARACHI:
As a country we gained independence nearly 74 years ago but there are many of us who are not yet free.
It was in 2016 that the Sindh Assembly passed The Sindh Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 2015 and five years down the line, the law still awaits implementation.
Thousands of peasants remain entrenched in servitude under bonded labour and the provincial government has yet to form vigilance committees in all districts to ensure their freedom.
Under the law, the bonded labour system refers to forced or partly forced labour, whereby individuals and their families are compelled to work without pay to pay off their debts. It is mostly peasants and brick kiln workers, who fall prey to such agreements with rich creditors. What starts off as a small loan can leave generations of a family trapped into bonded labour.
Hyderabad
Andhra-pradesh
India
Sanghar
Sindh
Pakistan
Mirpurkhas
Sindh-assembly
Karachi
Umerkot
Punjab
Tando-allahyar