Poverty Alleviation Course_Reading 1_Unfree labour in Pakistan: Work, debt and bondage in brick kilns

Abstract

In conjunction with the federal Ministry of Labour, the ILO has commissioned a series of research studies concerning the interface between labour, debt and bondage. This study by PILER explores the situation in brick kilns with a view to emphasizing the feasibility of socially effective, prompt relief and remedy -- by federal, provincial and local governments willing to acknowledge rights spelled out in the national constitution and international conventions. The study is based on a rapid assessment through short visits to over 100 brick kilns in and around the urban and peri-urban areas of the districts of Hyderabad, Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Haripur. Fieldwork was done between October and December 2002. Until the FBS completes its national Economic Census, estimates alone are possible for the number and distribution of brick kilns. Punjab definitely has the largest number of kilns, possibly as many as 5000 according to unofficial sources. The remaining three provinces together may have around 1000 kilns, with over 400 in the NWFP. Features that account for the concentration of brick kilns in Punjab include a large population; widespread prosperity; continuing high public investment in infrastructure; plentiful clay, fine sand and water; and a large pool of landless labour. The fieldwork suggests that more than half a million men, women and children work in brick kilns. The majority work as makers of unbaked bricks -- patheras; followed by those doing the work of kiln stacking and unloading -- bharai and nikasi walas; and of baking -- jalai walas. With the exception of salaried jalai workers, payment to other labour is by piece rate on the basis of 1000 bricks. Excluding NWFP (and, probably, Balochistan), women make a significant contribution as patheras through family kiln labour across Pakistan. But women, like children and adolescents, are rarely, if ever, directly acknowledged as labour (i.e., receive advances and compensation) except when they must inherit liability for outstanding debts. The study also reaffirms that brick kilns across the country depend on the labour of children (10-14 years) as patheras and of male adolescents (14 –17 years) in other work groups. Female children not working at the kiln perform domestic chores to free up older family members for kiln work. If a criterion for unacceptable child labour is the denial of primary education, then virtually all children, like their parents before them, are so employed. Migrants, in general, and traditional “low-caste” family labour in particular, continue to characterize labour in the brick kilns. Even though Muslims make up the majority of the workforce, Christians also supply a significant proportion of pathera family labour, especially in Punjab. Afghan refugees have also replaced some of the traditional migrant labour. Interestingly, in receiving smaller initial advances, Afghans encounter lower debts. Females from both local and Afghan households generally do not participate in kiln work.