- Where the holy month of Ramazan brings blessings for many on a religious context, the poor see it as a month of economic and mental hardship with absolutely no respite in their working hours
ISLAMABAD
SOHAIL RAMZAN
The federal and provincial governments have announced reduced working hours for their employees during Ramazan but the labourers working in the informal sector of the economy found no respite during Ramazan.
Not only that they have the same working hours but they are the ones who will bear the brunt of already rampant price hike in the holy month. For most of the workers, advent of Ramazan brings frustration over their poor financial capacity to arrange for Sehri and Iftar and a lingering fear to arrange for costly Eid shopping for their children, Pakistan Today has learnt.
On the construction site of Metro Bus Service Road near I-9, Muhammad Iqbal, a labourer, a resident of Chakwal, told Pakistan Today that there was no reduction in his working hours in Ramazan; instead there was an increased pressure from the contractor to speed up the work so as to get timely payment of his dues before Eid. He further told that he shared a one room flat with other eight labourers who were all fasting and they had a couple of chapattis and a cup of tea for their Sehri.
Unaware of any labour laws and devoid of any hope for better working conditions, Muhammad Iqbal did not stay for longer to talk with Pakistan Today as he feared it could infuriate his supervisor which might ultimately cause a cut in his wage.
Plight of Asif Bhatti, a labourer working on construction of a multi storey Plaza in F-11, was not much different than that of Iqbal, Pakistan Today observed.
Asif comes from a village of Hafizabad and has been working on this plaza for last three months. He told with a little tinge of guilt in his voice that he was not fasting as he had been suffering from fever for last one week.
When asked if he still ran a fever, he replied in affirmative with a painful smile; “How can I take rest? Who will feed my three children and parents back home if I do not work?”
He further said that if he took one day off due to fever or any other reason, his contractor will not only grab his one day wage but can also show him the door. He seemed desperate to do his labour, come what may, as the holy month puts extra responsibility on his literally lean shoulders to arrange for Eid celebrations. He said that he had never heard of a bonus or Eidi from his employers during his last seven years in this trade.
When Pakistan Today contacted Pakistan Workers Federation President Zahoor Awan, he said that his organisation took care of the workers of public sector or semi-government departments and they had reduced working hours during Ramazan. He was not aware of any provisions of Labour Law that could give some respite for the labourers like Iqbal and Asif Bhatti.
Moreover, pharmaceutical manufacturing is the major industry of Islamabad/Rawalpindi and Pakistan Today surveyed that only five of around 30 big pharmaceutical factories had reduced working hours during Ramazan.
While many in Pakistan’s chattering classes never tire of talking about equality of rights across gender, classes, languages, sects, religions and regions, the labourers like Iqbal and Asif Bhatti never catch their imaginative eyes.
Irony is that the labourers themselves have no realisation and awareness of their rights that they are not lesser citizens of Pakistan than those who enjoy comforts of cozy offices and relaxed working hours during Ramazan.
With an ever increasing capitalistic hold in Pakistani politics and chronic aversion of trader/business classes to documentation of their businesses, Pakistan’ s informal economy will go on increasing and the miseries of the workers and labourers, who are the engines of this sector, will also increase.
All in all, where the holy month of Ramazan brings blessings for many on a religious context, the poor of Pakistan, unfortunately see it as a month of even more economic and mental hardship without any complains to Almighty or the mighty few of Pakistani state.
