NAWABSHAH:Hari Welfare association in Partnership with the district administration on Wednesday organised a workshop to highlight the issues relating to Bonded labour.
HWA’s president Akram Ali Khaskheli said that Anti Bonded Labour and Anti Trafficking Committee in the district Benazirabad regularly meet and discuss the possible means to stop bonded labour in all forms.
He further said that in 2019, 78 and in 2021, 15 bonded laborers were released through the district courts in district Shaheed Benazirabad. The Committee was supervising the implementation of the Sindh Bonded Labour System Abolition Act of 2015. 1465 peasants were released from the custody of landlords in 2021. However, he regretted that in 2014, in most of the districts, the District Vigilance Committees were constituted but most of them were not functional.
He said that there was no monitoring of the implementation of the Act. However, during and after floods, DVCs played nominal role because of the chances of human trafficking and bonded labour are higher.
He added that most of the officials were unaware about the Prevention of Persons in Trafficking Act (PoPA) of 2018 and the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act of 2015.
Additional Director Social Welfare Department SBA, Sabir Qureshi said that Human Trafficking was a crime and we have the law of Prevention of Persons in Trafficking Act (PoPA) of 2018, through its implementation we can eliminate human trafficking and bonded labour from our areas.
He urged all relevant departments including police, FIA and labour department to put extra efforts and make close coordination for halting trafficking in person.
District Population Welfare Officer Raiz Ahmed Shar, Zubair ashraf from FIA, Muslim Farooq from Sindh Child Protection authority and Long khan from Police department also spoke on the occasion