Citizens’ Commission for Equality and Human Rights

Citizens’ Commission for Equality and Human Rights
July 11, 2024
An integrated Child Protection System – Pakistan
August 9, 2024

Citizens’ Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CCEHR)

Biannual Report – June 2024

 

This is a biannual report by ‘Citizens Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CCEHR)’ on the status of Equality and Human Rights of the oppressed downtrodden and discriminated segments of our workforce. The report is based on research, surveys, interviews, information obtained under Article 19A (Right to Information) and officially released documents and notifications. It includes the following topics:

  1. Minimum Wage
  2. Wage theft and Human Rights violations of sanitation workers
  3. Child labour
  4. Denial of EOBI and Social Security
  5. Exploitation of Private Security Guards by Government organisations
  6. Illegal wages and human rights violations of Pakistan Railway Coolies
  7. Criminal neglect of OGRA and exploitation of petrol pump workers.
  8. The deadly Coal Mines
  9. Planned increase of disparity between the rich and the poor.
  10. Deaths, discrimination and hazardous working conditions.
  11. Recommendations.

We are grateful to the feedback, suggestions and inspiration received from numerous individuals who even in extreme adversity, manage to bravely cope with the disparity, atrocity and exploitation thrust upon them.  We believe that improving social, economic and emotional lives of the downtrodden is vital to building a progressive, tolerant and progressive Pakistan. We appeal to all government departments, all regulatory bodies and members of civil society to take practical steps to ensure at least min legal wage, EOBI, overtime, medical and social security for every worker of Pakistan.

Sincerely,

Sara Malkani

Tahera Hasan

Naeem Sadiq

Dr. Kartar Dawani

 

 

Disclaimer ** The incidents and organisations described in this report are only a small sample.  By no means we suggest that these are the only incidents or organisations involved in wage theft and human rights violations in Pakistan.

 

  1. Minimum wage

 

  • The minimum wage notified by the Federal Government and the provinces for July 2023 to June 2024 continues to be Rs32,000 (based on 8-hour work per day for 26 days in a month), as no new notifications has yet been issued.
  • Including overtime, the security guards minimum wage continues to remain Rs66560 pm, for 12-hour duty in Sindh and Rs 67612 in Punjab. This should include 4 holidays plus EOBI and social security.
  • The Federal government and the Sindh Government have announced the new min wage of Rs37,000 per month in their June 2024 budget speeches. However, the new wage would be applicable only after a formal notification is issued. This notification was delayed by 3 months in 2023 depriving millions of workers from receiving a pay rise for 3 months.
  • Provinces are therefore requested to urgently issue the new min wage notification and to ensure its implementation w.e.f. 1st July 2024.

 

  1. Wage theft and Human Rights violations of sanitation workers

 

We find sanitation workers as one of the most exploited and discriminated segments of our society. Numerous government departments have subcontracted the sanitation task to contractors.  While the contracts invariably mention the contractors’ obligation to comply with all labour laws, the government and private organisations, (as principal employers), fail or intentionally ignore to check and ensure that the contractors do in fact comply with minimum wage, EOBI, Social Security and other requirements of labour law.  No government or private organisation that was interviewed met the requirements of labour laws for their contracted sanitation workers. The specific incidents quoted below reflect only a few samples of the hugely prevalent wage theft and human rights violations of sanitation workers.

 

  1. Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) has sublet its entire solid waste management task to Chinese and Turkish companies in Karachi and to a Turkish company in Hyderabad. In turn these companies have sublet the task to multiple Pakistani sub-contractors. As of June 2024, thousands of SSWMB sanitation workers working through Chinese companies were still receiving an illegal wage of Rs15,600 per month, while those employed through Turkish company were receiving Rs20,000 per month. They are registered neither to EOBI nor to Social Security. They have no medical leave and must lose their salary for any day of absence or sickness. When working beyond 8 hours or on a holiday, they are not paid the legal overtime.  Placed below are a few samples of this evidence.

 

(1) 13 June 2024 SSWMB Turkish company – YouTube

(1) SSWMB 29 March 2024 – YouTube

  • SSWMB 15 year and 15K – YouTube
  • (1) SSWMB and Turkish company wage theft 12 May 2024 – YouTube
  • All Cantonments across Pakistan, who perform sanitation work through contracted / daily wage sanitation workers, continued to pay illegal salary of Rs25,000 pm to sanitation workers from July 2023 till April 2024. Thus Rs 70,000 (gap between 32k and 25k for 10 months) was stolen from each sanitation worker.  Considering all sanitation workers of all Cantonment, this amounts to a wage-theft of over Rs2 billion.  The contracted sanitation workers are also not registered to EOBI or Social Security. They have no medical leave and must lose their salary for a day of absence.  Overtime payment at twice the minimum wage rate is also not practiced, when working on holidays.
  • The three major government hospitals of Sindh, JPMC, Civil Hospital and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital continue to pay less than minimum legal wage to their contracted sanitation staff. They are also not registered to EOBI or Social Security.
  • Pakistan Post Office sanitation workers, working at post offices, through 3rd part contractors receive illegal and inhuman wage of Rs15000 per month, instead of the legal salary of Rs32,000. Their salary is deducted at the rate of Rs500 per day, for any day of absence or sickness. They are also not registered to EOBI or Social Security.  Sadly, this salary has remained the same for last one year, and the delinquent Pakistan Postal Department, despite numerous reminders has refused to comply with the law.
  • In no municipality of Sindh, the contracted sanitation workers receive the minimum legal wage. They are also not registered either to EOBI or to Social Security.
  • The sanitation workers (house keeping) staff of Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi continue to receive illegal wages of Rs20,500 instead of Rs32,000.
  • A citizens’ petition for illegal wages being paid to contracted sanitation workers of SSWMB and the Sindh Municipalities is being heard by the honorable Sindh High Court since January 2022. Sadly, these departments have not been held accountable so far, despite overwhelming evidence of the illegal wages being paid to the sanitation workers.
  • The contracted sanitation workers of SSWMB or Sindh Municipalities do not receive their salaries in their bank account as required by law.
  • The sanitation workers working in Cantonment Boards are now receiving Rs32,000, through their respective bank accounts.

 

 

  1. Child labour

 

  1. We could interview scores of children between the ages of 12 and 16 working as contracted sanitation workers of SSWMB in Karachi. These sanitation workers work at the bottom of the cruelty chain – from SSWMB to Chinese companies to Pakistani sub-contractors and finally to child workers. This work is highly hazardous and must never be performed by children. The work involves cleaning the roads and then picking up, with bare hands, the chemically and biologically hazardous waste, that is loaded with diseases of all kinds.
  2. These children are also deprived of their childhood, education and dignity. Our estimate is that between 500 to 1000 such child sanitation workers are deployed by SSWMB in Karachi.

(1) SSWMB 15 years 15K on 30 Nov 2023 – YouTube

Shown below is a 14-year-old child, on 14 December 2023, sweeping the streets of Block Q, North Nazimabad, Karachi – working for the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board and its multiple subcontractors.

A twelve-year-old, out of school child (below)works at a roadside repair shop in Clifton, Karachi.

 

  1. Denial of EOBI and Social Security

Approximately 76 million or 94% workers of Pakistan have been deprived of registration to EOBI. This is perhaps one of the biggest crimes of modern history committed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on its own citizens.

Kindly see a special report called ‘CCEHR report on EOBI June 2024’, placed as Appendix A.

 

  1. Exploitation of Private Security Guards

 

  • There are an estimated one million private security guards in Pakistan, whose services are used by banks, petrol stations, embassies, malls, courier services, Post Offices, National Savings, PIA, government departments, hospitals, industrial organisations and private individuals.

 

  • Operated by 34 banks, there are more than 16,000 bank branches that deploy private security guards. There is not a single bank that complies with all requirements of labour law (legal salary, EOBI, Social security).  The minimum legal wage for security guards is Rs66560 in Sindh and Rs67612 in Punjab for 12 hours duty.  While the Standard Chartered bank pays Rs40,000 per month to its guards, most other banks have slightly improved the salaries to Rs25,000 – 35,000 per month.    However, even this is less than half of the legal salary (Rs66560) for 12-hour duty.   Placed below is a representative sample of this wage theft:

 

(1) HBL Bank guard 22 June 2024 – YouTube

 

Cruelty at Meezan Bank 30 Nov 2023 @justicevoiceless1234 #securityguard (youtube.com)

 

  • Pakistan Post Office is involved in wage theft at a very high level, of its private security guards, deployed at post offices, through 3rd part contractors receive illegal and inhuman wage of Rs 22,000 per month for 8 hours duty as against the legal wage of Rs.33280 for 8 hours duty. They are also not registered to EOBI nor to Social Security. The salary is paid late, often beyond the 20th of each month.

Pak Post 12 June 2024 (youtube.com)

 

Pak Post 22 June 2024 (youtube.com)

 

  • National Savings is deeply involved in wage theft of its 3rd party private security guards. Even in June 2024, the Private security guards, deployed at National Savings branches continue to receive illegal and inhuman wage of Rs25,000 for 12-hour duty.  It is a hugely exploitative wage.   They are also registered neither to EOBI nor to Social Security.

 

07 June 2024 Nat Saving Guard (youtube.com)

 

  • Over 12,000 petrol pumps in Pakistan employ security guards and pay them less than half the minimum legal wage for 12-hour duty. Here is just one sample of this huge mountain of cruelty.

Total pump guard 9 Oct 23 – YouTube

 

  • Private Security Guards at prestigious international outlets such as Dunkin Donut Clifton are given criminally low wage of Rs17,000 per month for 12 hour duty, with no EOBI or medical.

(1) Guard at Dunkin 10 Feb 2024 – YouTube

 

  • Thousands of private security guards are deployed at the homes and streets of the rich communities in Pakistan. Sadly, they are all paid illegal wages between Rs25K and Rs32K for 12-hour duty.

28 Feb 2024 Guards protecting Gizri streets (youtube.com)

 

  • The security guards of all major government and private hospitals in Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi and Peshawar are paid less than half of the legal minimum wage. Here is a sample from Pakistan’s most prestigious hospital, JPMC, Karachi.

JPMC Guard 12 May 2024 (youtube.com)

 

  • The security guards performing 12-hour daily duty at Dow University of Health Sciences Karachi continue to receive illegal wages of Rs32,000 instead of Rs66560.

 

  • Security guard at prestigious wedding halls in Clifton (and elsewhere) are treated just as cruelly – paid Rs22,000 for 12-hour duty each day.

6 March 2024 guard at wedding hall (youtube.com)

 

  

  1. Illegal wages and human rights violations of Pakistan Railway Coolies

 

  1. While Pakistan Railways is itself in a state of disarray and mismanagement, the plight of railway coolies, the backbone of Railways, who literally lift its weight, is far worse.
  2. Coolies perform a core function for Pakistan Railways. They are however not the regular employees of Railways but work through a 3rd party contractor, who operates under a contract with Pakistan Railways. Every day, every coolie is bound to submit one third of his total daily earning to the contractor, for the favour of letting him carry passenger baggage.   Coolies are also not registered to EOBI or to Social Security.
  3. Pakistani law requires the principal employer (Pakistan Railways in this case) to ensure compliance to minimum wage and other labour laws for all persons performing on-going services at its premises – may they be own employees or contacted through a third party. Pakistan Railway is thus guilty of not having complied with this law and indulging in grave legal violations, wage theft and human rights violations.
  4. Pakistan’s current Federal and Provincial minimum wage laws requires that an unskilled person (coolie in this case), be paid a minimum wage of Rs32,000 per month for 8 hours and Rs64,000 per month for those performing 12 hours work every day. In addition to above, each worker must be registered with EOBI and receive 4 holidays per month.
  5. Considering Pakistan Railway’s dilapidated financial condition, we propose the following immediate actions to alleviate the misery of Railway Coolies.
  • The 3rd party contractors be removed, and all coolies be directly taken on a contract by Pakistan Railway.
  • Pakistan Railway appoints 2 or 3 persons from its existing overcrowded manpower to manage, regulate and supervise coolies at each railway station.
  • Pakistan railway does not pay any salary to the coolies, while the coolies do not pay any amount / cut from their earnings to railway or any other individual.
  • Pakistan Railway ensures that all coolies working at its premises are registered to EOBI. Pakistan railway deposits monthly EOBI of each coolie i.e.  railway pays 5% and the coolie pays 1% each month towards monthly EOBI contribution.  This comes to Rs1600 by railway and Rs320 per month by a coolie based on min wage of Rs32,000.
  • Carrying luggage on head be stopped. Railway ought to provide sufficient trolleys and ramps at each station to facilitate weight carriage in a safe and civilized manner.
  • At Hyderabad Railway Station, this 78-year-old coolie surrenders 50 percent of his entire daily earning to a cruel contractor of a callous Railway.

 

20231Coolie at Hyderabad Railway Station – YouTube

   

  • Criminal neglect of OGRA and exploitation of petrol pump workers.
  • All petrol pumps in Pakistan are engaged in major violations of human rights and illegal wages. The workers at petrol stations work for 24 hours for 15 days a month and receive between Rs22000 to Rs.25,000 per month.  Kindly see video evidence of Shell Petrol Pump below.

Shell Cruelty 12 May 2024 (youtube.com)

 

  • The legal minimum wage from 1st July 2023 is Rs32,000 for 8 hours for 26 days in a month. For those who work for 24 hours for 15 days every month the correct legal wage is Rs80,000 (based on 8 hours of regular shift and 16 hours of overtime on each of the 15 days.) Not a single petrol pump worker in Pakistan gets even one third of this amount.

 

  • OGRA (Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority) issues licenses to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). Compliance to all national laws is a

fundamental requirement built in these licenses. OGRA also claims on its website that its mission is “To safeguard public interest through efficient and effective legislation in the midstream and downstream petroleum sector”.     Sadly, OGRA has failed to ensure compliance on its own license conditions.  In criminal connivance with OMCs, OGRA ignores the wage theft and human rights violations of petrol pump workers and private security guards deployed at petrol stations.

 

  1. The deadly Coal Mines

 

  • Mine blasts, landslides, electrocutions, and exposure to poisonous gas in unregulated and illegally run coal mines of Pakistan cause scores of mine accidents every year.

 

  • IndustriALL, a global union of workers estimates over 100 miners had been killed in coal mines of Pakistan in the first 11 months of 2023.
  • CCEHR database of coal mine accidents has recorded 80 coal miners’ death only in the first six months of 2024.

 

  • Pakistan is home to 186 registered and over 1,500 unregistered, unregulated, unsafe and contractor-operated coal mines. Safety mechanisms and safety management in coal mines are entirely inadequate and incapable to stop these accidents.
  • The coal mines largely operate without gas detectors, wireless communication, ventilation systems, smart helmets, air blowers, oxygen supplies, alternative egress routes, rescue services, and personal protective equipment (PPE). The equipment used in mines such as motors, fans, plugs, sockets, lights, junction boxes and cables are mostly inflammable and often a source of ignition/explosion. Over half the miners perform the hazardous task of digging without masks and shoes.
  • Pakistan’s coal mines are essentially regulated by the antique Mines Act, 1923. It is recommended that all four provinces adopt and implement the 187-page ILO code for safety and health in coal mines, which provides for a complete safety management system. This would, however, call for massive elimination of deadwood and retraining of mine officials and inspectors.

 

  • The other essential task for mine departments ought to be to conduct physical surveys and place updated data of the GPS location, output, workers, EOBI registration, accidents, injuries, and deaths of all coal miners on their respective websites. This is also a requirement under Pakistan’s right to information laws.

 

  • The mines offer less than the minimum legal wage, no EOBI benefits and no social security. Sadly, over 90 per cent of coal miners are not registered with the EOBI. There are only 47076 miners registered to EOBI out of approximately 100,000 coal miners in Pakistan. This is an unforgiveable failure of the EOBI institution.

 

  • In addition to the extremely inadequate facilities and infrastructure, mine workers are not provided with any training to carry out mining operations safely.  Headlamps frequently malfunction and mining sites lack warning systems to alert workers to potential dangers like gas leaks or flooding. In the event of a mine roof collapse, there is no system in place to warn or retrieve the workers. The complete lack of proper supervision at work, further increases occupational hazards.  The law requires one doctor and one ambulance to be stationed in mining areas, but in reality, no such facilities are available for the workers.

Nov 2023 Appeal from a coal miner – YouTube

 

  • Mine inspectors, managers and owners seem to be working hand-in-glove by accepting low safety standards and overlooking violations.

 

 

 

  1. Planned disparity increase between the rich and the poor.

 

ARTICLE 38(e) of the Constitution requires the state to promote the social and economic well-being of the people by “reducing disparity in the income and earnings of individuals, including persons in the various classes of the service of Pakistan”. There is considerable evidence of well-planned schemes that make Pakistan go in the direction opposite to the one suggested by the Constitution.

  • The policy of across-the-board annual raise in salaries (by same or similar percentage) of government officials is highly deceptive and discriminatory. Consider the 2024 pay rise of government employees. A 20% pay rise would give extra Rs40,000 to someone receiving a salary of Rs200,000, while it would only give an additional Rs8,000 to someone currently receiving a salary of Rs40,000. Thus, the gap between the two gets further widened by another Rs32,000.
  • A sanitation worker who works for a government Department (SSWMB) in Karachi under a contractual arrangement (through sub-contractors), receives a salary of Rs15600 per month, while the Chief Justice of Pakistan receives Rs 1732588 per month. This comes to a ratio of 1:111 between the two salaries.  The salary and perks of The Governor State Bank are approximately Rs5 million per month. Thus, a Sanitary worker and the Governor State Bank receive salaries in the ratio of 1:320.  This is insane and obscene disparity.
  • The policy of providing numerous perks, allowances, free petrol, security, free electricity etc. over and above the basic salary to those who already receive disproportionately high salaries is in sharp contrast with zero perks given to the lowest paid workers.
  • The government of Pakistan is perhaps the only government in the world which has issued approximately 150,000 cars to its officials, ostensibly for official use. The truth is that these government cars are misused to pick and drop the officials, take their children to schools and their spouses for shopping. In sharp contrast, the UK government uses only 86 official cars, kept in a central carpool which are made available against a written requisition for a specific errand only.  In most other countries there is no concept of an official car being given to any government official or minister.
  • A Pakistani worker receives a pension (EOBI) of Rs.10,000 per month. In sharp contrast, the retired judges of the Supreme Court receive a pension of approximately Rs one million per month. Over and above the hefty pension they are also entitled to 2,000 units of free electricity, 300 litres of free fuel, 24-hour security (three security guards at Rs33,280 per guard). As if this was not enough, they are also entitled to purchase the official vehicle in their use on retirement at a depreciated value.  When asked under the freedom of information law, the reply of the supreme court of the UK about the pension perks of its justices was, “There are no specific perks or privileges available to retired Supreme Court justices. However, as justices of the Supreme Court they are entitled to be styled as ‘Lord’ or ‘Lady.’

 

 

  1. Manual scavenging – deaths, discrimination and

         hazards.

  • Ninety five percent work of gutter cleaning in Pakistan continues to be performed by sanitation workers entering the raw sewage gutters and undertaking manual scavenging. The work is performed with bare hands using zero safety equipment or precautions.   This exposes them to indescribable diseases, wounds, cuts, and long-term illnesses. It is estimated that about 100 workers die in sewage gutters every year in Pakistan.
  • Only in the first six months of 2024, at least twenty-four sanitary workers died after inhaling poisonous gases, while manually scavenging the raw sewage gutters in Pakistan. 90 % of these workers were non-Muslims. The details are as follows:

  • 16 January 2024. Two sanitation workers, Sadiq Masih and Anwar Masih lost their lives while cleaning a raw sewage gutter at Gulistan e Jauhar, Karachi.
  • 17 March 2024. Two sanitation workers, Asif Moon Masih and Shan Masih lost their lives to toxic gases while attempting to clear a choked manhole in Faisalabad.
  • 23 March 2024. Two sanitation workers, Amjad Akhtar and Qadeer Naeem died while working, in absence of any safety system, in the dark sewage gutters of Industrial Area of Port Qasim, Karachi.
  • 7th April 2024. Two sanitation workers, Amir Johnson, 25, and his cousin, Zohi Robin, 26, both residents of the Old Bakra Mandi locality, Hyderabad lost their lives while manually cleaning a raw sewage gutter, with their naked hands and bodies, with zero safety equipment, procedures or precautions.
  • On 11 June 2024, three sanitary workers, Younas Masih, Badal Ratan and Younas Dhonda lost their lives while working in poisonous gutters of Station Road, Anaj Mandi, Tando Mohammad Khan.
  • On 12 June 2024, three sanitary workers, Irfan Masih, Ratan Masih, Babar Masih lost their lives while scavenging the caustic gutters in Bhalwal Sargodha
  • On 13 June 2024, five sanitation workers lost their lives while working in sewage gutters at Digikot, Faisalabad.
  • 15th June 2024, four sanitary workers, Aslam, Nawaz, Mushtaq and Asghar lost their lives while cleaning raw sewage gutters at Vehari Lahore.
  • Also on 15 June 2024, Zubair s/o Mohammad Iqbal lost his life while cleaning gutters in Mirpur, Chowk Shah Jamal, Muzaffargarh
  • On 20 June 2024, Shaukat Masih lost his life working in sewage gutters at Faisalabad.

  • They did not die a natural death. They were killed by the absolute poverty, helplessness, and slavery imposed upon them, by the state and the citizens of Pakistan. They received neither the minimum wage, nor were they registered to EOBI or social security. They were inhumanely discriminated, demeaned, and deprived of their rights.

 

  • In an act of uncalled-for benevolence, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, just raised the salary of its already rich (grade 17 to 22) officers by 20% and pensions by 15%. Instead, these resources could have been diverted to pay legal wages to sanitary workers, register them with EOBI, manufacture gutter cleaning machines and order that no Pakistani citizen shall be made to enter a sewage gutter ever again.

 

  • Almost 90 percent of those who are made to enter the sewage gutters are non-Muslims. This may be the highest example of religious discrimination in modern history.

 

  • Sewage workers are provided no safety measures or equipment while entering the sewage gutters. They continue to enter the raw sewage gutters, as they did a 100 years ago – wearing brief shorts, working with bare hands and using zero protective equipment or tools. At best, in some cases, their lowering and raising is helped by 2 persons standing outside the gutter, as shown below.

 

11.  Recommendations

 

The conditions, wages and treatment, meted out to the sanitation workers, coolies, security guards, coal miners, domestic workers and those working at petrol stations can only be described as extreme forms of cruelty, illegality and inhumanity.   CCEHR would like to make the following recommendations that can alleviate this modern-day-slavery, reform the system and create a more equal society in Pakistan.

 

  1. A nationwide Helpline be introduced exclusively for handling and responding to matters of “Wage theft and EOBI violations”. The website must be widely advertised, and all workers be encouraged to report in case of payment less than min wage or non-registration to EOBI.
  2. Wage theft and not paying pension contribution is a crime in all civilized countries, for which even the richest of the rich are sent to jail. The most recent example of a billionaire being sent to jail in Switzerland is a case in point. 4 members of a billionaire family get prison in Switzerland for exploiting domestic workers (msn.com)

Pakistan ought to follow the same example, if it cares for its oppressed citizens. Thus, the following individuals be held accountable in the same manner (as practiced in Switzerland), for wage theft and EOBI deprivation of millions of sanitation workers, security guards, railway coolies, coal miners and petrol pump workers.

  • Chairman EOBI
  • Chairman OGRA
  • Managing Director SSWMB
  • Chairmen minimum wage board of all four provinces.
  • Director General National Savings
  • Director General Pakistan Post
  • Labour Secretary and Labour Directors of Federal Government and all provincial governments.
  • Secretaries of ministry of interior / Home, for Federal Government and all provincial governments for failing to ensure the provision of legal wage and EOBI to private security guards.
  • Secretaries of ministries of Human Rights for Federal Government and all provincial governments for failing to ensure the provision of human rights (legal wage and EOBI) to private security guards.
  • Heads of all Cantonment Boards for wage theft of private security guards.
  • Directors of all Government Hospitals, who employ contracted sanitation workers and private security guards.

 

3.  A Duty to Report law be introduced that makes it mandatory for every citizen and organization of Pakistan to report child abuse or neglect.

4. The ratio of lowest and highest salary as well as pension in all services / institutions of the government of Pakistan be mandated not to exceed 1:10

5. Every working citizen of Pakistan above the age of 18 years, regardless of the nature of employment or employer must be declared eligible for registration to EOBI and Social Security. The condition of EOBI currently limited to organisations with more than 5 employees be eliminated. The EOBI registration and payment system be made digital and considerably simplified. The EOBI pension be pegged to 75% of the minimum legal wage. Please see Appendix A for a detailed report on EOBI.

6. Sanitation contracts to foreign companies be cancelled and given to Pakistani companies who must not be allowed to further subcontract the task. These companies must employ full-time sanitation workers as regular employees who must be paid correct legal wages, EOBI, Social security, leave and overtime according to the latest labour laws.

7. EOBI, social security, overtime and holidays be declared an integral component of very job, regardless of the nature of employer and employment – regular, temporary, 3rd party or contracted.

8. A complete ban on manual entry and scavenging of sewage gutters be notified and the Heads of the Departments be held directly responsible for sending any worker into a sewage gutter.

9. Locally manufactured suction, jetting and grabbing machines be acquired and used instead of manual cleaning of sewage gutters.

10. Salaries of all contracted / 3rd party sanitation workers, security guards, coal miners and petrol pump employees be paid directly in banks to document and make transparent the true wages paid to the workers.

11. All government officials, including judiciary, must receive just one flat salary, with no additional perks, allowances, or entitlements. Likewise, all government officials including judiciary, must receive just one flat pension with no additional perks, allowances or entitlements.  Perks like free electricity units, free fuel, free phones, free club memberships etc. must be eliminated for all politicians and government officials.

12.  All 150,000 government vehicles allotted to government officials including those allotted to ministers and chief ministers be withdrawn, sold in market and funds deposited in state exchequer. A few dozen cars may be retained in central pools for official use, on requisition basis.

13. Jobs of private security guards and petrol pump employees be made 8 hourly and they be paid the minimum legal wage, EOBI, Social Security, weekly holidays and overtime.

14. All coal mines be registered. Stringent safety measures be implemented. Inspection system be overhauled. The wages of coal miners be linked to the workers receiving one third of the total amount at which the coal is sold in the market.

 

Sara Malkani

Tahera Hasan

Naeem Sadiq

Dr. Kartar Dawani

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix A

 

CCEHR   report on EOBI

June 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix A

 

Citizens’ Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CCEHR)

Special report on EOBI  – June 2024

 

This is a special report on workers’ pension scheme, operated by Employees’ Old-age Benefits Institution (EOBI). The report highlights the inadequacies of a dysfunctional EOBI system that discriminates and excludes 94 % Pakistani workers even from enrolment, leave aside the possibility of any future pension. The report also offers several suggestions and solutions for radical reforms in the existing broken EOBI system.

 

The report on EOBI is a part of our on-going endeavor to seek ‘Equality and Human Rights’ relating to oppressed, downtrodden and discriminated segments of our workforce.  It is based on research, surveys, interviews, obtaining information under Article 19A (Right to Information) and officially released documents and notifications.

 

 94% workers criminally deprived of their right to pension

 

  1. While each Honourable Supreme Court judge would receive a pension of Rs1,000,000 on retirement, and most bureaucrats will receive a pension upward of Rs200,000 per month, 94% (approx. 76 million) workers of Pakistan will receive zero pension when they reach the age of superannuation. This is perhaps one of the biggest crimes of modern history, formally and cruelly executed by a sovereign state called the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
  2. The responsibility to ensure EOBI registration and monthly payment of every worker lies with a single government department called the Employees’ Old-age Benefits Institution (EOBI).  This department, with its bureaucratic, clerical and colonial approach has completely failed to perform its task, as evidenced by 94% unregistered workers of Pakistan.

 

 

No effort to improve the irrational and anti-people EOBI Act

 

  1. EOBI failed to push for essential changes in EOBI Act, that would enable every worker of Pakistan to be registered to EOBI. We have millions of agricultural workers, security guards, sanitation workers, mechanics, helpers, self-employed and 3rd party workers who have been excluded from EOBI.  Registration to EOBI ought to be declared a universal requirement for every worker of Pakistan above the age of 18 years.
  2. A yet another completely insane requirement of EOBI Act excludes some 50 million workers from registration to EOBI, just because they work for industries with less than 5 employees. In 50 years, the EOBI made no effort to get this lacuna removed – thus crippling the old-age pension prospects for millions of Pakistani workers.

 

 

Misinterpretation of law to prevent EOBI registration

 

  1. Almost as an expression of hostility towards workers, the EOBI department has gone out of its way to misinterpret the EOBI Act to keep maximum workers outside the ambit of EOBI. As an example, thousands of daily-wagers and 3rd party workers in government and statutory bodies, are currently excluded from the ambit of EOBI, on the pretext that they belong to the government.  The reality is that they DO NOT BELONG TO THE GOVERNMENT.   They merely work for the government and are employed by third parties.  In fact, the Government being the principal employer, is mandated to ensure that all labour laws including EOBI are implemented by the 3rd parties – a function that it conveniently ignores.  The EOBI refuses to register such workers on the false pretext that because they work for the government, they cannot be registered to EOBI.   About a million security guards, sanitation and other workers who work for government departments such as government hospitals, offices, cantonments and municipalities, through third parties, are thus cruelly deprived of EOBI under the false pretext that they are employees of “government and statutory bodies”.

 

Failure to develop simple, digital, user-friendly processes

  •  The archaic and unwilling-to- change EOBI department has completely failed to create modern, digital, user-friendly, hassle-free and paperless processes for any of the following functions.

 

Failure to standardise processes

 

  1. EOBI has not been able to standardise the amount of monthly contribution across the country and different organisations and provinces differ in the amount they contribute every month. This ought to be defined, standardised and well-advertised across the country (FOR EACH YEAR) so that a seamless continuity is maintained when a worker changes a job, location or province.

 

  1. EOBI ought to declare not just a standardised monthly rate of EOBI contribution but also a daily rate of EOBI contribution, to enable an employer to make EOBI contribution even when a daily wager is hired for a single day.

 

 

 

Failure to develop an automated control and monitoring system linked with NADRA

 

  1. EOBI has completely failed to create a monitoring and reacting mechanism whereby it could know exactly if a worker’s EOBI was deposited or not in any specific month. Thus, a registered worker’s EOBI contribution may not be deposited by employers for years, without EOBI department knowing or doing anything about it.  The security guards and sanitation workers working in EOBI’s own offices are NOT registered to EOBI, and the EOBI has the least clue or concern for themselves violating their own law.
  2. EOBI ought to develop a mechanism that could monitor with one press of a button, all those CNICs against whom monthly contribution has not been made in a particular month and a response process of what actions would be taken by EOBI. An effective digital database can monitor and ensure that every single worker of Pakistan is included in the EOBI scheme, and his/her monthly payments are indeed being made
  3. There ought to be no separate EOBI number and the CNIC itself should be used as the unique EOBI number for all EOBI purposes and records. All EOBI records ought to be linked with NADRA. EOBI ought to have the provision to self-detect and take pro-active action if any CNIC holder of Pakistan is not registered to EOBI.
  4. The EOBI system should automatically invoke progressively increasing penalties for employers delaying payments beyond the 10thof any month.

 

Failure to communicate

 

  • Currently no system exists for communicating information relating to payment / non-payment of on-going monthly contribution to the workers.
  • EOBI has completely failed to use the media (Press, TV, SMS) for informing workers and employers, on the basics of EOBI. When questioned, most workers had no clue on what EOBI is and how does the pension system work. The following aspects need to be regularly advertised on national media.
  • What is EOBI and how does it work.
  • What is the rate of contribution by employer and employee. (For any one particular year)
  • That any worker over the age of 18 years can easily register himself to EOBI. Describe the simplest process that any worker can use even with an ordinary (non-smart) phone to register, in a few minutes, by providing minimum information such as name, CNIC, address, phone number of self and employer.
  • That every employer is mandated to deposit the contribution by the 10th of every month, against specific CNIC number of each worker.
  • That every worker will receive an SMS every month on the amount contributed / not contributed on his /her behalf by the employer.
  • That a worker must call a designated phone number, if he does not receive an SMS confirmation of his monthly EOBI contribution having been made by the 10th of any month.
  • Any other.

 

 

The self-created disaster of EOBI inspectors

 

  1. EOBI ought to eliminate the existing system of inspectors going to organisations to verify EOBI registrations. This is a hugely corrupt practice and has caused incalculable harm both to EOBI as well as to the 80 million workers of Pakistan. These inspectors induce employers to register a small percentage (typically around 10%) of workers to EOBI in lieu of under-the-table compensations.  It is now well known that such kickbacks are not possible without the consent and share of the senior management.   In a system that is based on CNIC and linked with NADRA, It would be possible to monitor all registrations and payments electronically, without relying on a fleet of highly compromised inspectors.
  2. Contributions be made against a particular CNIC and not as lump-sum by the employer. Lump-sum payments are vulnerable to misuse and change of workers’ names. EOBI must monitor payment contribution against every individual CNIC and not by company.

 

  1. Link EOBI Pension to minimum wage. The current pathetically low EOBI pension rate of Rs10,000 ought to be revised and linked with a percentage (recommended 70 percent) of the minimum legal wage applicable in any particular year.

 

  1. Dissolve and reconstruct the existing EOBI Institution.

The existing EOBI organization ought to be dissolved and replaced

by a professional institution that is well versed in IT and is constantly required to undergo rigorous standards of accountability.  The new EOBI could be no more than one third of the existing EOBI in size, completely digitized, and linked with NADRA.

 

The Prime Minister of Pakistan is requested to kindly look into the monumental cruelty and violation of 80 million workers’ right to pension and take urgent actions on the above highlighted issues to bring every Pakistani worker into the fold of EOBI pension scheme.

 

Respectfully,

 

Sara Malkani

Tahera Hasan

Naeem Sadiq

Dr. Kartar Dawani

CCEHR