80 percent of the workers are not even getting the minimum salary of 25 thousand, Director Pilar. Photo: File
Karachi: The majority of Pakistanis are living below the poverty line, while 80 percent of Pakistanis are not getting the minimum wage of Rs 25,000 announced ten months ago.
Talking to The Express Tribune, PILAR Executive Director Karamat Ali said that 80 percent of the unskilled workers are not being paid the minimum wage of Rs 25,000 announced by the government. has been badly affected.
Recently, the caretaker government of Punjab has increased the salary of the laborer by 7000 rupees and fixed the minimum salary at 32 thousand rupees, but there is no mechanism to check and implement the salaries announced by the government. does not exist.
He further said that the minimum salary of the laborer should be fixed at fifty thousand, so that he can get his necessities of life.
Quoting a World Bank report, Karamat Ali said that 83 percent of households in Pakistan earn less than two dollars. He said that the World Bank report is 18 months old and since then inflation has more than doubled. has increased, and the rupee has lost more than half of its value against the dollar, so, looking at the World Bank report in this context, we can imagine how much worse off people are in this period of historic inflation. It’s done.
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The government has not taken any action on this World Bank report, on the other hand, the trade unions have also failed to make any significant gains, as the majority of workers are not registered, and because they do not have appointment letters, There is also no evidence, which makes it impossible to provide them with any legal support to get the minimum wage, anyone who raises their voice is fired.
He further said that last year when the minimum salary was being fixed at Rs.25 thousand, a study had demanded that the minimum salary should be fixed at Rs.47,500 to meet the basic needs of life.
Karamat Ali said that the government should run a regular campaign to raise awareness of the minimum wage among the workers, like the British government did in the 1990s, so that the workers are aware of their rights, and that employers You can save yourself from persecution.
He added that the economic downturn has created a fresh wave of unemployment, with over five million people unemployed in the past few months, according to various reports, while the situation is even worse in rural areas, where women work in the morning. They work continuously in the fields from dawn till sunset, however, they do not earn even two dollars a day, due to which poverty is increasing rapidly in Pakistan.
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