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Nazra Jahan, an SPARC safety officer, mentioned that within the poorest households, 33.7% reported having no less than one baby engaged in work. Representational picture. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Child labour stays a serious menace within the nation regardless of efforts by the federal government to replace and institute legal guidelines to guard kids aged between 5 and 17, mentioned Sindh Director General of Labour Syed Muhammad Murtaza Ali Shah.
A survey performed by his division in July-August with the technical help of UNICEF and the Bureau of Statistics revealed that over 1.6 million (10.3% of kids aged 5–17) had been engaged in baby labour within the province.
“The different provinces are additionally now finishing up contemporary surveys on baby labour however in Sindh we discovered that as many as 800,000 kids (50.4% of these aged 10–17) are working in hazardous and exploitative circumstances, which embrace extreme hours, excessive climate, and unsafe instruments in agriculture and industrial sectors,” Mr. Shah mentioned.
The survey additionally confirmed that solely 40.6% of working kids attend faculty, in comparison with 70.5% of non-working kids.
The Qambar Shahdadkot district had the best prevalence of kid labour at 30.8%, adopted by Tharparkar at 29%, Tando Muhammad Khan at 20.3%, and Shikarpur at 20.2%. Karachi has the bottom charge, at simply 2.38%.
Mr. Shah mentioned that the provincial authorities was engaged on updating legal guidelines, rising tasks to coach folks in regards to the illegalities of kid labour and even conducting raids at workplaces to guard kids.
He added that Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had additionally arrange a particular process drive to mitigate and eradicate the menace.
According to the survey, baby labour had declined by practically 50% since 1996, when the share was 20.6, he mentioned. Mr. Shah mentioned the federal government had launched social safety schemes to assist poverty-ridden households.
However, activists working to guard susceptible kids say extra motion is required to alter the surroundings.
The Society for the Protection of Rights of Child (SPARC), which has been advocating for stricter legal guidelines towards baby labour mentioned that poverty, large households, and a scarcity of empathy for kids’s rights are the principle causes for the excessive proportion of kid labour within the nation.
Nazra Jahan, an SPARC safety officer, mentioned that within the poorest households, 33.7% reported having no less than one baby engaged in work.
She mentioned that many of those susceptible households dwelling in poverty had been pressured to ship kids to work to outlive.
“Until and until extra jobs are created, there’s higher entry to schooling for underprivileged kids, no less than technical schooling, and poverty discount, it’s an uphill battle towards baby labour.”
Published – November 09, 2025 10:20 pm IST
