DC Islamabad Hamza Shafqaat chaired the first meeting of the Commission on Bonded Labor appointed by the Islamabad High Court today

By:SHAKEEL AHMED
a) Conduct a survey & inspection of all the brick kilns established in the Islamabad Capital Territory
b) Collect the record and data of the labourers employed in the brick kilns.
c) Examine the laws enforced in the Islamabad Capital Territory relating to protecting the rights of the labour.
d) Examine the mechanism relating to
registration of the labour employed within the Islamabad Capital Territory, whether in the industry or as domestic help. Assess the enforcement of the enforced laws.
e) Ensure that the public functionaries take appropriate action to free those labourers who are found to be victims of bonded labour in any forum or manifestation.
f) Any other matter which in the opinion of the Commission needs to be considered for elimination of the menace of forced and bonded employment.

Participants of the meeting were DC Hamza Shafqaat, ADC Rana Waqar, AC Saniya Pasha, State Counsel Daniyal Hasnain, Adnan Haider Randhawa, Advocate High Courts and Umer Ijaz Gilani, Advocate High Courts.

After deliberating the TOR’s, the Commission agreed upon a data gathering strategy and also devised stage-wise plan for proceeding further and decided that it would be examining expert witnesses as well as brick kiln workers, owners and other relevant stakeholders.