The Labour Social Protection Expert Group continues its discussions to resolve the issues facing the informal labour sector.
The group was constituted under the aegis of Ehsaas, the government’s signature social protection programme. The group is mandated to give evidence-based, feasible and practical recommendations regarding extension of social protection services to the informal labour sector in the first phase of its working.
The group has met four times since its creation. Key labour stakeholders have been attending meetings consistently. These include Zahoor Awan, the secretary general of the Pakistan Workers Federation; Ingrid Christensen, the country director of International Labour Organization; Majyd Aziz, the president Employer’s Federation Pakistan; Poverty, Planning Commission Chief Shahid Naeem; provincial directors of Labour Departments, and federal secretaries of the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division and the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development.
Special Assistant to the PM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar sat in both meetings this week.
On May 27, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistic gave a detailed presentation on the Labour Force Survey (LFS), highlighting the methodology used for conducting the LFS. The group decided to increase the sample size to enable data disaggregation by category of informal groups, to inform policy in the future.
Several presentations were made in both the meetings this week by provincial Labour departments.
The group was of the unanimous opinion that the first problem to tackle was the informal worker. Therefore, the key matter under consideration related to registration of informal workers. International experiences were discussed, in particular the Brazilian model, where the government has been successful in formalizing the informal economy. Implementation of the Domestic Workers Bill in Philippines was also presented as an example.
Dr Sania Nishtar said that the government’s main focus was on developing social security solutions for the informal sector as an entry point to labour force public policy. At the conclusion of the first meeting, she stated that there were several categories of informal labour sector, including self-employed, home-based and domestic workers. “The most serious issue is one of enterprises not registering themselves. As the result of this, their workers cannot benefit from social security entitlements. Better governance of the labour market is a necessary prerequisite to create social welfare solutions for the informal sector.” She urged the Labour Expert Group to come up with ‘disruptive’ but ‘constructive’ solutions to challenge status quo.
The second meeting of the Labour Expert Group this week was held on May 30, where a presentation was given on international best practices in extending social services to the private sector. The group was presented examples of laws and regulations that have worked in other parts of the world. Provincial examples were studied in depth in both the meetings. The group is scheduled to convene after Eid and will come up with final recommendations and a plan for formalizing the informal sector.
