ISLAMABAD - Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Hamza Shafqaat chaired the first meeting of the commission on bonded labour appointed by the Islamabad High Court, on Sunday.
The TORs of the commission are to conduct a survey and inspection of all the brick kilns established in the Islamabad Capital Territory, collect the record and data of the labourers employed in the brick kilns, examine the laws enforced in the Islamabad Capital Territory relating to protecting the rights of the labour and examine the mechanism relating to registration of the labour employed within the Islamabad Capital Territory, whether in the industry or as domestic help.
The commission will also assess the enforcement of the enforced laws besides ensuring that the public functionaries take appropriate action to free those labourers who are found to be victim of bonded labour in any form or manifestation.
The commission will also take up 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 TORs, 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, according to the officials.