HYDERABAD, Nov 11 Leaders of National Coalition against Bonded Labour and a number of social welfare organisations demanded on Wednesday that landlords and brick kiln owners should be punished under the Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1992, and the Supreme Court decision about registration of brick kilns should be enforced.

The coalition organised a rally to voice protest against the nagging menace of bonded labour. A large number of workers, liberated haris and activists of different social welfare organisations took part in the rally.

Dr Haider of Green Rural Development Organisation said that forced labour could never be eliminated unless it was admitted first that the menace did exist in Pakistan.

Naanji Bheel, Aijaz Khoso, Amb Bheel and others demanded that landlords and brick kiln owners should be punished under the Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1992 and the Supreme Court decision about registration of kilns should be enforced.

The participants of the rally adopted a number of resolutions, demanding implementation of minimum wage of Rs200 per day for kiln workers, appointment and reactivation of district vigilance committees and rehabilitation of liberated haris.

They also demanded that families of Mannu Bheel and other bonded labourers should be recovered and excesses against haris and workers, especially women should be stopped.

SPARC Society for Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) has said that 1.7 million people in the country are being subjected to forced labour only in agriculture sector while according to a survey carried out by International Labour Organisation 12.7 million people in all productive sectors are being subjected to forced labour.

The Sparc leaders Ali Javed, Naseer Laghari and others said at a news conference here on Tuesday that on Oct 20, 2006, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had directed chief secretaries of all provinces to register all brick kilns but unlike others, Sindh government did not fully act upon the instructions.

They pointed out that forced labour had been banned under the Constitution as well as under the Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1992 but neither the Constitution nor the act was being implemented in letter and spirit.

They said that it was mandatory under the law that district vigilance committees should be formed in each district to check forced labour but the committees had still not been formed in many districts.