Pakistan facing dire living conditions, 80pc workers denied minimum wage

Amid Pakistan’s failure to enforce minimum wage laws at a time when the South Asian country is reeling under high inflation, an estimated 80 per cent of unskilled workers are not receiving the minimum wage, Pakistan-based The Express Tribune reported.

According to Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) Executive Director Karamat Ali in an interview with The Express Tribune, 80 per cent of unskilled workers do not receive the minimum wage, and historically high inflation has made people’s suffering worse.

The level of inflation in March was 35.4 per cent, which had a major impact on purchasing power.

An estimated 80 per cent of unskilled workers are not receiving the minimum wage of (PKR) 25,000 per month, which was awarded ten months ago. Furthermore, a recent World Bank report found that 83 per cent of households in Pakistan are not receiving the minimum USD 2 a day needed to sustain basic needs, PILER said according to The Express Tribune.

While the Punjab government recently announced an increase in the minimum wage to (PKR) 32,000 a month, Ali said there is no mechanism to ensure the implementation of the government order or to check which industrial and commercial houses are paying their employees what.

He predicted that each worker should receive at least (PKR)50,000 per month to cover the costs of necessities including food, clean drinking water, education, and healthcare.

Ali continued by saying that the ongoing economic crisis has caused a rise in unemployment in Pakistan, with estimates putting the number of jobless at five million.

In Pakistan, the rising rate of unemployment and denial of basic rights is now causing people to become violent, and there is also a surge in the rise of street crime and theft.

Moreover, the lack of minimum wages in Pakistan has led to poor living conditions for the majority of workers.

Amid escalating economic hardships, people are literally at pains to bear the brunt of frequent hikes in petrol and power tariffs and inflation on the whole, Pakistan vernacular media reported.