LAHORE: The problem with homebased workers (HBWs) is that they remain largely `invisible` and are not given their basic rights as productive workers.

This was stated by Home Net Pakistan (HNP) Executive Director Umme Laila Azhar here on Thursday at a provincial conference on the issues of home-based workers in Pakistan.

The two-day conference was arranged by HNP, and a large number of HBWs and members of district action committees (DACs) from around 16 districts of Punjab participated.

Umme Laila shared her experience of visiting the `Engaging with City Officials and Local Government`, a conference in Thailand where the Asian Cities Declaration on HBWs was passed.

This declaration, she pointed out, was adopted by HNP in Pakistan.

Speaking of HBWs, she said theywere not incorporated in the national and city development agendas. `In Pakistan, over 70 per cent of workers are recorded to be home based and among these more than 80pc are women. By not giving them a proper status, the State is not recognising their major contributions to the GDP.

Laila said the concerns of HBWs needed to be instantly addressed and to integrate them into urban and economic plans with the local and provincial governments and relevant departments was extremely important.

`Local bodies and their planners should adopt an approach that recognises the home as the workplace and also start low-cost housing schemes for the betterment of HBWs along with local public transport that caters to the special needs of low income groups, she said.

Steps should be taken to ensure five essential components which are child care, maternity benefits, health insurance, old-age pensions and disabilitypensions for the HBWs, said Laila.

Labour Education Department Director Khalid Mehmood urged the HBWs to organise and start forming their own unions which can fight for their rights.

labour Director Dawood Abdullah said his department was a law-enforcement agency `which takes steps for the betterment of the working class.

He said presently there were 20 constitutional acts dealing with the labour in Pakistan and `many are in the pipeline for the betterment of HBWs.

Abdullah answered questions of the participants and also listened to the complaints faced by DACs.

A complainant from Bahawalpur said the district labour officers were hardly ever found and the public was told they were on a field visit. He requested that the helplines of the labour department should be shared with the public.

On Friday, the participants and HBWs will be taken to the social security department office.