Karachi lockdown threatens incomes of four million daily wagers, traders’ bodies say

Daily wage labourers sit along a road waiting for customers to hire them for a day job in Karachi, Pakistan, on July 25, 2021. (AFP)

• A countrywide lockdown last year reduced the active working population of Pakistan from 55.74 million to 35.04 million
• The most affected province was Sindh where the working population reduced to 23 percent, according to statistics bureau 

KARACHI: The livelihoods of at least four million daily wage laborers in the port city of Karachi are at risk, traders and employers’ associations said, since the government of the southern Sindh province last week announced a complete lockdown until August 8 as doctors reported an alarming spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus in the provincial capital. 
Last year, after the coronavirus struck in Pakistan in February, the government imposed strict lockdowns but began lifting them by May over fears for the economy. The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has always opposed imposing a complete nationwide lockdown due to its economic side effects and has preferred smart, localized lockdowns in disease hotspots with a focus on implementation of social distancing rules and other health guidelines.
A countrywide lockdown last year reduced the active working population of Pakistan from 55.74 million to 35.04 million, or 22 percent. The most affected province was Sindh where the working population reduced to 23 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. 
The Employers’ Federation of Pakistan (EFP), a representative body of business owners and employers, as well as various traders’ associations, estimate there are more than four million daily wage workers in Karach who would be at risk from wide-ranging lockdowns.
“The decision of the government to impose this lockdown is totally uncalled for and unacceptable because this has impacted the productivity of the industries,” EFP president Ismail Sattar told Arab News.  “The decision has caused around four million daily wagers to suffer.”
Representatives of trade bodies said they were being forced to lay off up to 15 percent of their workers.
“Around 200,000 mostly daily workers were laid off as shop owners were unable to pay them due to prevailing conditions,” Sherjil Goplani, the president of the All City Tajir Ittehad, told Arab News, saying more layoffs should be expected. 
“We have supported around 100 shop owners with interest free loans so that they could withstand the current crisis,” Goplani added. “Last year we had distributed ration among poor workers but this year that seems like a daunting task.” 
“We are requesting the prime minister of Pakistan to intervene to end the lockdown and have meetings with leaders of various political parties,” Goplani added.
Traders also said they were unable to pay workers’ July salaries on time.
“Saturday [day lockdown was announced in Sindh] was the end of the month and due to the sudden imposition of lockdown many business owners were unable to make payments to the workers,” Syed Sharafat Ali at the Karachi Tajir Ittehad said. “Those who take daily earnings to buy food for daily living are suffering most as they will now be paid after the end of the nine-day long lockdown period.”
Sindh labor minister Saeed Ghani did not respond to questions for this story. 
“COVID-19 has already reduced my income to around 90 percent, now I am again out of work and sitting idle at home,” Muhammad Amin, a father of four who works as a daily wager in Karachi’s auto parts market, told Arab News on Monday. “This lockdown has further compounded our miseries. Since last year I am surviving on debts ... the debts are still piling up.”
Anwar Hussain, a loading van driver, also said he was worried how he would feed his family. 
“Our work directly depends on the opening of markets, now we are out of work,” he said. “More than 17 boys in my area who work as daily laborers are out of work and their families are suffering.”