Options for Urban Poverty Alleviation Actions at Municipal Level for Sukkur (Pakistan)

Informal Sector in the City

It is estimated that between 30 to 40 percent of the city labour force works in the informal industrial sector. This sector consists of small steel foundries, textile looms, textile printing units, carpet weaving, making blankets from second hand clothes, embroidery and neighbourhood bakeries. These units are found in individual homes in almost every single mohallah (neighbourhood) in the katchi abadi (squatter settlements). About 40 percent of the labour engaged in carpet weaving, textiles, blankets, and embroidery work comprises women and children earning between Rs 20 to Rs 25 per day. It is estimated, over 40 percent children over 7 years of age living in katchi abadis do some form of full or part time work. Women working in factories are relatively few. Most of them work at home. Their major employment is serving as contract labour for date factories. The contractor brings the dates to one woman’s house who distributes it to other houses. These women pick the date seeds and separate different qualities of dates. Most informal textile and carpet units are owned by Mohajirs and Punjabis. A sizeable majority of the skilled workers also belong to these communities. Almost all labour working in the informal sector works on a contract basis and is supplied the materials and tools of production on credit by the contractor. This credit is repaid by the workers by selling their produce to the contractor at cheaper prices and often can never ever be repaid. In addition to the above employment patterns, people work as construction labour for government and private sector projects and for the maintenance of the irrigation system and road construction.

Download the full report here: Options for Urban Poverty Alleviation Actions at Municipal Level for Sukkur (Pakistan) [PDF, 1.7 MB]