Dignity for those who keep society clean: a case for the Punjab waste and sanitation workers bill, 2026

By Imran, Staff Member, SAHSOL-LUMS and Asma Rahmat, Final Year Law Student, SLC, Superior University and Muhammad Ameer Hamza, Final Year Law Student, SLC, Superior University

Mr Ahmad Iqbal Chaudhry, a Member of the Punjab Assembly, has introduced an important piece of proposed legislation titled the Punjab Waste and Sanitation Workers (Dignity, Safety, Security and Welfare) Bill, 2026. The Bill deserves serious legislative and public attention because it addresses the plight of one of the most neglected, vulnerable, and historically marginalised segments of Pakistani society: waste and sanitation workers. This Bill contains fifty sections, one schedule with different categories, and a somewhat long statement of objects and reasons.
For decades, those who clean our streets, collect our waste, and maintain our sewerage systems have remained largely invisible in discussions concerning human rights, labour protection and social justice. Their services are indispensable to public health and the functioning of modern society, yet they frequently remain exposed to hazardous working conditions, insecure employment, inadequate social protection and entrenched discrimination.
This neglect is particularly disturbing in a constitutional democracy committed to human dignity, equality and social justice. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, beginning with its Preamble and the principles embodied in the Objectives Resolution, envisages a social order founded upon equality, justice and human dignity. These commitments are reinforced through the Fundamental Rights and the Principles of Policy. Yet the lived reality of many sanitation workers presents a troubling contrast between constitutional promises and social realities.
The proposed Bill seeks to bridge this gap by recognizing, protecting and promoting the dignity, fundamental rights, occupational safety and health, employment security, social protection and welfare of waste and sanitation workers throughout Punjab. It rests upon a simple but often neglected principle: those who perform society’s most difficult and hazardous tasks are entitled to the same dignity, security and legal protection as every other citizen.
The Bill also possesses an important institutional dimension. Its author has consistently demonstrated a commitment to strengthening local governance, recognising that effective sanitation, waste management and public health depend upon robust and accountable local government institutions. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s democratic structure has remained incomplete. While considerable attention is paid to democracy at the federal and provincial levels, the third tier of democracy—empowered and representative local government—has repeatedly been weakened or neglected, even under civilian governments.
This institutional weakness has serious consequences. Local governments are responsible for delivering essential public services, including sanitation, waste management, water supply and environmental protection. When these institutions lack autonomy, resources and democratic legitimacy, both public services and those responsible for delivering them suffer. The protection of sanitation workers must, therefore, be regarded not merely as a labour-rights issue but also as an essential component of meaningful local democracy.
A Constitutional Imperative: The proposed legislation finds strong support in Pakistan’s constitutional framework. Article 9 guarantees the security of the person, while the Supreme Court, most notably in the landmark Shehla Zia case, has interpreted the right to life broadly to include conditions necessary for a safe, dignified, and meaningful human existence. This constitutional understanding has profound implications for sanitation workers. Under section 7, no individual should be compelled to enter a toxic sewer, manhole, or other hazardous confined space without appropriate protective equipment, adequate training, atmospheric testing, and effective emergency arrangements. Preventable threats to life and health cannot simply be dismissed as unavoidable consequences of an occupation.
Article 14 provides an equally powerful constitutional foundation by declaring the dignity of man inviolable. Human dignity cannot remain an abstract constitutional ideal; it must find practical expression in the conditions under which people live and work. No person should be compelled into hazardous or degrading labour merely because of poverty, social exclusion, inherited occupation or the absence of economic alternatives. The continued practice of sending poorly equipped workers into hazardous sewerage systems raises serious constitutional and moral questions. How can a society that identifies itself as an Islamic Republic tolerate circumstances that expose human beings to degrading and potentially fatal conditions, particularly when historically disadvantaged and minority communities are disproportionately represented in such occupations?
Article 25 further reinforces the case for reform by guaranteeing equality before the law and the equal protection of the law. Waste and sanitation workers cannot be denied equal dignity or protection merely because their occupation is socially stigmatised or because they disproportionately belong to economically disadvantaged, marginalised or minority communities.
The issue also raises a broader moral question. Islam places considerable emphasis upon human dignity, equality, social justice and cleanliness. Yet there is a troubling contradiction when society enjoys the benefits of cleanliness while disproportionately assigning its most hazardous and degrading aspects to vulnerable communities. Cleanliness is a collective social responsibility; it cannot become a justification for exposing poor or minority communities to dangerous and life-threatening working conditions.
The real question is not whether sanitation work possesses dignity—every form of honest labour is inherently dignified—but whether society accords dignity, respect and protection to those who perform it.
The constitutional framework is further strengthened by the Principles of Policy. Article 37(e) requires the State to secure just and humane conditions of work and to prevent employment in circumstances detrimental to health, while Article 38 reflects the constitutional commitment to the social and economic well-being of vulnerable sections of society. Although these provisions may not be enforceable in precisely the same manner as Fundamental Rights, they remain important constitutional directives for legislation and public policy.
From Constitutional Promise to Legal Protection: Waste and sanitation workers constitute one of the most indispensable yet historically neglected segments of the workforce. Their labour sustains public health, environmental cleanliness and the functioning of urban and rural communities. Yet their essential contribution has not been matched by a corresponding commitment to their safety, welfare and social dignity.
The proposed legislation seeks to establish comprehensive and enforceable minimum standards relating to occupational safety, health, employment security, social protection and welfare. Importantly, its protections extend beyond permanently employed workers to include temporary, daily-wage, outsourced and informally engaged workers. The absence of a written contract should never become a means of depriving a worker of the right to safety, dignity and humane working conditions.
One of the Bill’s most progressive features is its attempt to confront occupational discrimination and social stigma. It seeks to prohibit unequal treatment based upon religion, minority status, caste, descent and inherited occupation. Discrimination, moreover, does not always occur through explicit exclusion; it may also operate through language, occupational labels, recruitment practices and institutional arrangements that perpetuate social stigma.
The Right to Refuse Unsafe Work: Under section 7, perhaps the most consequential aspect of the proposed legislation is its recognition that workers should not be compelled to undertake hazardous work without adequate safeguards. A sanitation worker should never be forced to choose between unemployment and the risk of death. The exercise of the right to refuse genuinely unsafe work must not result in dismissal, retaliation, blacklisting or deductions from wages.
The Bill consequently places significant responsibilities upon employers and public authorities to provide appropriate protective equipment, hazard information, safety training and operational safeguards. These protections are not acts of charity but obligations arising from the inherent dignity and equal worth of every worker.
Mechanised and no-entry sanitation methods should constitute the primary approach to cleaning hazardous and confined spaces. Human entry into sewerage systems or septic tanks must never become the default solution simply because machinery is unavailable or human labour is cheaper. Where human entry is genuinely unavoidable, the highest standards of occupational safety, specialised protective equipment and emergency rescue arrangements must apply.
Employment Security and the Challenge of Implementation (Section 40): The Bill also addresses the vulnerability arising from insecure and informal employment. Complex arrangements involving public authorities, contractors and subcontractors often create a vacuum of responsibility in which every institution benefits from a worker’s labour while none accepts responsibility for the worker’s safety and welfare. Outsourcing a public service cannot mean outsourcing the responsibility to protect human life and dignity.
The legislation seeks to establish clear obligations for employers, contractors and public authorities while ensuring meaningful access to healthcare, compensation for occupational injuries and appropriate social protection.
Nevertheless, the Bill’s success will depend primarily upon its implementation, if it is passed. Progressive legislation alone cannot dismantle entrenched discrimination, institutional neglect and labour exploitation. Our Elite Class, aka Brahmin, are not ready to implement the dictates of the Constitution and law. The transition towards mechanised sanitation will require substantial financial investment, technical expertise and institutional capacity. Local governments must be adequately equipped with modern machinery, trained personnel and sufficient resources.
Workers who formally possess the right to refuse unsafe work may also face subtle forms of retaliation, including exclusion from work rosters or unofficial blacklisting. Effective enforcement, independent oversight and accessible grievance mechanisms will, therefore, be indispensable. Transparency, accurate employment records and meaningful accountability must form the foundation of the regulatory framework.
A Test of Our Constitutional Conscience: Ultimately, the Punjab Waste and Sanitation Workers (Dignity, Safety, Security and Welfare) Bill, 2026, rests upon a simple but profound proposition: the dignity of labour is inseparable from the dignity of the labourer.
A society cannot claim to value cleanliness, public health and modern development while neglecting those whose labour makes these achievements possible. Those who clean our streets, remove our waste and maintain our sewerage systems cannot themselves be condemned to hazardous, degrading and insecure working conditions.
The proposed Bill is, therefore, more than an ordinary piece of labour legislation. It represents a test of our constitutional conscience. It asks whether the constitutional promises of life, dignity, equality, social justice and humane working conditions belong to every citizen or only to those sufficiently privileged to demand their enforcement.
The answer must be unequivocal. Constitutional rights do not become less valuable because a person is poor, socially disadvantaged or performs work that others are unwilling to undertake. Indeed, those possessing the least social and economic power require the strongest protection of the law.
The Bill offers Punjab an opportunity to move from constitutional rhetoric towards constitutional action. Its faithful implementation could demonstrate that the dignity guaranteed by the Constitution is not a privilege reserved for the powerful but an inviolable right belonging equally to those whose essential labour sustains society.
The Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, who is also progressive and dynamic, has referred the Bill to the relevant Standing Committee for consideration, particularly in view of its financial implications. This legislative process provides an important opportunity for parliamentarians, civil society and other stakeholders to strengthen the proposed framework and ensure that its protections are both comprehensive and enforceable.
Those who keep society clean should not be compelled to sacrifice their dignity, health, or lives in the process.