Implementation of Labour Policies for Migrant Industrial Workers in Faisalabad's Textile Sector

Abstract

This research discussed on industrial labour migration why people move from rural areas to Urban. The city is considered one of the major industrial hubs of Faisalabad. The textile industry which creates many employment opportunities for workers coming from rural regions. Using Everett S. Lee's (1966) push-pull framework to analyze the drivers and consequences of rural-to-urban mobility. Migrants originating from Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Chiniot, Sargodha, Okara, Layyah, and Samundri are shown to be propelled by mounting rural pressures fragmented agricultural landholdings, volatile seasonal earnings, chronic underemployment, and inadequate healthcare and education infrastructure. Correspondingly, Faisalabad expanding industrial base exerts a strong pull, offering the prospect of stable factory employment, regular wages, and upward socioeconomic mobility. Moving beyond a descriptive account of migration patterns, the study critically interrogates the practical enforcement of statutory labour protections, particularly the welfare provisions administered by the Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and the Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI), to assess whether these mechanisms genuinely safeguard the migrant workforce. The findings reveal a markedly ambivalent reality that complicates optimistic narratives of urban migration. Although formal textile enterprises follow minimum wage standards, overtime regulations, and statutory benefit registration, the lived security of migrant workers is still weaker than expected. Long after resettlement, most migrants continue to contend with depressed real wages, precarious and substandard housing, and persistent employment insecurity. The study concludes that while economic necessity and urban opportunity effectively drive rural-to-urban migration, the institutional labour protections designed to safeguard these workers are still inadequately enforced, perpetuating a durable cycle of precarity among Faisalabad industrial migrant labour force.

Keywords: Rural-Urban Migration; Industrial Labour; Labour Policy Implementation; Social Security; Textile Sector; Faisalabad; Pakistan