Nooran, who is only 14 or 15 years old and works at a brick kiln, is expecting a child soon. Her husband is only 18 and 19 years old and is mainly engrossed in working to pay off their debts. The child’s delivery itself will likely put the family in more debt too.

She and her family will be allowed to return to their village on Thursday. It is after election day after all. The owner of the kiln they work at has to be part of voting as well.

However, while the family will be able to look around and have a some time off from their difficult life at the kiln, they will not be part of the country’s main event on February 8.

No one in her family has a CNIC and none of them will be able to vote on election day. Rough estimates say that upto 60% of the workers at brick kilns in Pakistan are excluded from the polls due to the same reason.

In 2021, Islamabad High Court took up a case against juveniles being employed at brick kilns. Justice Athar Minallah said that the bonded workers do not need to pay back advance loan payments, as they are illegal.

The court had also tasked a commission to look into working conditions at the kilns and submit a report.

The report revealed that advance money was aking to slavery in modern times and was completely illegal. It also showed that most families are hired as a whole on the kilns, with women and children working informally.

The commission had recommended that all kilns should be registered under the Factories Act of 1934.

The registration would allow all workers at kilns to be registered and allow workers protection afforded by labour laws. This would also mean that labour of children under 14 years at the kilns would cease.

However, it also recommended that NADRA should actively make an effort to issue CNICs and register the families working at the kilns.

The directive of kiln workers being registered was supposed to be implemented within three months, but progress remains slow.

Khurram Shehzad, a SPARC representative in Multan, says that barely 40% of kiln workers have been issed CNICs so far. While participation in this election seems a bleak prospect, Shehzad said that the hope is that most kiln workers would be able to vote next time around.

Overall, almost 70% of kiln workers who could have been eligible voters are set to be excluded from the voting on February 8.

The kiln workers could have appealed for their rights if prospective candidates had knocked on their doors. However, candidates covering large constituencies hardly have time for people who are not even registered as voters. The removal from the voting process is only a small part of the exclusion brick kiln workers face.