The Punjab Labour and Human Resources Department has launched a mobile application to help agricultural workers and farmers in cotton-producing districts report workplace grievances directly to the authorities. The application, named “Kapas Ki Pukar,” enables cotton field workers to file complaints related to farm owners, working conditions, and the conduct of relevant district authorities, giving a segment of the agricultural workforce a formal digital channel that has historically been unavailable to them. Officials said the app was developed specifically to reach workers in remote and underserved areas who previously had limited access to formal complaint mechanisms, addressing a structural gap that has left cotton workers largely without a direct line to labour authorities.
Punjab Labour and Human Resources Minister Muhammad Minsahullah Butt said the department was focused on using technology to support workers and build a system that ensures their complaints are resolved in a timely manner. He said the initiative reflects the government’s broader effort to build labour rights protections across the province’s agricultural sector, positioning the app as part of a wider policy push rather than a standalone digital tool. The app addresses a documented gap in Punjab’s cotton sector, where labour rights research has repeatedly highlighted inadequate wages, job insecurity, and unsafe working conditions among cotton field workers, along with limited access to formal grievance mechanisms compared to workers in more urbanized or industrial sectors.
The app is expected to give cotton workers, many of whom work in isolated rural settings, a direct and accessible channel to raise concerns without needing to travel to district offices in person. This kind of mobile-first approach mirrors a broader pattern across Punjab’s agricultural digitization efforts, where officials have increasingly turned to smartphone apps to reach farmers and rural workers who would otherwise face significant logistical barriers to accessing government services. For a workforce spread across cotton-producing districts, many of which are located some distance from district administrative centres, a mobile complaint channel removes a practical barrier that has likely discouraged workers from reporting grievances in the past, regardless of how legitimate those grievances may have been.
Whether Kapas Ki Pukar translates into faster resolution of workplace complaints will depend heavily on how effectively the Labour and Human Resources Department staffs and monitors the app’s complaint queue, given that similar government complaint apps in Pakistan have sometimes struggled with response times once initial usage picks up. For cotton workers navigating conditions that labour rights researchers have described as marked by low wages and limited protections, the app’s real test will come once workers begin filing complaints in meaningful numbers and authorities need to demonstrate that grievances raised through the platform actually result in concrete action against non-compliant farm owners or officials.
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