CHILD LABOUR

Child labor is done by any working child who is under the age specifi ed by law. The word, “work” means full

time commercial work to sustain self or add to the family income.

Child labor is a hazard to a Child’s mental, physical, social,

educational, emotional and spiritual development. Broadly any child who is employed in activities to feed self

and family is being subjected to “child labor’.

INTRODUCTION

Child labor in India is a human right issue for the whole world. It is a serious and extensive problem, with many children under the age of fourteen working in carpet making factories, glass blowing units and making fireworks with bare little hands. According to the statistics given by Indian government there are 20 million child laborers in the country, while other agencies claim that it is 50 million. In Northern India the exploitation of little children for labor is an accepted practice and perceived by the local population as a necessity to alleviate poverty. Carpet weaving industries pay very low wages to child laborers and make them work for long hours in unhygienic conditions. Children working in such units are mainly migrant workers from Northern India, who are shunted here by their families to earn some money and send it to them.

The situation of child laborers in India is desperate. Children work for eight hours at a stretch with only a small break for meals. The meals are also frugal and the children are ill nourished. Most of the migrant children who cannot go home, sleep at their work place, which is very bad for their health and development. Seventy five percent of Indian population still resides in rural areas and are very poor. Children in rural families who are ailing with poverty perceive their children as an income generating resource to supplement the family income. Parents sacrifice their children’s education to the growing needs of their younger siblings in such families and view them as wage earners for the entire clan.

Bonded labor traps the growing child in a hostage like condition for years. The importance of formal education is also not realized, as the child can be absorbed in economically beneficial activities at a young age. Moreover there is no access to proper education in the remote areas of rural India for most people, which leaves the children with no choice.

The most inhuman and onerous form of child exploitation is the age old practice of bonded labor in India. In this, the child is sold to the loaner like a commodity for a certain period of time. His labor is treated like security or collateral security and cunning rich men procure them for small sums at exorbitant interest rates.

Bonded Child Labour in India

The practice of bonded child labor is prevalent in many parts of rural India, but is very conspicuously in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. Here the bonded child is allowed to reside with his parents, if he presents himself for work at 8 a.m. every day. The practice of child bonded labor persists like a scourge to humanity in spite of many laws against it. These laws although stringent and providing for imprisonment and imposition of huge fines on those who are found guilty are literally non- functional in terms of implementation.

Bonded Child Lab our

Adult unemployment and urbanization also causes child labor. Adults often find it difficult to find jobs because factory owners find it more beneficial to employ children at cheap rates. This exploitation is particularly visible in garment factories of urban areas. Adult exploitation of children is also seen in many places. Elders relax at home and live on the labor of poor helpless children.

Child labor is a reality in spite of all the steps taken by the legal machinery to eliminate it. It prevails and persists as a world phenomenon in spite of child labor laws.

The causes of child labor in the contemporary world are the same as those in U.S. hundred years ago- namely poverty, lack of education and exposure, poor access to education, suppression of workers rights, partial prohibition of child labor and inadequate enforcement of child labor laws.

The existing law and codes of conduct regarding child labor are blatantly violated by the beneficiaries and the victims of this terrible practice all over the developing world. There are ambiguities in the export and manufacturing sector, which means multiple layers of outsourcing and production- making the monitoring of labor performers not only difficult but impossible. Extensive subcontracting also makes it impossible to identify the use of child labor whether intentional or unintentional.

Child Labour Laws

The Indian constitution categorically states that child labor is a wrong practice, and standards should be set by law to eliminate it. The child labor act of 1986 implemented by the government of India makes child labor illegal in many regions and sets the minimum age of employment at fourteen years.

There are many loop holes in this law in terms of affectivity. First is that it does not make child labor completely illegal and does not meet the guidelines set by ILO concerning the minimum age for employment, which is fifteen years. Moreover the policies which are set to reduce incidences of child labor are difficult to implement and enforce. The government and other agencies responsible for the enforcement of these laws are not doing their job.

Kenya prohibits children under 16 from going to work in industries but excludes agriculture. Bangladesh also specifies a minimum age to go to work, but excludes agriculture and domestic work.

Indeed laws become unpractical and redundant in the face of necessity. Poor children and their family members depend so much on little ones to provide the basic necessities of life in the impoverished areas that it becomes impossible for them to adhere to any laws and regulations regarding child labor. We must also remember, that about one fifth of the world’s six billion humans live in absolute poverty.

PLEASE JOIN YOUR HANDS TO REMOVE CHILD LABOUR

PRESENTED BY:

HEENA NIGAM EKJOT BAGGA

PRIYANKA SHARMA

Layouts & graphics designed by : ASHISH GOYAL