Open Access Research Article
Child Labour In India Initiatives And Challenges (By-Vidya Baban Said)
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Article Details
Child
Labour In India Initiatives And Challenges Authored
By-Vidya Baban Said
Modern Law College ,Pune
·
Abstract
Children Deserve Holding Books, Not Bricks,
Stop Child Labour.
The
issue of child labor is a major concern in India, as early entry into the labor
market at the formative stage of life means an escape from proper schooling,
leading to loss of future scope for a better livelihood. Child labor is a
complex problem that is fundamentally rooted in poverty. And at the same time,
the nation bears the fatal consequences of this curse on society. Children
under the age of fourteen constitute 3.6 percent of the total labor force in
India. Almost 85 percent work in the traditional agricultural sector, just
under nine percent in manufacturing, services and repairs, and about 0.8
percent are in factories. The use of children as domestic workers in urban
areas is a growing phenomenon. The conditions under which children work are
completely unregulated and they are often forced to work without food and for
very low wages, reminiscent of slavery. There are cases of physical, sexual and
emotional abuse of children in the home. The argument for domestic work is
often that families placed their children in these homes for care and
employment. The elimination of child labor is a priority and is done at the
lowest level in India. A large number of non-governmental and voluntary
organizations along with national and international organizations are involved
in this process. In this post, we intend to present a scenario where child
labor is increasing and various challenges that have arisen as a result of this
particular issue are also elaborated. Necessary efforts are suggested to
overcome these problems. Finally, we conclude that the proposed solution can be
useful in overcoming the problems that have arisen due to child labor.
Introduction
Children are
always considered close to God. They are considered to bring happiness, joy and
hope, no matter where they go. The future of a nation depends on children
because they are undoubtedly the stepping stone in shaping the future of any
nation. If a nation treats its children properly and provides them with basic
facilities, it will reflect on the future performance of the nation. It is the
moral duty of the nation to ensure the protection of every child's childhood.
Child labor
is a global phenomenon, not limited to just one country. "Child
labour" is defined as the employment of children in any manual labour.
According to the Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act 1986, a
"child" is a person who has not yet reached the age of 14 years. At
this tender age when a child is expected to grow up, enjoy childhood to the
fullest, seek education, acquire a solid value system, is forced to work and
earn a living for himself and his family. . It affects not only his physical
and mental development, but also places a very heavy burden of responsibility
on the child to support his family. It is often observed that children are
forced to work due to some hardships like lack of strong financial support,
lack of proper food, clothing, shelter, livelihood etc.
Did you know
that according to the 2011 National Census, more than 33 million children in
the age group of 6 to 18 years are involved in child labor in India? An
estimated 80% of child laborers are concentrated in rural areas. A Census study
paints a grim picture of the situation, stating that 1 in 11 working
individuals in India is a child in the age group of 5-18 years.[1]The Reality Of The Practice Of Child Labour
In India (cry.org)
·
Definition
International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines the term child
labour as, “work that deprives children of their childhood, their
potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental
development. It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally
dangerous and harmful to children, or work whose schedule interferes with their
ability to attend regular school, or work that affects in any manner their
ability to focus during school or experience a healthy childhood.”
UNICEF defines child labour differently. A child,
suggests UNICEF, is involved in child labour activities if between 5 to 11
years of age, he or she did at least one hour of economic activity or at least
28 hours of domestic work in a week, and in case of children between 12 to 14 years
of age, he or she did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42
hours of economic activity and domestic work per week. UNICEF in another report
suggests, “Children’s work needs to be seen as happening along a
continuum, with destructive or exploitative work at one end and beneficial work
– promoting or enhancing children’s development without interfering with their
schooling, recreation and rest – at the other. And between these two poles are
vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a child’s development.”
In India, the definition of child labour in terms of age; differed from year to year under different legislations. The Factories Act, 1948 prohibits children below the age of 14 years from working in any factory. The minimum age in the Mines Act, 1952 is 15 years. It is 12 years in the Plantations Labour Act, 1951[2] CHILD LABOUR IN IfNDIA.pdf
·
Meaning Of Child Labour
International labour Organization
(ILO) defines child labour as ‘work that deprives children of their childhood,
their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental
development’. It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or
morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling.
According to the Indian legislation, ‘child’ is anyone who has not completed 14
years of age and ‘adolescent’ is anyone who has completed their 14th year of
age but is below 18 years. This law divides work into hazardous and
non-hazardous categories as identified by the Technical Advisory Committee
constituted under the Act. The Schedule to the Act enlists 38 occupations and
processes as ‘hazardous’ and 69 others which are non-hazardous.
·
Objectives
1. To
reveal the reasons and consequences of child labour in India.
2. To
find the effective measures to eradicate child labour from its roots.
3.To
identify working areas in which children are highly involved in the
study Area.
4.To
assess the perception of communities about child labour.
5. To
identify the main challenges for eliminating child labour and abusive
Practice.
6.To assess the role of different stakeholders
primarily local government to
tackle child labouring the study area.
·
Research Methodology
The study has been conducted mainly on the
basis of literature survey and secondary information this is collected from the
Census Surveys, Reports, newspapers, journals, articles, websites, etc.
- Is child
labour illegal in India?
In 1992,
when India ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC), a reservation was made in Article 32, wherein the Government of India
articulated that it would progressively ban all forms of child labour. After
nearly three decades since the child labour law came into force, India has the
opportunity to amend the law in favour of its children. Since India’s legal
system gives basis to the assumption that children can work and still get an
education, the new Child Labour Act allows children under the age of 14 to work
in family occupations after school hours. However, when only 49% of working
children between the ages of 5-14 and 17% between 15-18 years parallelly attend
school – the numbers completely contradict the above assumption and leave a
glaring gap in the prohibition of child labour. The Reality Of The Practice Of Child Labour
In India (cry.org)
- Causes Of Child
Labour
Major causes of child employment that can be
understood keeping in mind the Indian scenario, are:
1.Poverty:
In developing countries, it is impossible to control child labour as
children have been considered as helping hand to feed their families, to
support their families and to feed themselves. Due to poverty, illiteracy and
unemployment parents are unable to bear the burden of feeding their children
and to run their families. So, poor parents send their children for work in
inhuman conditions at lower wages.
2.Previous
Debts:
The poor economic conditions of people in India force them to borrow
money. The Illiterate populations go to money lenders and sometimes mortgage
their belongings in turn of the debt taken by them. But, due to insufficiency
of income, debtors find it very difficult to pay back the debt and the
interest. This vicious circle of poverty drags them towards working day and
night for the creditor and then the debtors drag their children too in
assisting them so that the debts could be paid off.
3.Professional
Needs
There are some industries such as the ‘bangle making’ industry, where
delicate hands and little fingers are needed to do very minute work with
extreme excellence and precision. An adult’s hands are usually not so delicate
and small, so they require children to work for them and do such a dangerous
work with glass. This often resulted in major eye accidents of the children.
- TYPES OF CHILDS LABOUR IN INDIA
There is an increasing involvement of
children in home-based work and in the informal sector. Children are involved
in the domestic, manual, agricultural sector, in hazardous factories,
rag-picking, beedi-rolling, matchbox, brick kilns etc.
According to ILO, the worst types of child
labour are:
1.Slavery: Slavery is when one person
works for another person. Slaves don’t have the power to demand anything. They
have to work according to the commands of their master.
2.Child
Trafficking: Buying
and selling of children either for labour or for sexual exploitation.
3.Debt
Bondage: When people cannot pay off their loans with their money and belongings
they are often forced to work as a labour.
4.Serfdom: When a person works on
land that belongs to another person, it is known as serfdom. The labour will
either be provided with some pay or no pay will be given.
5.Forced
Labour: When
a child works against his/her will then it is termed as forced labour.
6.Beggary: When poor parents don’t
have any other way to earn a living they often beg on roads. They also cut
their child’s body part in order to gain sympathy and to get more money. Small
children are seen on red lights asking for money for their treatments.
·
Challenges In Controlling Child Labour
1.Unclear
Laws-
Child labour is not
uniform. It takes place in many forms and types, depending on the kind of work
a child has to do. The laws are vague, which does not help in combating the
crime of child labour. There are no strict guidelines that would protect the children
from such horror. It is due to such complexity and no clear instructions that
it becomes difficult to save a child from the grip of this crime.
2.Rehabilitation
Problem-
The issue faced by
the government and NGOs is that they lack the rehabilitation facility which the
child might need. With no proper facilities available, they can fall on the
grips of labour again. For them to have a fresh start, those children need to
feel the control of their new lives. These children need proper guidance and
counselling to get better and achieve things in life.
3.Lack
of Awareness-
Education will be
the key to combat child labour. It is because of the lack of proper education
and awareness; the families fall in this trap. There is a need for a proper
awareness campaign to educate parents about the pitfalls of child labour. The
importance should be given on giving quality and relevant education. The
mindset has to be changed in training young children to stop child labour.
- Associated
Issues With The Child Labour
1.Cause & Effect Relationship: Child labour and exploitation are the
result of many factors, including poverty, social norms condoning them, lack of
decent work opportunities for adults and adolescents, migration and
emergencies.
These factors are not only the cause but also a consequence of social inequities reinforced by discrimination.
These factors are not only the cause but also a consequence of social inequities reinforced by discrimination.
2.Threat to National Economy: The continuing persistence of child
labour and exploitation poses a threat to national economies and has severe
negative short and long-term consequences for children such as denial of
education and undermining physical and mental health.
3.Child Labour in Informal Sector: Though child labour is banned the law,
across India child labourers can be found in a variety of informal industries
like in brick kilns, carpet weaving, garment making, agriculture, fisheries,
etc.
4.Disguised Child Labour: Despite rates of child labour declining
over the last few years, children are still being used in disguised form of
child labour like domestic help.
Work performed may not appear to be immediately dangerous, but it may produce long-term and devastating consequences for their education, their skills acquisition.[3] Child Labour In India (drishtiias.com)Hence their future possibilities to overcome the vicious circle of poverty, incomplete education and poor-quality jobs.
Work performed may not appear to be immediately dangerous, but it may produce long-term and devastating consequences for their education, their skills acquisition.[3] Child Labour In India (drishtiias.com)Hence their future possibilities to overcome the vicious circle of poverty, incomplete education and poor-quality jobs.
5.Linkage with Child Trafficking: Child trafficking is also linked to
child labour and it always results in child abuse.
Trafficked children are subjected to prostitution, forced into marriage or illegally adopted; they provide cheap or unpaid labour, are forced to work as house servants or beggars and may be recruited into armed groups.
Trafficked children are subjected to prostitution, forced into marriage or illegally adopted; they provide cheap or unpaid labour, are forced to work as house servants or beggars and may be recruited into armed groups.
- Way
Forward
- Role
of Panchayat: As
nearly 80% of child labour in India emanates from rural areas, the
Panchayat can play a dominant role in mitigating child labour. In this
context, panchayat should:
ü Generate awareness about the ill-effects of
child labour,
ü Encourage parents to send their children to
school,
ü Create an environment where children stop
working and get enrolled in schools instead,
ü Ensure that children have sufficient
facilities available in schools,
ü Inform industry owners about the laws
prohibiting child labour and the penalties for violating these laws,
ü Activate Balwadis and Aanganwadis in the
village so that working mothers do not leave the responsibility of younger
children on their older siblings.
ü Motivate Village Education Committees (VECs)
to improve the conditions of schools.
§ Integrated Approach: Child labour and other forms of
exploitation are preventable through integrated approaches that strengthen
child protection systems as well as simultaneously addressing poverty and
inequity, improve access to and quality of education and mobilize public
support for respecting children’s rights.
§ Treating Children as Active Stakeholder: Children have the power to play a
significant role in preventing and responding to child labour.
They are key actors in child
protection and can give valuable insights into how they perceive their
involvement and what they expect from the government and other stakeholders.[4] Child Labour In India
(drishtiias.com)
·
Legislation
When in the 20th Century,
child labour became so prominent that news of factory hazards and mishappenings
taking innocent children’s life, flashed all around in the newspapers, then was
the time, a need for legislations and statutes were felt to prohibit the mal
practice of child labour. Today, there are sufficient statutes condemning and
prohibiting child labour such as:
The Factories Act of 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of
children below the age of 14 years in any factory. The law also placed rules on
who, when and how long can pre-adults aged 15–18 years be employed in any
factory.
The Mines Act of 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of
children below 18 years of age in a mine. Mining being one of the most
dangerous occupations, which in the past has led to many major accidents taking
life of children is completely banned for them.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)
Act of 1986: The
Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in hazardous
occupations identified in a list by the law. The list was expanded in 2006, and
again in 2008.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of
Children Act of 2000: This law made it a crime, punishable with a prison term, for anyone to
procure or employ a child in any hazardous employment or in bondage. This act
provides punishment to those who act in contravention to the previous acts by
employing children to work.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education Act of 2009: The law mandates free and compulsory education to all children aged 6
to 14 years. This legislation also mandated that 25 percent of seats in every
private school must be allocated for children from disadvantaged groups and
physically challenged children.
·
Hazardous Occupations
Part III of ‘The Child Labour (Prohibition
and Regulation) Act of 1986 provides for the ‘Prohibition of employment of
children in certain occupations and processes. The Schedule gives a list of
hazardous occupations in two parts, via; A and B
Part A provides that, no child shall be employed or
permitted to work in any of the following occupations:
1. Transport of passengers, goods; or mails by
railway
2. Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or
building operation in the railway premise.
3. Work in a catering establishment at a railway
station, involving the movement of vendor or any other employee of the
establishment from one platform to another or into or out of a moving train.
4. Work relating to the construction of railway
station or with any other work where such work is done in close proximity to or
between the railway lines.
5. The port authority within the limits of any
port.
6. Work relating to selling of crackers and
fireworks in shops with temporary licenses
7. Abattoirs/slaughter Houses
8. Automobile workshops and garages.
9. Foundries
10. Handling of taxies or inflammable substance
or explosives
11. Handloom and power loom industry
12. Mines (Underground and under water) and
collieries
13. Plastic units and Fiber glass workshop
Part B provides that, no child shall be employed or
permitted to work in any of the following workshop wherein any of the following
processes is carried on.
1 Beedi making
2 Carpet Weaving
3 Cement manufacture including bagging of
cement.
4 Cloth printing, dyeing and weaving.
5 Manufacture of matches, explosive and
fireworks.
6 Mica cutting and splitting.
7 Shellac manufacture
8 Soap manufacture
9 Tanning.
10 Wool cleaning
11 Building and construction industry
12 Manufacture of slate pencils (including
packing)
13 Manufacture of products of agate
14 Manufacturing processes using toxic metals
and substances such as lead, mercury, manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene,
pesticides and asbestos
15 All Hazardous prossess an defined in
section 2(cb) and dangerous operations
as notified in ruler made under section 87 of
the factories Act 1948
16 Printing (as defined in section 2(k) of
the factories Act 1948
17 Cashew and cashew nut descaling and
processing
18 Soldering process in electronic industries
19 Incense Stick (Agarbathi) manufacturing
20 Automobile repairs and maintenance (namely
welding lather work, dent beating and printing)
21 Brick kilns and Roof files units
22 Cotton ginning and processing and
production of hosiery goods
23 Detergent manufacturing
24 Fabrication workshop (ferrous and
non-ferrous)
25 Gem cutting and polishing
26 Handling of chromites and manganies ores
27 Jute textile manufacture and of coir
making
28 Lime kilns and manufacture of lime
29 Lock making
30 Manufacturing process having exposure to
lead such as primary and secondary smelting, welding etc. (See item 30 of part
B process)
31 Manufacture of glass, glass ware including
bangles fluorescent tubes bulbs and other similar glass products
32 Manufacturing of cement pipes, cement
products, and other related work.
33 Manufacture of dyes and dye stuff
34 Manufacturing or handling of pesticides
and insecticides
35 Manufacturing or processing and handling
of corrosive and toxic substances, metal cleaning and photo enlarging and
soldering processes in electronic industry
36 Manufacturing of burning coal and coal
briquette
37 Manufacturing of sports goods involving to
synthetic materials, chemicals and leather
38 Moulding and processing of fiberglass and
plastics
39 Oil expelling and refinery
40 Paper making
41 Potteries and ceramic industry
42 Polishing, moulding, cutting welding and
manufacture of brass goods in all forms.
43 Process in agriculture where tractors,
threshing and harvesting machines are used and chabt cutting
44 Saw mill all process
45 Sericulture processing
46 Skinning dyeing and process for
manufacturing of leather and leather products
47 Stone breaking and stone crushing
48 Tobacco processing including manufacturing
of tobacco, tobacco paste and handling of tobacco in any form
49 Tyre making repairing, re-trading and
graphite beneficiation
50 Utensils making polishing and metal
buffing
51 Zari Making (all process)
·
Hours Of Period And Work
No child shall be required or permitted to
work in any establishment in excess of number of hours prescribed (Section-7)
The period of work on each day shall not
exceed three hours and no child shall work for more than three hours before he
has had an interval for rest for at least one hour. No child shall be permitted
or required to work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.
No child shall be required or permitted to
work overtime. (Section-7).
·
Penalties
Violations under Section-3 shall be
punishable with imprisonment which shall not be less than three months which
may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand
rupees but which may extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both. Continuing
offence under section (3) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term
which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to two years.
Any other violations under the Act shall be
punishable with simple imprisonment, which may extend to one month or with
fine, which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.
·
Efforts By Government Of India To Control
Child Labour
The child labour (Prohibition and Regulation)
Act 1986 prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in 16
occupation and 65 processes that are hazardous to the children’s lives and
health. Many states including Haryana have constituted the child labour
rehabilitation –cum-welfare funds at district level and separate labour cells
are being formed to address the issue. National child labour
projects have been implemented by the central government in states from 1988 to
provide non-formal education and pre-vocational skills. From 2001, Sarve shisha
Abhiyan has been launched to educate poor and employed children in all states.
Ministry of women and child development has been providing non-formal education
and vocational training. Establishment of Anganwadies is also a big step by the
government for the welfare of children and their physical, mental and
educational development.
· Child Labour Policies In India
Following are the child labour policies in
India:
National Policy on Child Labour
Policy
The National Policy of Child Labours[5] that was incorporated
in August 1987 provides the action plan that tackles the problem of child
labour. It contains:
The legislative action plans.
General development programmes for the
benefit of every child. Project-based action plans that launch the projects in
the areas where there is a huge amount of child labour, for the welfare of
children.
To rehabilitate the children who are involved
in child labour the National Child Labour Policy [NCLP] was
started. At first, it aims at rehabilitating the children that are employed in
hazardous occupations and processes. For this, the sequential approach was
adopted. After the survey on the children that are employed in hazardous
occupations and processes, an order was given to withdraw children from those
occupations and to provide them with schooling in special schools.
ü Legislative Action Plan
This plan was formulated for the strict
implementation of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 and
other labour laws. It was made to withdraw the children that are employed in
hazardous occupations and processes and make sure that the children are not
employed in such activities again and also to regulate the working conditions
of those children who are involved in non-hazardous employment. This plan can
also identify other occupations and processes as hazardous if they are
detrimental to the health and the safety of the children.
Government has been actively taking steps to
tackle the problem of child labour by enforcing strict legislative provisions
and by providing rehabilitation centres. State Governments have developed
various authorities and they have been conducting regular inspections as well
as raids to areas where there are cases of violation. Poverty is the root cause
of this problem so the State Government is providing the rehabilitation centres
in order to improve the economic conditions of poor families.
ü Right to Education Bill
In 2009, the right to Education bill [6](the Right to
Education Bill) was
introduced by the Government of India in order to make education reach
everywhere. Implementing this Act at the grassroots level will help to
eradicate child labour.
ü Rehabilitation of Children Working in
Hazardous Occupations
By setting up special schools, the Government
of India has formulated a programme in order to remove child labour from
hazardous occupations and rehabilitate them.
Till now, around 2 million children are
withdrawn from the hazardous occupations and processes and are enrolled in
special schools which provide them basic education, vocational training,
monthly stipends, nutrition and health checkups.
- Role of society
in child labour
In society, child labour is affected by
various factors like poverty, lack of education, population and
industrialization. If there is overpopulation then there will be more number of
family members that will lead to more food, so in order to provide a living to
their family children have to work, so, in this way, children become the
victims of factory owner’s greed. If there is overpopulation then there will be
not enough food which will lead to malnutrition, poor education, high birth
rates, unemployment/underemployment, unequal wealth distribution, low income,
low savings and investments, lack of technology and at last low of
productivity.
When there is industrialization, the huge
factories are set up which not only need more labour but also prefer child as a
labour. Due to lack of education parents don’t understand the importance of
education and send their children to work due to family circumstances.
Society plays a big role in increasing the
child labour because after knowing all about what kind of evil child labour is
and how badly it affects the life of a child, they still prefer small kids as
their workers in large numbers not only because they are unaware about the
minimum wages but also due to unawareness about their rights and duties and it
serves as an advantage to all the employers. The employers make them work for
longer hours and pay less. So, in order to protect children from this evil, the
attitude of society that one should be benefited in each and every circumstance
must change. Every time one should not only think about his/her benefits but
sometimes it is good to think about how to save a child’s life rather than
making it worse by one’s own conduct.
- Initiatives against child labour in India
Many initiatives were taken by the government
as well as non-government organisations in order to curb the problem of child
labour in India.
- Government
initiatives against child labour in India
In 1979, the Gurupadswamy Committee was
formed to know and find all about the child labour and ways to tackle it. Based
on the recommendations of this committee, the Child Labour Prohibition and
Regulation Act was enacted in 1986.
To rehabilitate children that are working in
hazardous occupations National Policy on Child Labour was formulated. In 1988,
100 industry-specific National Child Labour Projects were implemented by the
Ministry of Labour and Employment. To combat the growing problem of child
labour the Indian Government has provided various numbers of Acts, laws,
organizations and institutions. These include the Child Labour Prohibition and
Regulation Act, 1986, this Act provides the definition of a child. It states
that a person who has not completed the age of 14 years is considered as a
child. This Act not only regulates the hours of work but also the working
conditions of child labourers and prohibit the employment of child labour in
hazardous industries and to rehabilitate the children involved in child labour,
the National Child Labour Policy [NCLP] was started in 1988. At first, it aims
at rehabilitating the children that are employed in hazardous occupations and
processes. For this, the sequential approach was adopted.
According to the report of Osment, many NGOs
like:
1. Care India,
2. Child Rights and You,
3. Global March against child labour,
are implemented to combat child labour by
providing education and various resources. However, these efforts proved to be
unsuccessful.
- Non-Governmental
Organisations
NGOs are working to protect the children from
the evil of child labour. These NGOs include Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Child
Rights and You (CRY), Global March against child labour, Talaash Association,
Child Fund, Care India, RIDE India, Childline etc. Many public interest
litigations have also been filed on the problem of child labour like “PIL ON
CHILD LABOUR.” which is also known as “Hemant Goswami vs. Union of India”[7](“Hemant Goswami vs.
Union of India”) [6].
In this case, a PIL was filed by a social
activist Hemant Goswami. A writ was filed that provided there were violation
and non-compliance of provisions of the Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act, 1986 by the Union and the States. Adv. APS Shergill who
appeared for the petitioner also cited examples where children were made to
work in Punjab University. They also claimed that when these children are
recognized they are more victimised rather than rehabilitated.
Goswami and the petitioner Vishavjyoti
undertook a survey in order to find the number of child labour in the region.
The Court held that the person below the age of 18 years is to be treated as a
child. There is now a constitutional obligation to follow the provisions of the
Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986 and to provide free and compulsory
education for them. Facilities have to be made which provide free education.[8] https://blog.ipleaders.in/child-labour-laws-in-india/?amp=1
·
Child Labour: Suggestions For Improvement
First
of all, the major responsibility is for we the people to live in the society.
It starts in your home. Never make any servant do work underage. Give some
financial help to the street boys. Unite people who want to help them. Make
welfare groups. Give children education and give them shelter and food. If we
all work from our own place as far as we can, then it is possible to have a
result. Never put any child to hard and heavy work in an industry. Boycott the
people who are doing this and raise your voice against them. Make them know the
law of crime like child labour. Raise awareness to the people. Come forward and
take your own responsibility and make your own judgments. Secondly, governments
can play a huge role. First of all, they can make the proper law against child
labour and enforce them strictly against people who are putting the children to
heavy work. Governments also should assure shelter, food, education and all
basic needs for children. A child should be as free as he is in heaven. Remember,
children are also a tool for criminal to their crime. Governments of a country
should be aware and take necessary steps for that. Lastly, we are living in an
era of globalization. The various international organizations can take steps to
raise awareness to the people to stop child labour. They can help children
financially by giving them free education at education for all programme and
putting pressure on the government to enforce the law to provide necessary
elements for the welfare of children. The combination of the above bodies will
make it easy to eradicate children's ill health. Children are the sign of
innocence and purity. Your heart should melt in tears when you see them
sleeping in the street with a hungry belly if you are a real human. We the youth
raise our voice. Make this world a better place for the upcoming generation
·
Conclusion
It is evident that incidence of Child Labour
is decreasing in India over the recent past. However, still 40 million children
are out of school of which 6 million are working outside home. Major problem is
the presence of a large mass of Nowhere Children, who are neither working nor
going to school. If we look at the plausible determining factors, poverty
emerges to be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for thriving of child
labour. While poverty is instrumental in keeping the children out of school, it
does not necessarily drive them into the labour market. It is only the presence
of other complementary factors like lack of educational infrastructure that appears
to play a much more crucial role in pushing children to work. The physical
component of educational infrastructure is no doubt important in this respect
but the humane factor is emerging to be more important. Educational
infrastructure is also observed to play a very important role in this regard
and therefore spatial expansion of educational infrastructure with more
emphasis on elementary education would be very useful in eradicating child
labour.
An emerging idea regarding educational
infrastructure is that at the aggregate level we have to some extent overcome
the stage where there was acute shortage of physical infrastructure viz. lack
of school buildings etc. It is believed that now the bottleneck arises mainly
in terms of the human component, namely availability of teachers. The main task
therefore is to ensure that the schools are adequately staffed and teachers
have ample time to take care of individual students. This will also make
learning enjoyable and attract & retain young children in schools. The
nature of working of the schools also needs to be revamped as informal
institutions started under different schemes of Sarva Shikhsa Mission (SSM) are
often found to be highly effective in bringing out of school children under the
umbrella of education. It is quite interesting that proportion of children
attending educational institutes in subsidiary status is increasing over time
and can be attributed to SSM. Perhaps the non-conventional schooling hours and
informal system of teaching have suited them whereby they can attend classes
even after finishing their assigned duties. Such an approach will fulfil the
promise of right to education of children without compromising on their broader
right to (earn and) live
Article Information
Child Labour In India Initiatives And Challenges (By-Vidya Baban Said)
Authors: Vidya Baban Said
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2022/08/03
- Volume 2
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
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