ARTICLE ON CHILD LABOUR

What is child labour?

Considerable differences exist between the many kinds of work children do. Some are difficult and demanding, others are more hazardous and even morally reprehensible. Children carry out a very wide range of tasks and activities when they work.

India is sadly the home to the largest number of child labourers in the world. The census found an increase in the number of child labourers .India has 11.28 million child labours in 1991. Its increases day by day. Most of the child labourers are engaged in agriculture and allied subject like livestock, foresting and fisheries. In the urban areas, children work in dhabas, eateries helpers or cleaners in trucks and as domestic servants etc. They have long working hours, bad and unhygienic working conditions and fewer wages.

Defining child labour

Labourers below the age of 14 years are called child labour. India has the largest number of child labour in the world.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) states that child labour may be defined in a number of different ways, and a different definition yields a different estimate of child labour in India as well as other countries. According to ILO, children or adolescents who participate in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling, is not child labour; rather it may generally be regarded as being something positive. These kinds of activities, suggests ILO, may contribute to children’s developmentally, 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 healthy childhood.

CAUSES:

The main reason behind child labour is poverty. Children born in poor families are forced to work not only for their own survival but also for their family. Awareness of the people and Government also compels poor parents to make their children employed as laborers in agricultural forms, factories, brick kilns and as domestic servants. Let us all take a step to ban this evil.. The increasing gap between the rich and the poor, privatization of basic services and the neo-liberal economic policies are causes major sections of the population out of employment and without basic needs. This adversely affects children more than any other group. Entry of multi-national corporations into industry without proper mechanisms to hold them accountable has lead to the use of child labour. Lack of quality universal education has also contributed to children dropping out of school and entering the labour force. A major concern is that the actual number of child labourers goes un-detected. Laws that are meant to protect children from hazardous labour are ineffective and not implemented correctly..

Child labour distribution by branch of economic activity, 5-17 years old

The agriculture sector comprises activities in agriculture, hunting forestry, and fishing.

The industry sector includes mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities (electricity, gas and water).

The services sector consists of wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels; transport, storage, and communications; finance, insurance, real-estate, and business services; and community as well as social personal services.

Action against child labour

IPEC’s aim is the progressive elimination of child labour worldwide, with the eradication of the worst forms an urgent priority. Since it began operations in 1992, IPEC has worked to achieve this in several ways: through country-based programmes which promote policy reform, build institutional capacity and put in place concrete measures to end child labour; and through awareness raising and mobilization intended to change social attitudes and promote ratification and effective implementation of ILO child labour Conventions. These efforts have resulted in hundreds of thousands of children being withdrawn from work and rehabilitated or prevented from entering the workforce. Complementary to this direct action throughout has been substantial in-depth statistical and qualitative research, policy and legal analysis, programme evaluation and child labour monitoring, which have permitted the accumulation of vast knowledge base of statistical data and methodologies, thematic studies, good practices, guidelines and training materials.

Child labour and education

Education is a crucial component of any effective effort to eliminate child labour. There are many interlinked explanations for child labour. No single factor can fully explain its persistence and, in some cases, growth. The way in which different causes, at different levels, interact with each other ultimately determines whether or not an individual child becomes a child labourer.

Children's participation in the labour force is endlessly varied and infinitely volatile, responding to changing market and social conditions. This context is matched by the flexibility of the large, unprotected, potential child labour force. Poverty and social exclusion, labour mobility, discrimination and lack of adequate social protection and educational opportunity all come into play in influencing child labour outcomes.

Steps taken by Government to check child labour and promote child welfare in India!Child Labour is one of the serious hurdles on the path of human development in India. Adverse effects of child labour have been accepted by the world and internationally, steps are being taken to check it. Indian Government has also taken some positive steps in this direction.

Ever since independence, the government of India has taken several measures to eradicate the menace of child labour. There have been specific legislations aimed at curbing the problem, and punishing the offenders.Also, several social programs for the rehabilitation for children who are rescued from child labour are run at the central and state level. In recent years, there has been a major emphasis on providing basic education for all children, which is a long-term answer to this social menace.In 1988, the government of India launched the National Child Labour Project (NCLP). Initially, the scheme was implemented in nine districts with a high concentration of child labour. The scheme involves establishment of special schools for child labour who are withdrawn from work.These special schools provide formal and informal education along with vocational training, and also provide a monthly stipend. Other facilities such as supplementary nutrition and health care are also provided to such children. The number of districts covered under the NCLP Scheme were increased to 100 in the 9th five-year plan and further increased to 250 in the 10th plan.

On August 15, 1994, the government of India launched a major program to remove child labour working in hazardous occupations, and to rehabilitate them by setting up special schools for them. Under the programme, a total of two million children are sought to be brought out of work and put in special schools where they are provided with education, vocational training, monthly stipends, nutrition and health-checks.A highly powerful body, the National Authority for the Elimination of Child Labour (NAECL) was established on September 26, 1994, headed by the Union Minister of Labour in the government of India.

There are credible efforts being made at the administrative level to eliminate the problem of child labour. Also, there are several voluntary organizations working for the rescue and rehabilitation of child labour in India.Education for all children is the key that can bring about a fundamental change and help to end the problem permanently. A collective public and governmental effort on various fronts will eventually lead to the complete eradication of child labour menace from India.

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