Discuss the prevalence of child labor as an issue in India. What are the various causes for child labor and give measures to counter this in India.
On this 1st of May, Labour day, a leading media agency shone with the headline of “This Labour Day, 7.8 million workers should be laid off.In a country with 35.6 million unemployed adults, there are 7.8 million children working. Let the adults do the work and let the children go to school”
The various dimensions of child labor issue in India:
An analysis of the Union government’s Periodic Labour Force Survey 2018-19 by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that the number of children in child labour in India ranged from 18 lakh (using the national definition), to 33 lakh (using the international definition).
Almost half of all working children work within their own family. The agricultural sector engages the most children, followed by the industrial sector, including manufacturing and construction.
Perils of a child labor:
- The most harmful forms of child labour involve work in dangerous industries or occupations.
- Children from disadvantaged religious or caste backgrounds, as well as those from impoverished households, are more likely to be involved in hazardous work.
- Abuse and mistreatment by employers, especially in factories, is widely reported. This includes physical and verbal abuse, low wages, and a lack of access to health services, even when children suffer accidents or injuries.
- Lack of proper hygiene, sanitation and clean water leads to children becoming easily susceptible to infectious diseases.
- Working with toxic materials causes long-lasting, sometimes irreversible, illnesses. Sectors that require urgent attention to address the worst forms of child labour include the production of matches and fireworks, glass, and leather products, as well as work in brick kilns, coal mines, and construction, among others.
What causes child labor in India?
Poverty:
1. As per the International Labour Organisation (ILO), “child labour is both a cause and consequence of poverty”. Household poverty pushes children into the workforce to earn money. Some take up work to help support the family income, while many others are forced to do so just for survival.
2. This needs to be seen in conjunction with the fact that every one out of two of the world’s wasted (low weight for height) children live in India.
Government apathy:
1. As per the Minister of Women and Child Development, there were 613 cases registered under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 in 2021 in India.
2. The last Census was carried out 14 years ago in 2011. With the 2021 Census seemingly still in cold storage, it is impossible to know exactly how many child labourers there are in the country.
Poor child welfare: Lack of effective children’s mental and physical health development infrastructure.
Conventional pattern of education system
Social issues like caste, gender based inequality, etc.
With child labour, law is not the problem — enforcement is
- Article 24 of the Constitution of India prohibits the employment of any child below the age of 14 years to work in any factory, mine, or any other hazardous employment. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 defined working conditions more clearly. The law is not the problem, enforcement is.
- Last year, 58 children, including 20 girls, were rescued from a distillery in Madhya Pradesh. They were made to work 11-hour shifts every day, hardly paid wages, and the palms of their hands were burnt from working with chemicals.
- Addressing the socio economic part of the problem is much more important than just a legal framework.
Like in foreign developed countries, a formal well regulated education curriculum accommodative of formal part time work programs can itself solve huge backlogs of child labor related underdevelopment in India. Initiatives like these can make us realize our true demographic dividend now and forever.
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