A Critical Review Of Child Labour in India and Implication of Human Right

 

Dipankar Choudhury

Department of Mathematics

Bhawanipur Anchalik College.

 

INTRODUCTION :

            Children are the greatest gift to humanity and Childhood is an important and impressionable stage of human development as it holds the potential to the future development of any society. Children who are brought up in an environment, which is conducive to their intellectual, physical and social health, grow up to be responsible and productive members of society. Every nation links its future with the present status of its children. By performing work when they are too young for the task, children unduly reduce their present welfare or their future income earning capabilities, either by shrinking their future external choice sets or by reducing their own future individual productive capabilities. Under extreme economic distress, children are forced to forego educational opportunities and take up jobs which are mostly exploitative as they are usually underpaid and engaged in hazardous conditions. Parents decide to send their child for engaging in a job as a desperate measure due to poor economic conditions. It is, therefore, no wonder that the poor households predominantly send their children to work in early ages of their life. One of the disconcerting aspects of child labour is that children are sent to work at the expense of education. There is a strong effect of child labour on school attendance rates and the length of a child‟s work day is negatively associated with his or her capacity to attend school. Child labour restricts the right of children to access and benefit from education and denies the fundamental opportunity to attend school.
 

The Indian Constitutional Right for Children:
1. No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or in any hazardous employment (Article 24). It states that “the Indian Constitution prohibits abolition of employment of children below the age of 14 years in dangerous jobs like factories and mines.” Child labour is considered gross violation of the spirit and provisions of the constitution. The parliament has also passed the Child Labour act of 1986, by providing penalties for employers and relief and rehabilitation amenities for those affected.
2. Childhood and youth are to be protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment (Article 39(f)).Its states that “Right to equal opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and guaranteed protection of childhood and youth against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.”
3. The state shall endeavour to provide within a period of 10 years from the commencement of the Constitution free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years (Article 45). ). It‟s states the “provision for free and compulsory education for children- the State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of the Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years”

Objectives to the study :
1) To study the socio-economic background and working conditions of child labour.
2) To find out the factors responsible for child labour and consequences there after.
3) To suggest remedial strategy based on the information gathered.
 

Causes of Child Labour:
The use of child labour is very prevalence in India and the cause is deep rooted with poverty. UNICEF India has estimated 28 million children aged five to fourteen involved in work (UNICEF,2011) Child labour is not a new phenomenon in India where children has always worked. During the industrial revolution child labour increased, due to the shift of labour movements to colonial countries. Children can be found in every sector of the informal economy (Molanka,2008).The incidence of working children in India are engaged in hazardous occupations such as factories manufacturing diamonds, fireworks, silk and carpets, glass and bricks (Kalyan,2013). There are several factors that force children to work such as inadequate economic growth, poverty, unemployment over population and lack of education and health care (Ahmad,2012).
On school attendance in India a large number of children between ten to fourteen years of age are not enrolled in school because of household economic condition. Attendance in school or dropout differs for male and female while boys are more likely to provide financial income for the family, girls are more involved in household chores (Kakoli & Sayeed ,2013).High illiteracy and dropout rates are high in India due to inadequacy of the educational system. Even through many poor families don‟t see education as a benefit to society, they consider that work develops skills that can be used to earn income (Ahmed, 2012) to their family.
Steps and Scheme taken by Govt. Of India to reduce child labours:
In a significant move to curb the rampant spread of child labour across the country, the Government of India is set to ban the all forms of child labour under the age of 14 years, making the employment of children below 14 years a criminal offense. The Union cabinet of India approved the amendments to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, today putting a blanket ban on employing anybody below 18 years in hazardous occupation. Such hazardous occupations have also been re-classified in line with the increase in the minimum age of child labour from 14 to 18 years. This will only allow employing children between 14-18 years in non-hazardous industries like forest gathering, child care etc. Children between 14-18 years have been defined as "adolescents" in the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition) Bill, 2012. Employing a child below 14 years in any kind of occupation is set to become a cognizable offence, punishable with a maximum three years imprisonment or fine up to a maximum of Rs. 50,000. Ministry officials said that banning any employment of children below 14 years will go a long way in enforcing the Right to Education Act, 2009 which mandates free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of 6-14 years. This is a crucial step by the Government towards ending child labour following more than a decade of sustained efforts by Bachpan Bachao Andolan(BBA) and the Global March Against Child Labour (Global March) to pursue complete abolition of child labour in India. The Child Labour Free India campaign has a multi-pronged approach of a range of tactics including „Knock the Door‟ – a flagship tactics of BBA where former child labourers knock the doors of parliamentarians and celebrities petitioning them for strong anti-child labour legislations. Pursuing justice and policy changes through the courts both Supreme Court of India and the High Courts for protection of children‟s rights is another strategy that has reaped benefits in favour of strong legislations and child friendly policies. Child Labour Free India Campaign, by the BBA and Global March has strongly encouraged and demanded amendments in the Child Labour Act, all of which have been accepted by the government.

S.No./ Demands/ Approved
1.All forms of employment should be prohibited for children up to the age of completion of education in accordance to the Right to Education Act;
All forms of child labour prohibited from children under 14 years of age

2)Employment of children up to 18 years of age in any hazardous occupation or processes or any economic activity which is dangerous for children must be prohibited in conformity with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000;
Children between 14 and 18 years prohibited in hazardous work

3)Child Labour should be made cognizable and non-bailable offense under law and punitive actions against offenders should be made more stringent and time-bound;
Child labour is now a cognizable offense

4)An effective national programme with sufficient resource allocation for comprehensive rehabilitation of child labourers and also for clear monitoring and accountability framework must be in place;
Government working towards a comprehensive rehabilitation, monitoring and accountability framework

5)India should reiterate its new role as a leader in global economy by immediately ratifying ILO Conventions No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour and the No. 138 on the minimum age of employment at the earliest.
Ratification hurdles cleared, and government has indicated that ratification is now in pipeline.

Scheme for the Children development by Govt. Of India: 

a) Schemes of Department of Education
i) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)
ii) Mid Day Meal Scheme
 

b) Schemes of Ministry of Women & Child Development:
i) ICPS scheme For providing food and shelter to the children withdrawn from work through their schemes of Shelter Homes, etc
ii) Balika Samridhi Yojana and admission of children withdrawn from into residential schools under SC/ST/OBC Schemes.
 

c) Schemes of Ministry of Rural Development
i) Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
ii) Swarnjayanti Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
iii) Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) S.No. Demands Approved 

1)All forms of employment should be prohibited for children up to the age of completion of education in accordance to the Right to Education Act;
All forms of child labour prohibited from children under 14 years of age

2)Employment of children up to 18 years of age in any hazardous occupation or processes or any economic activity which is dangerous for children must be prohibited in conformity with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000;
Children between 14 and 18 years prohibited in hazardous work

3)Child Labour should be made cognizable and non-bailable offense under law and punitive actions against offenders should be made more stringent and time-bound;
Child labour is now a cognizable offense

4)An effective national programme with sufficient resource allocation for comprehensive rehabilitation of child labourers and also for clear monitoring and accountability framework must be in place;
Government working towards a comprehensive rehabilitation, monitoring and accountability framework

5)India should reiterate its new role as a leader in global economy by immediately ratifying ILO Conventions No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour and the No. 138 on the minimum age of employment at the earliest.
Ratification hurdles cleared, and government has indicated that ratification is now in pipeline

d) Scheme of Ministry of Labour & Employment
i) Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY)
ii) Skilled Development Initiative Scheme (SDIS)
 

Prevention and Rehabilitation :
 

a. Controlled system for compensation of families for the loss of income.
b. Maintenance of homes where destitute children may be provided, food, clothing, shelter, and allowed to study without resorting to work.
c. Educating village leaders and parents
d. Implement legislation supporting the Indian child labour act
e. Effective schemes to complement the national child labour project.
f. Massive awareness drives, in partnership with media and NGOS to in still the Schemes that have failed need to be immediately rethought and replaced.
 

SUGGESTIONS TO OVERCOME CHILD LABOUR :
 

i) Give child protection concerns top priority
ii) Step-up investments under Restructured ICDS for addressing the rights of the young under-served children
iii) Convert all Anganwadi Centres into Day Care Centres.
iv) Initiate measures to check under-spending in schemes for children
v) Restriction to Job Market
vi) Poverty Elimination Programmes
vii) Increase in Income
viii) Adult Education
ix) Strengthening of Inspection
x) Need of a Comprehensive Legislation
xi) Removal of income disparity
xii) Families must be provided some incentives
xiii) Evening schools should be started
xiv) Free books and other stationary items must be provided
xv) Vocational training centers must be started
xvi) free nutrition mean may be provided at their workplace.
 

Conclusion:
The existing child labour concern is not a change that can be effected in a short while. Policy making is the key. The Government of India needs to implement legislation supporting the “Child Labour Act”. Implementation of legislation requires effective schemes to complement the National Child Labour Project. Creation of awareness at a grass roots level by educating village leaders and parents is important, especially about the necessity of sending girl children to school. The state is in need of massive awareness drives, in partnership with media and NGOs to instill the sanctity of childhood development and healthy growth of children. Schemes that have failed to curb child labour need to be immediately rethought and replaced with effective measures.
 

Reference:
[1] Dr. Subhash,”Demand and Supply Side Factors of Child Labour in India”, Volume 2, Issue 3,ISSN No 2277-8160, march 2013
[2] Chandrasekhar, C. P. "The economic consequences of the abolition of child labour: An Indian case study." The Journal of Peasant Studies 24.3 (1997): 137-179.
[3] http://www.childlineindia.org.in/National-Child-Labour-Project.htm.
[4] Wikipedia, UNICEF, Various News papers, publications and journals