Sixty two years after India awakened to a dawn of freedom, nearly 13 million of its children under the age of 14 are still not free. They work, often under duress, in factories, as domestic workers, in dhabhas, weaving carpets, in brick kilns, rolling beedis, on farms.... They work long hours, are paid a pittance compared to adults doing the same work, are exploited by their employers, and are subject to both physical and sexual abuse. These children miss out on opportunities to attend school, interact with other children; in short, they miss out on their childhood.
India is home to the largest population of children (approximately 440 million) in the world. And the country also has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of children engaged in work. Even by conservative government statistics, there are around 12.6 million working children below the age of 14. Indian civil society suggests that around 44 million children could be involved in child labour.
Whatever the numbers may be, we do know that considerable numbers of children work. We see them in the local dhabhas; we see them picking rags on the streets; we see them working in factories. This is the visible face of child labour. However, we ignore or are unaware of the vast numbers of children employed in agricultural activities: they constitute 80 per cent of the children employed as child labour. And what about the boys and girls from economically deprived backgrounds who work as domestic servants for the rich and middle classes?
The question that gets asked of child rights advocates is: what constitutes child labour? If a child helps her mother in the kitchen at home, is this child labour? If the child helps his father on the farm, is that child labour? If the child helps out his family, does that not boost the child's self-confidence? The answer to these questions lies in whether a child's work interferes with her education and development. If a child attends school and returns home to work with his parents to weave carpets, has no time for recreation and play, then this type of work can be deemed exploitative and detrimental to the holistic development and growth of the child.
There are Constitutional provisions and several State and Union legislations which prohibit child labour up to the age of 14. However, the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act 1986, for example, does not take cognisance of the children working in agriculture; this category of children constitutes 80 per cent of the children in child labour. Laws make distinction between hazardous and non hazardous work. As a child rights organization, Save the Children believes that all forms of child labour up to the age of 14 is simply unacceptable and must stop. We call for making employing child labour a cognizable offence. We demand that the onus of verifying the age of a child should be on the employer.
India can only rightfully take its place on the world stage if it takes steps to ensure that the future of its children, and therefore the country, is secure.
http://www.savethechildren.in/index.html
India is home to the largest population of children (approximately 440 million) in the world. And the country also has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of children engaged in work. Even by conservative government statistics, there are around 12.6 million working children below the age of 14. Indian civil society suggests that around 44 million children could be involved in child labour.
Whatever the numbers may be, we do know that considerable numbers of children work. We see them in the local dhabhas; we see them picking rags on the streets; we see them working in factories. This is the visible face of child labour. However, we ignore or are unaware of the vast numbers of children employed in agricultural activities: they constitute 80 per cent of the children employed as child labour. And what about the boys and girls from economically deprived backgrounds who work as domestic servants for the rich and middle classes?
The question that gets asked of child rights advocates is: what constitutes child labour? If a child helps her mother in the kitchen at home, is this child labour? If the child helps his father on the farm, is that child labour? If the child helps out his family, does that not boost the child's self-confidence? The answer to these questions lies in whether a child's work interferes with her education and development. If a child attends school and returns home to work with his parents to weave carpets, has no time for recreation and play, then this type of work can be deemed exploitative and detrimental to the holistic development and growth of the child.
There are Constitutional provisions and several State and Union legislations which prohibit child labour up to the age of 14. However, the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act 1986, for example, does not take cognisance of the children working in agriculture; this category of children constitutes 80 per cent of the children in child labour. Laws make distinction between hazardous and non hazardous work. As a child rights organization, Save the Children believes that all forms of child labour up to the age of 14 is simply unacceptable and must stop. We call for making employing child labour a cognizable offence. We demand that the onus of verifying the age of a child should be on the employer.
India can only rightfully take its place on the world stage if it takes steps to ensure that the future of its children, and therefore the country, is secure.
http://www.savethechildren.in/index.html
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