Child labour can be defined as employment of children in economic activities
to such an extent that it adversely affects their physical and mental growth. As
per International Labour Organization, “The term “child labour” is
often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their
potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental
development and refers to the work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally
dangerous and harmful to children; and
interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend
school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt
to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.”
UNICEF
defines Child Labour differently. As per definition of UNICEF, children in the age category 5-11
are considered to be involved in child labour activities if during
one week preceding the survey they did at least one hour of economic activity
or at least 28 hours of domestic work. For the age group 12 to 14 years the
criterion is 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic
activity and domestic work combined.
These children work in many sectors including agriculture, manufacturing
units, domestic households and other sectors. Some of these occupations are of
hazardous nature. As per Census 2001
there were about 1.26 crores child workers. As per NSSO Survey for 21 major
states for the year 2004-05 the number of child workers was about 90.75 lakhs
and as per NSSO Survey for these states for the year 2009-10 the number of
child workers was about 49.83 lakhs
Factors
responsible for child labour
Poverty is the most important factor responsible for prevalence of child
labour. A large number of families live below the poverty line. Going by the
official estimates for the year 2011-12, the percentage of people below the
poverty line is 25.7% for rural areas; 13.7% for urban areas and 21.9% for all
India. Number of people below poverty lines as per these estimates is 26.9
crores. Considering the official poverty line
which is Rs.816 per capita per month for rural areas and Rs.1000 per
capita per month for urban areas it can be safely presumed that life would be
difficult not only for those below poverty line but even for those who are
marginally above it. This forces the children from such families to go to work.
Lack of awareness and education among the lower strata of population is
also one of the contributing factors for child labour. People are not aware
about of the benefits of education. They feel that sending their children to
school would be of no use as education will not change their economic and
social status. This coupled with poverty results in a situation in which every
child is treated as an additional working hand and is expected to support the
family by taking up some remunerative work. Another reason is that a child
worker can be engaged at much lower wages than an adult and are hence economical
for the businessman particularly in those industries/professions which do not
require heavy manual work. In such cases child labour is seen as a cost cutting
measure which is facilitated by poor implementation of labour laws.
Impacts of Child Labour
In the first place the practice is
inhuman as it takes away the childhood from the children and hampers their
physical and mental growth. As children due to being physically and mentally
weak are not to protest in same way as an adult their exploitation is much
severe and in some extreme cases the child labour involves trafficking of
children, enslavement, separation from families, exposure to hazards and left
to fend for themselves in big cities.
The practice is also harmful for the
society as a whole. During his childhood, every child expects to live under
care of his parents and acquire knowledge and skills which he can put to use in
his adulthood. However, a child labour, on account of devoting his time and
energy towards his work does not get opportunities to acquire these skills and
is not able to achieve his full potential. This goes against the individual as
well as the concept of a welfare state.
Further, economic system needs
educated and trained personnel who are competent to handle various jobs related
with diverse economic activities. However, a child labour is not able to
acquire education and other training to meet the requirements of diverse and
complex nature of jobs coming up due to use of technology in almost every
economic activity. Thus child labour adds to the untrained or meagerly trained
labour force which is not suitable for growth of economy.
Legal provisions
· The Constitution of India, in Article 24, provides that no
child under the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in a factory, mine or
in any other hazardous employment.
· In Article 39 under the Directive Principles of State
Policy, it has been stated
that
children should be given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy
manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity.
· Factories Act prohibits employment of children below the
age of 14 years in factories and also regulates the conditions of employment of
persons in the age group 15-18 years in these units.
· The Mines Act prohibits the employment of any person below
18 years in mines.
· In order to make a comprehensive study on the issue of
child labour, the Government formed the Gurupadswamy committee in 1979. The
Committee felt that child labour is intrinsically related to poverty and as
long as poverty continued, it would be difficult to completely eliminate child
labour. Therefore, the best course would be to prohibit employment of children
in hazardous areas and to regulate their employment in others. On the basis of
the recommendations, the Government enacted the Child Labour (Prohibition &
Regulation) Act, 1986.
· The Act defines a child as a person who has not completed
14 years of age and prohibits employment of such children in hazardous
occupations specified in schedule to the Act. Initially the schedule contained
6 occupations and 13 processes. The schedule has been reviewed from time to
time. Presently, the list contains 18 occupations and 65 processes.
· The Government formulated a National Child Policy in 1987.
The policy outlined an action plan with three components. First aspect was
regarding strict enforcement of the labour laws including the Child Labour Act.
This included updating of the list of hazardous occupations by including
additional occupations identified as detrimental to the health and safety of
the children. Second aspect was focusing
on general development and covering needy people under poverty alleviation
programmes. Third aspect was to start projects specifically targeting child labour.
· The Juvenile
Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000 prohibits procuring
or employing a child in any hazardous employment or in bondage and provides
punishment for the same.
· Insertion of Article 21A in the Fundamental Rights and
subsequent enactment of the Right of Child to Free and Compulsory Education
Act, 2009 provides for free and compulsory education to all children from 6-14
years.
· National policy for Children adopted by the Government of
India in April, 2013 also considers the need for protection of children under
situations of labour.
Programmes for
benefit of child labour
· National Child Labour Project (NCLP) scheme was launched in
9 districts. The scheme envisaged running of special schools for child labour
withdrawn from work. In these schools, these children were provided formal/non
formal education along with vocational training as well as a cash stipend of
Rs.100/- which was increased to Rs.150/- with effect from April, 2011. The
scheme is being gradually extended to more and more districts it progressively
covered 271 districts. As per annual report of the Ministry of Labour for
2012-13 it is presently running in 266 districts.
· INDUS (Indo US Child Labour Project) was run in cooperation
with the Department of Labour, USA which also covered 21 districts. However,
the scheme which was launched in 2000 was only for 8 years and has ended in
March, 2009. An estimated 1,03,152 child workers have been rescued and
rehabilitated under this project.
· Another ILO Project named “Converging against Child Labour”
has been launched in collaboration with the International Labour Organization
and with support of US Department of Labour. The programme covers two districts
each in five states (Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa).
· Other schemes like Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal
Scheme, Integrated Child Protection Scheme, Rural Employment Schemes and other
similar schemes are also being implemented for welfare of children and poverty
alleviation. All these are expected to make a dent in the problem of Child
labour.
