CHILDREN’s DAY: Child workers need protection
The origin of child labour being an act of ‘exploitation’ has graduated into a ‘compulsion’ where a working child has now assumed the status of a most important bread-earner for the family.
Sajjad Bazaz
Even as Children’s Day (November 14) is celebrated to honour children’s rights and raise awareness about their well-being and education in India, it is also a fact that millions of children in India continue to be robbed of their childhood joy. They are deprived of affection, lack protection and are forced into child labour. Even as these marginalized children are full of potential, lack of resources and neglect of the authorities leave them struggling to achieve their potential. And they live life as children in street situations (CISS).
On this Children’s Day, it’s imperative to pick up the issues confronting children in Jammu and Kashmir who lack protection, education and stand deprived of the overall childhood joy for want of care and resources. Three years back (in 2022) J&K government rolled out an approved policy for rehabilitation of children in street situations by filing First Information Reports (FIRs) against those who hire children for work. The policy gives police and other agencies the authority to strictly enforce the anti-child labour legislation.
Let me reproduce a relevant portion of the policy document. It reads: “Local police shall register an FIR against the perpetrators and employers of children for violation of Child Labour Act, 1986, Juvenile Justice Act,2015 and Indian penal Code 1860 on the statement of the child given before the Child Welfare Committee.”
On the eve of World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UNICEF revealed the data regarding the child labour. In 2024, about 13.8 crore children were into the child labour worldwide, with at least 5.4 crore doing dangerous jobs that could endanger their development, safety, or health.
India still faces significant problems with child labour. 11.8 million Indian children between the ages of 5 and 17 were working as child laborers, many of them in dangerous settings, according to the 2011 census.
The above stated figures suggest that child labour continues to be an unending menace and is a shameful blot on the society. Even as it is always widely condemned, the fact is that it robs children of their childhood. We find different geographies engaged in running programmes to eradicate child labour, but in reality, millions of child workers serve as a main source of income to families and fund households much needed livelihood. For them financial support is more important than schooling for their survival.
At our place (J&K), we see new child faces taking up menial jobs every passing day to carve out their living. The rising number of child workers only indicates that all our constitutional safeguards have failed to curb the menace. Just lay your hands on any child worker to know what made him/her to work at such a tender age instead of going to a school, you will come across stunning facts.
Most of them would be school dropouts as their parents (bread earners) were consumed during the course of the decades old turmoil and were left with no option but to take up some job to feed themselves and the family. In many cases, you will find the parents of the child were crippled due to illness and the pressure on such children was enormous to carve out financial resources for the treatment expenses of their ailing parents. There is also a section of child workers who are regular school and college goers, but use their spare time to earn for themselves. These are basically ‘minor teachers’ classes of child workers. You would usually find them exposed to severe health problems.
Precisely, child labour is present in every field, as for instance, automobile workshops, transport operations, tea stalls, hotels and restaurants, handicrafts, particularly carpet industry, small vending, black smithy, copper smithy and so on. Surprisingly, carpet industry considered as one of the backbones of our economy, has spinal cord in the child labour. In fact, our cultural industry, the handicrafts sector, is surviving because of child workers (artisans).
In other words, child labour has assumed significance of a ‘necessary evil’. In absolute poverty conditions, child labour would at least guard them against starvation. In the appropriate work environment, for a working child, it would be similar to apprenticeship that will serve him well as he becomes an adult. They would also develop socialization skills on the job and would prevent them from evil activities such as thievery, begging, etc.
Obviously, this kind of ‘necessity’ has to be backed by adequate safeguards to protect the working children from all forms of abuse. This is where focus is needed
So, with all these arguments child labour will remain there. At the moment we don’t see its total eradication. It makes sense that instead of entirely focusing on wiping out evil, there’s a need to initiate programmes where better working conditions are put in place for these child workers.
Since working at a tender age poses several health problems for the child’s development, the government needs to ensure that at least their employers extend special health-care facilities to them. The working hours also need to be under check as long working hours would develop abnormal socialization skills in them. There is also a dire need to bring these child workers under the ambit of insurance cover. Non-governmental organizations can be roped in to tailor solutions to see better working conditions and simultaneously making some arrangements for their education needs.
In succinct, the world has been fighting to eradicate the evil practice of child labour, but the fact is that over a period of time the number of working children is only burgeoning. Its origin from an act of ‘exploitation’ has graduated into a ‘compulsion’ where a working child has now assumed the status of a most important bread-earner for the family.
Here, it is worth mentioning that we have laws in place that prohibit child labour and lays down punishment if a person violates it. However, these laws do not completely ban the employment of children in certain sectors. Teenagers above 14 years of age can be hired for jobs not considered as hazardous. This is what is contained in the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2016.
Precisely, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, regulates the laws related to child Labour. It also prohibits the employment of children between the age group of 14-18 years in dangerous occupations. Even as this law provides a protection to the children, the mass engagement of children working in hazardous fields is a common sight and all this is happening under the nose of authorities.
(Sajjad Bazaz is Editor-In-Chief at Straight Talk Communications.)
