CHILD LABOUR

 

CHILD LABOUR

INTRODUCTION:

               Child labour is pervasive problem more so in the developing countries.

               The word “Work” means full time commercial work to sustain self or add to the family income, any child, who is employed in activities to feed self and family is being subjected to “Child labour”.

 

DEFINITION:

     Child labour exists when an individual who has not yet attained the age of 14 years has suffered due to his premature employment that may lead to abnormal physical, mental or social development.

 

ETIOLOGY

Ø  Economic and political instability

Ø Discrimination / casteism

Ø Migration

Ø Criminal exploitation

Ø Low Levels of education

Ø Lack of work opportunities for adults

Ø Large family size

Ø Parental ignorance

MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM

     According to the International Labour Organization 2012 report, 168 million children around the world are engaged in child labour, accounting for 11% of Worlds child population.

 

     According to a conservative estimate, over 80 million children aged less than 15 years are engaged in child labour in the world.

 

     India has the largest force of child laborers in the world, about 90% them being in rural areas every third house has a working child every fourth child is employed.  In India’s national capital alone, 5,00,000 children are estimated to be working in shops or way side eating places (dhabas), as domestic servants, or street children (rag pickers, for instance).

 

 

MAJOR PATTERNS OF CHILD LABOUR

 

Ø  Unorganized sector: A vast majority of the child labour force is in the unorganized sector – agriculture works, as shoeshine boys, rag-pickers, newspaper, vendors, cigarette vendors, helpers in shops and small way side restaurants of petty servants for running errands in private homes.

 

Ø Organized sector: Only a small proportion of working children are in the real organized sector, in actuality, it is the semi-organized sector capet weaving sari emboroidery, brassware, precious stone polishing bidi making, bangle manufacturing, leather tannery, match and firework manufacturing construction work.  Gas stations, petrol pumps. Outmobile workshops and autogarages etc., which monopolize the situation.

 

BACKGROUND FACTORS

Ø Poverty is the single most important factor responsible for child labor.

Ø Exploitation by the parents, who have selfish motives in wanting children to work rather than go to school, is after the operative cause.

Ø Other factors include exploitation by the employers bad company, begging gang, school dropout child out of wedlock, maladjustment in the family death of parent(s) and juvenile delinquency.

 

HEALTH HAZARDS

Ø Environmental hazards: The working child is exposed to adverse factors such as duct, smoke, lighting and radition, unsafe and  unhygienic conditions mention just a few all of which threaten his health.

 

Ø Drug abuse: Child laborers are frequently exposed to smoking boozing and drug which eventually lead to addiction and far reaching damage to child’s health.

 

Ø Veneral diseases: Child prostitution and sexual exploitation may lead to veneral disease (VD).

 

Ø Occupations hazards / accidents and injuries: Incidence of injuries while working is quite high.  The leading causes include lifting of heavy weight, broken glasses, slipping or falling, and injuries.

 

Ø Caused by various materials and machinery.

 

Ø Communicable disease: There is evidence that the working children have much higher incidence of communicable disease such as tuberculosis leprosy and VD.

 

Ø Malnutrition:- Poor nutrient intake in relation to increased needs more so as a result of increased manual work adversely and affects the normal growth spurt during puberty and adolescence.

 

Ø Psychosocial development: Restricted Social interaction with denial of linsure, play and recreation and long hours of daily work leave crippling effect on child’s emotional development.

 

Ø Little wonder, smoking, drug addiction, smuggling and even prostitution are common in working children juvenile delinquency is very high in such children.

 

Ø High morbidity: Magnitude of ailmnets, say headache, backache, cold, cough, fever, conjuctivities, scabis, pyoderms, nutritional deficiency stats, tuberculosis intestinal parasitic infestations, diarrheal disease and accidents, etc is far higher in child labourers.

 

 

 

NATIONAL CHILD LABOR POLICY

 

          The national child labor policy (NCLP) was formulated in 1987 and 10 industries were selected for remedial action, the NCLP aim to revitalize and anti-poverty programs in the designated areas to strengthen the labour law enforcement machinery and to provide the children with better facilities for education, nutrition and Health.  However, the NCIP can only cover at best 30,000 children a minute fraction of the total 44 million working children in india.

 

 

CHILD ACT

 

Ø  The highlights of the Child Labor (Prohibition and regulation) Act, 1986, in our country are listed.  Most glaring feature of the act is that, except the family based work or recognized school based activities, children are not expected to work in occupation concerned with agriculture industry etc.

 

Ø Disillusioned by the worsening child labour scenario in India, the supreme court of India in 1996 directed all state governments and union territories to take concrete steps to abolish child labor.  It identified nine industries for priority action and directed setting up of child labor rehabilitation welfare fund.

 

Ø The offending employees are supposed to play for each child a compensation of 7,20,000 to be deposited in the fund.

 

Ø The Indian Academcy of pediatrics (IAP) committee on Child Abuse, Neglect and Child Labor (CAMCL) has formulated as ambitious countrywide strategy to fight the malady.

 

SUMMARY

          Child labour, according to the international labour organization, it a term that refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives them of their childhood, interfers with their ability to attend regular school, that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful.