A SOCIAL EVIL

A Picture

is worth a thousand words

Some Bitter Ones

Child labour is not only a social problem but also an economic one

Watching a young child work for fourteen hours a-day is what is

termed as child labor.

Child labour has a predominant feature in Indian society

carpet industry requires the fine little fingers to weave the finest and

tiniest of knots to create the most expensive of carpets

firecracker industry probably prefers kids to men because they are

cost effective and more efficient

Even household labor – children last longer and are more honest

than adults; is a claim made by most homemakers

Acc. to UNICEF◦ A child involved in child labor activities if between 5-11

years of age, he/she did at least one hour of economic activity a day or at least 28 hrs of domestic work in a week & in case of children between 12-14 yrs of age, he/she did at least 14 hrs of economic activity or at least 42 hrs of economic activity & domestic work per week.

Acc. to India’s Census 2001 office

It defines child labour as participation of a child less than 17 yrs of age in any economically productive activity with or without compensation, wages or profit.

Acc to ILO

Children who participate in work that doesn’t affect their health & personal development or interference with their schooling, is not child labour, rather it may generally be regarded as being something positive.

Acc. to 2001 census 12.6 million children are child labours in India below 14 years of age.

Acc. to UNO there are 217 million child labour worldwide.

While buffaloes may cost up to 15,000 rupees , children are sold at prices between 500 and 2,000 rupees.

47 out of 100 children in India enrolled in class I reach class VIII, putting the dropout rate at 52.79%.

Approximately 16.64% of villages in the country do not have facilities for primary schooling. (UNICEF)

42 million children in the age-group 6-14 years do not attend school in India.

Uttar Pradesh has highest no.of child labour cases

in India.

Acc. to Mallikarjun kharge, minister of Labour and

Employment West Bengal has performed worst in

NCLP. Reports says during 2010-2013 only

12,788 children were brought to mainstream

whereas in Odisha 38,500 and in M.P. 38,000

children were brought to the main stream.

OVER POPULATION: limited resources and more

mouths to feed, Children are employed in various forms of work.

ILLITERACY :Illiterate parents do not realize the need for a proper physical,emotional and cognitive development of a child.

POVERTY: Many a time poverty forces parents to send their children to hazardous jobs.

URBANIZATION: MNC's and export industries in the developing world employ child workers, particularly in the garment industry.

ORPHANS: Children born out of wedlock, children with no parents and relatives, often do not find anyone to support them. Thus they are forced to work for their own living.

WILLINGNESS TO EXPLOIT CHILDREN: This is at the root of the problem Even if a family is very poor, the incidence of child labour will be very low unless there are people willing to exploit

these children.

UNEMPLOYMENT OF ELDERS: Elders often find it difficult to get jobs. The industrialists and factory owners find it profitable to employ children. This is so because they can pay less and extract more work. They will also not create union problem.

Causes of ChildLabour

Physical injuries and mutilations are caused by badly maintained machinery on farms and in factories, machete accidents in plantations, and any number of hazards encountered in industries such as mining, ceramics and fireworks manufacture

Pesticide poisoning is one of the biggest killers of child laborers. In Sri Lanka, pesticides kill more children than diphtheria, malaria, polio and tetanus combined. The global death toll each year from pesticides is supposed to be approximately 40'000

Growth deficiency is prevalent among working children, who tend to be shorter and lighter than other children; these deficiencies also impact on their adult life

Long-term health problems, such as respiratory disease, asbestosis and a variety of cancers, are common in countries where children are forced to work with dangerous chemicals

HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases are rife among the one million children forced into prostitution every year; pregnancy, drug addiction and mental illness are also common among child prostitutes

Exhaustion and malnutrition are a result of underdeveloped children performing heavy manual labour, working long hours in unbearable conditions and not earning enough to feed themselves adequately

National Policy on Child Labour was formulated in 1987.

National child Labor Program me(NCLP) 1988 was formulated.

Article 24 of Indian Constitution Prohibits Child Labor.

Juvenile Justice( care & protection) of children act 2000.

Child labor( prohibition & Regulation) Act 1986.

The Factories Act 1948.

The mines Act 1952.

The Right of children to free & compulsory education act 2009.

Orissa Child Labor( prohibition & regulation) rules 1994.

The government has made efforts to prohibit child labor by enactingChild labor laws in India including the 1986 Child Labor (Prohibitionand Regulation)

Government has accordingly been taking proactive steps to tacklethis problem through strict enforcement of legislative provisionsalong with simultaneous rehabilitative measures

State Governments, which are the appropriate implementingauthorities, have been conducting regular inspections and raids todetect cases of violations

Government has been laying a lot of emphasis on the rehabilitationof these children and on improving the economic conditions of theirfamilies

OBJECT:To prohibit the engagement of children in certain employment’s and to

regulate the conditions of work or children in certain other employment’s

DEFINITION:Child: Child means a person who has not completed his fourteen years

of age.

APPLICABILITY: In extends to the whole of India

WEEKLY HOLIDAY:Every child shall be allowed in each week a holiday of one whole

day.

HOURS AND PERIOD OF WORK: The period of work on each day shall not exceed

three hours and no child

shall work for more than three hours before he has had an interval for rest for

at least one hour. No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7

P.m. and 8 a.m.

No child shall be required or permitted to work overtime.

1. Transport of passengers, goods; or mails by railway

2. Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or building operation in the railway

premise.

3. Work in a catering establishment at a railway station, involving the movement

of vendor or any other employee of the establishment from one platform to

another or into or out of a moving train.

4. Work relating to the construction of railway station or with any other work

where such work is done in close proximity to or between the railway lines.

5. The port authority within the limits of any port.

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6. Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks in shops with temporary

licenses

7. Abattoirs/slaughter Houses

8. Automobile workshops and garages.

9. Founderies

10. Handling of taxies or inflammable substance or explosives

11. Handlom and powerloom industry

12. Mines (Under ground and under water) and collieries

13. Plastic units and Fiber glass workship

PENALITIES: Section-3 shall be punishable with imprisonment which shall

not be less than three months which may extend to one year or with fine

which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may

Extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both. section (3) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which

shall not be less than

six months but which may extend to two years.

Any other violations under the Act shall be punishable with simple imprisonment,

which may extend to one month or with fine, which may extend to ten thousand

rupees or with both.

The Silent Killer…

Children are remarkably imaginative and resilient -

but also heartbreakingly fragile and vulnerable.

“ So let us share their dreams

And shape their future ” .