the child labour : a socio-economic curse

8/14/2019 The Child Labour : A Socio-economic Curse

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THE CHILD LABOUR :A SOCIO-ECONOMIC CURSEAlok Kumar Ray*

We Will constitute soon a national Committee to celebrate theGolden Jubilee of our Independence, and an Euphoria will inundate thenation. But the Child Labour is still a national Phenomenon.Industrialisation, Population explosion, urbanisation, Unemployment ofadults, improper value system all are compelling factors to aggravate thissocio-economic evil, but it is the poverty and our failure to eradicate itthrough an integrated planning are the prime cause forcing our children toearn the bread for themselves and their families instead of attending theirschool.Constitutional Aspects:

The Constitution of India has ensured Socioeconomic Justice to thenation. Article 23 prohibits begging, forced labour and traffic in humanbeing. Article 24 categolically prohibits employing children below the ageof 14 years in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardousemployment. Right against exploitation is a Fundamental right, which canbe ensured through Judiciary. The Directive Principles of State policy aimat the establishment of the economic and social democracy which ispledged for in the preamble. Article 39 requires the state, i.e. particularlyto direct its policy towards Distributive Justice. It ensures. interalia:

(i) that the health and strength of men andwomen and tender age of children are notabused and that children are not forcedby economic necessity to enteravocation unsuited to their age orstrength.ii) That children are given opportunities andfacilities to develop in a healthy mannerand in conditions of freedom and dignityand that children and youth are protectedagainst exploitation and against moraland material abandonment.

Article 45 requires the State to endeavour to provide within a periodof ten years from the commencement of the Constitution, for free andcompulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14years. Article 39 (e) (f) and Article 45 are thus supplementary to Article 24-

B.Sc., LL.M., Faculty Member. Deptt. of Law, University of Burdwan, Burdwan


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Vol. 1X:llj THE CHILD LABOUR 181which prohibits child labour. Forty-five years have elapsed, Article 45 isstill a pious declaration only.

In 1986, the Child Labour (Prohibition& Regulation) Act has beenpassed to prohibit the employment of children under 14 years in somespecified hazardous occupations and processes such as Bidi making,carpet making, cement manufacturer, including bagging of Cement, soapmanufacture, tanning, building and construction Industry, any occupationconnected with transport of passengers, goods or mails by railway,cinder picking, cleaning of an ash pit or building operation in the railwaypremises and abattoirslslaughter processes. The Bonded Labour(Abolition) Act, 1976 has also been passed to pursue the object of Article23. The Central Cabinet has already approved a proposal to amend theChild Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 to make the lawmore comprehensive and stringent.

Realising the fact that the Law alone will not be sufficient to tacklethe problem, National policy on child labour was formulated by theMinistry of Human Resources in 1974. This policy includes a legilativeaction plan and anti poverty oriented development programme and awide variety of programmes covering non-formal education, health,nutrition, income and employment generation for poor parents in variousNational development schemes through Panchayatiraj and different non-governmental organisations. The mid-day meal programme in School isa commendable step taken by the Central Government to check thedropout rates and to provide food to our starved school going children.United N ation's Convention:

To protect and promote the well being of children in society, theconvention on the rights of the child was adopted by U.N. GeneralAssembly on 20-11-89. It advocates concrete public action by allindividuals and agencies to promote Civil, Political, Social, economic andCultrual rights of every child. These are (i) right to survival, (ii) the right toprotection, (iii) the right to development, and (vi) the right toparticipation. Ratifying the convention, India has pledged to eliminate thecurse in the world-order. National Committee has been formed under theUnion Labour Ministry as a prelude to the formal launching of the Rs.8501- crorers scheme to eliminate Child Labour, As a follow up action,the Government has adopted a National Plan of action (NPA) toeliminate the causes of their evil. The integrated Child DevelopmentServices (ICDS) Scheme has already been started in 1975 and the NPA


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182 CENTRAL INDIA LAW QUARTRTLY [I 96. indentifies quantifiable targets in terms of major as well as supportingsectoral goals in the areas of basic education, health and family welfare,child labour, drinking water and sanitation, representing the aspirationsthe child.The Reality:

lndia is the one of the few countries where primary education isnot compulsory nor child labour is totally illegal. The child labour in thecountry now numbers an alarming 99 millions which means that theyconstitute almost 9% of the total population. The problem is particularlyacute at the Shivakashi match factories and fireworks, glass factories atAgra and Ferozabad, powerloom works in M.P., Diamond industry inSurat, the export oriented carpet industry in U.P. handicraftmanufacturing units in Kashmir, among Bidi Workers all over theCountry, tea plantation and jute sectors. They are working as ragpickers,helpers in transport garages, domestic helps in homes, restuarents,brothers under appalling conditions. The deep-rooted gender biasprevailing in the society making the girl child the worst victim. lndia hasfour hkhs child prostitutes including forty thousand in Bombay alone.The drop-outs from schools during the primary and secondaryeducations is also most double in the case of girl students. The middleclass, conscience keeper of the society, is employing thousands of poorchildren especially girl child as domestic hands and baby sitters topursue their ambition for their school going children. In the carpetweaving factories in the Mirzapur Varanashi Belt, fifty thousand childlabourers between the age of 5 and 12 work at a stretch for 10 to 12hours. 48% of the children receive no wages and only food. The rest arepaid Rs. 11- to Rs. 51-at piece rate value. In the glass and Banglesfactories in Ferozabad50.000child labourers between the age group 5to 14work near furnaces of 1300 OC temperature for 8 o 10 hours.CONCLUSION:

The Child Labour Deterrence Act introduced in the U.S. Congressby Senator Tom Harkin is only a eyewash to humiliate the poor nations inthe guise of pseudo Human Rights movement. The U.S. Act prohibits theimport of any goods manufactured by child labour. The GATT (WTO)Treaty lay special stress on human rights, environment and child labourin its Social Clause. The U.S.A, self declared guardian of human rights,is now oversensitive to the issue primarily to corner the developing worldin the world trade market. But it is the capitalistic exploitation and refusalof the developed world to share their prosperity with the developingnations are responsible for this vice and injustice in the world order.


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Vol. IX:ll] THE CHILD LABOUR 183In the preamble of our constitution, we resolve to constitute asocialistic society based on socio-economic justice. We the Citizens oflndia are accountable to the nation and let us do whatever we can doindividually and collectively to eliminate this evil by extending our helpinghand to these hapless socio-economic victims of our unjuse socialsystem.

References: C1. Census of lndia (1991), Govt. of India, New Delhi.2. Rights of the Child (1990) Report of a Seminar. National Law School of In(ia University& UNICEF, India.3. Working Children in lndia (1993), National Labour Institute, Noida.4. Yojna, Vol - 38, No. -23, 1994 page-23 Right of the child & U N Convention - Achin Ray.5. Kurukshetra Vol XLlll No. -2. 1994 page-38. The Rights of the child: sins of omissionand commission - Dr. G Dhawan.

the child labour : a socio-economic curse

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