Child Labor in India – A DISCOMFORTING TRUTH!

How many of us actually know “what child labor is?” Child Labor means -Children under 14 years of age, some as young as 4 or 5, toiling hard every day just to get a square meal.

In INDIA, a country with humongous population of 120 crores we often witness situations, involving a 7-year old serving chai/ an 8-year old washing cars/ 12-year old as delivery boys, and yet we conveniently choose to avoid them. Many industries, factories, small retailers and many more employ children to work because this basically gets their work done without burning a hole in their pocket. Just imagine a daily life situation where a 6-7 year old child delivers tea at your office, do you ever think what is his age was and when his last perfect meal was? No. Cause we all are too ignorant. Why do we become inhumane for that moment? Yes, this is a discomforting truth.

Absence of compulsory education at the primary level, parental ignorance regarding the bad effects of child labor, the lack of implementation of child labor laws and penalties, non-availability and non-accessibility of schools, boring and unpractical school curriculum and cheap child labor are the main factors in India which lead to child labor. Indian is home to close 13 million Child Laborers (census 2001). The Indian Constitution says that child labor is a wrong practice and standards should be set by law to eliminate it. The Child Labor Act of 1986 implemented by the government of India makes child labor illegal in many regions and sets the minimum age of employment at 14 years. Exploiters threaten kids in many ways and the child has no way out but to lie to keep his “job.”

UNICEF estimates that India with its larger population has the highest number of laborers in the world less than 14 years of age, while sub-Saharan African countries have the highest percentage of children who are deployed as child labor. Government statistics say that there are 2 crore (20 million) child laborers in India, a country that has ambitions of becoming a global superpower in a few years. Non-governmental agencies assert that the figure is more than 6 crore (60 million) including agricultural workers; some claim that the number could be 100 million, if one were to define all children out of school as child laborers.

In 2013, 920 prosecutions and 596 child labor law convictions took place. In previous years, despite rescue and rehabilitation of child laborers, prosecutions have not always taken place. In cases for which child labor prosecutions were launched, resolution has been unduly delayed because the judicial system is backlogged and overburdened. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines to all state governments on how to handle cases of child trafficking. These guidelines outline the specific steps that police and district officials must take when handling cases of child trafficking and forced child labor. In 2013, the state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Kolkata, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu provided anti-trafficking training to police officers.

Complaints about hazardous child labor can be made through a toll-free helpline, Child Line. In 2013, Child Line expanded to 67 additional cities and now operates in a total of 269 cities across India. After a complaint is received on Child Line (1098), the complaint is given to the police to investigate and rescue children.

Thousands of affluent Indians hire youngsters for household chores and to look after their own kids, under the pretext of providing some money to the parents of the child laborers and of offering a better life than he/she would normally have had. This is Bonded Child Labor. An estimated 14 percent of children in India between the ages of 5 and 14 are engaged in child labor activities, including carpet production.

Many NGOs like Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Care India, Talaash Association, Child Rights and You, etc. have been working to eradicate child labour in India. Looking at a various above-mentioned factors, we at Hcube-Human Helping Hands believe that this grotesque, abysmal, and awful practice of child labor can be eradicated from this Indian Society. We pledge to lend a helping hand to those children and admit these child labors to the nearest orphanages where they’ll be taken care of, and see to it that the person employing them will be punished.