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What is Child Labour

“The term ‘child labour’ is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that:

is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and
interferes with their schooling by:

Depriving them of the opportunity to attend school;
Obliging them to leave school prematurely; or
Requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.”

Laws governing Child Labour

The Factories Act of 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in any factory. The law also placed rules on who, when and how long can pre-adults aged 15–18 years be employed in any factory.

The Mines Act of 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18 years of age in a mine. Mining being one of the most dangerous occupations, which in the past has led to many major accidents taking life of many. Children are completely banned for employment in Mining.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in hazardous occupations identified in a list by the law. The list was expanded in 2006, and again in 2008.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000: This law made it a crime, punishable with a prison term, for anyone to procure or employ a child in any hazardous employment or in bondage. This act provides punishment to those who act in contravention to the previous acts by employing children to work.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009: The law mandates free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years. This legislation also mandated that 25 percent of seats in every private school must be allocated for children from disadvantaged groups and physically challenged children.

Main Causes of Child Labour

Major causes of child labour that can be understood keeping in mind the Indian scenario, are:

Poverty:-

In developing countries it is impossible to control child labour as children have been considered as helping hand to feed their families, to support their families and to feed themselves. Due to poverty, illiteracy and unemployment parents are unable to bear the burden of feeding their children and to run their families. So, poor parents send their children for work in inhuman conditions at lower wages.

Previous Debts:-

The poor economic conditions of people in india force them to borrow money. The Illiterate populations go to money lenders and sometimes mortgage their belongings in turn of the debt taken by them. But, due to insufficiency of income, debtors find it very difficult to pay back the debt and the interest. This vicious circle of poverty drags them towards working day and night for the creditor and then the debtors drag their children too in assisting them so that the debts could be paid off.

Professional Needs:-

There are some industries such as the ‘bangle making’ industry, where delicate hands and little fingers are needed to do very minute work with extreme excellence and precision. An adult’s hands are usually not so delicate and small, so they require children to work for them and do such a dangerous work with glass. This often resulted in major eye accidents of the children.

Important Facts:-

Currently, there are nearly 30 million people held in slavery and an estimated 26 percent are children worldwide.

In 2012, 168 million children – from 5-years-old to 17 – were involved in child labor. Of this number, 85 million worked in hazardous conditions, enduring beatings to sexual violence.
Around the world one in six children are forced to work, with children below the age of 18 representing between 40 to 50 percent of laborers.
Children living in more rural areas can begin working as young as the age of five.
According to the ILO, an estimated two thirds of all child labor is in the agricultural sector.
The highest proportion of child laborers is in Sub-Saharan Africa where 49 million children are forced laborers.
The highest numbers of child laborers are in Asia and the Pacific, where over 122 million children are forced into work.
According to the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there are over 300,000 child soldiers forced into armed combat.
In most regions, girls are just as likely as boys to be involved in child labor; however, girls are more likely to be involved in domestic work.
According to the ILO, only one in five child laborers is paid for their work, as the majority of child laborers are unpaid family workers.

The Challenges

Poverty is the most often cited reason why children work. Pressured to provide food and shelter, as well as to pay off debt owed by the parents, some children have no other choice but to become involved in labor in order to support their families. However, some children are sold against their will and forced into slavery. Other factors that influence whether children work or not include barriers to education and inadequate enforcement of legislation protecting children.

Child labor is a complex issue, as are the solutions, but the following steps must continue to be pushed for in order to see further progress. First and foremost, child labor laws must be enforced. Another strategy would be to reduce poverty in these areas so as to limit the need for children to be forced into these situations. Finally, providing access to quality education ensures that each child has a chance for a better future.

Conclusion

If awareness about the cons of child labour is spread across the nation and strict policing of implementation of existing laws are done, India can combat the issue of Child Labour. Every individual must understand how important it is for the children to grow and study, as they are the ones who will shape the future of the nation.