Monday, 26 December 2016 | NABA KISHOR PUJARI | in Bhubaneswar
India is home to about 19 per cent of the world”s total child population and the country has the uncertain distinction of being home to the largest child labour force in the world, with an estimated 30 per cent of the world”s working kids living here.
According to the report of the Education International, of the estimated 21 million slaves in the world today, an astonishing 26 per cent, or more than one in every four, is a child under the age of 18, with some being as young as five. Forced to work for up to 18 hours a day, these children are sold for less than the price of cattle. They are deprived of their right to education and other human rights. This must stop.
Despite several laws, Acts, guidelines and directives for children in India, we as a country have not been able so far to protect the childhood of the children of our country. The state of Indian children draws a very sorry figure in terms of their development, education, health, participation and protection. Indian laws only say that those below 14 years of age cannot be employed in “hazardous” industries. The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Bill, prohibiting the employment of children below 14 altogether, was introduced in Parliament in 2012, but has not yet been passed.
Studies show that 60 million children work for approximately 200 days a year at an average cost of Rs15 per child per day. This amounts to Rs18,000 crore in one year. Now, these 60 million child labourers, when substituted with 60 million adult labourers, would earn Rs1.38 trillion at a minimal rate of an average floor wage of Rs115 per day per labourer for 200 days. This difference in the total earnings works out to Rs1.2 trillion. This straight profit of Rs1.2 trillion is a significant loss to the economy.
The major occupations involving child labour are pan, bidi and cigarettes (21per cent), construction (17 per cent), and spinning and weaving (11 per cent), which qualify as hazardous processes/occupations. Domestic workers constitute 15 per cent of the total child workers.
The Government of Odisha has its commitment in the State Plan of Action for Children 2009-2012 that the Government would reduce and eventually eliminate entirely the practice of child labour in the State. But this has not been ensured. For years now, the State Government has not carried out any comprehensive survey to find out the population of child labourers in the State.
Data (from the National Sample Survey Organisation, January 2014) now puts that the number of child labour under the age five to fourteen in rural Odisha as 24 and 41 in urban areas per 1,000 population. The total number of child labour in the State as per the report is 2, 22,953. The State Government has enacted Orissa Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Rules, 1994, the Bonded Labour System (abolition) Act, 1976, The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986, The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000 and The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009. This apart, the State Government is also implementing 24 National Child Labour Projects (NCLP).
According to a study report on child labour, 31 per cent of the working children are dropped out from the school. Moreover, about 29 per cent of the working children have never attended school; only 40 per cent are those who currently attending school. Out of the total children currently studying 3 per cent is in primary. The Economic Survey report 2013-14 of the State Government also reveals that during 2012-13, 39,409 child labours were admitted into 812 special schools opened under NCLP but these initiatives would not suffice the cause against the magnitude of the problems prevailing in the State. The relentless effort of Kailash Satyarthi and Malala and the recognition for their fight against child servitude and education must add enthusiasm, spirit and commitment in us to continue our fight against the slavery. After all, we need a country where there are no practices of child servitude and children enjoy their fullest form of rights. Recently, Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya has revealed that the Centre plans to bring a long-pending key amendment Bill that seeks to ban employment of children below 14 years of age in any occupation in the coming session of Parliament. This is a good move but are we not missing opportunities again and again when we have with us several laws, acts, policies and pro-active measures of the Government. We could not even meet the target of Education For All (EFA) Goals, Millenniums Development Goals (MDGs).
This article was published in the Pioneer, a premium National English Daily newspaper. Readers can see the published post through:
http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/child-servitude-must-end-once-and-for-all.html
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