This blog post is actually part of a research paper I wrote for my International Business class which portrays the cause, effect and future of child labor in India.
As the second most populous country in the world India is still in a developing state. Unfortunately underage children make up a significant amount of the labor force. The 2001 Census of India estimates that over 12.26 million children in India work in hazardous conditions. India is ranked as the country with the most child laborers under the age of 14 in the world. Despite the fact that the Constitution of India assures free and compulsory education and prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14, child labor is still present in many sectors of the economy. This brings with it many complexities and human rights issues.
There are many disputes on the definition of child labor. For the context of this blog post, the description given by the International Labor Organization (ILO) will be assumed the most accurate. It reads as the following:
Not all work done by children should be classified as child labor that is to be targeted for elimination. Children’s or adolescents’ participation in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with their schooling, is generally regarded as being something positive. This includes activities such as helping their parents around the home, assisting in a family business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays. These kinds of activities contribute to children’s development and to the welfare of their families; they provide them with skills and experience, and help to prepare them to be productive members of society during their adult life.The term “child labor” 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;
- interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school or obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
In its most extreme forms, child labor involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age. Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child labor” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries. The answer varies from country to country, as well as among sectors within countries.
Further this blog post will explore India's position on international obligations. It identifies India's reduction and prevention methods. Last but not least this blog post reviews the progress made so far and what the future holds for children in India.
I. Cause of child labor in India
a. Where do children work?
Indian sweatshops are infamous for using child laborers which is equivalent to child slavery. Children as young as 11 years slog away in these shops and suffer from exertion and fatigue. They are exploited by not having a fixed schedule and are often threatened with the fear of getting fired. These poor children usually suffer of depression and are deprived of education and entertainment. The ill treatment of children in sweat shops happens illegally and quietly, therefore many of these child laborers go unreported.
Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economy. More than half of the total Indian work force is employed in the agricultural sector. Unfortunately it also accounts for 80% of the child laborers in India and 70% of child laborers globally. Working conditions in this sector are extremely hazardous for children. The most dangers are derived from mechanical injuries, heat-induced disorders, insect bites, and toxic effects of chemicals.
Many young girls are taken captive by human trafficking operations for prostitution purposes. Health hazards such as HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases are high among these child workers. Children in the commercial sex industry are deprived of the innocence of childhood and introduced to a distorted view of personal standards and moral values.
b. Poverty
Due to the free and compulsory education in India, poverty of parents should not be an alibi for condoning child labor. However there is definitely a positive correlation between the incidence of child labor and household economic status. The amount of child labor is substantially higher among poorer areas of India than among the richer sections.
c. School Drop Outs
For many children in rural parts of India, education has not traditionally been an option. Many of these children in rural areas are forced to drop out of school at an early age and enter the work force to help feed their families. This only creates a cycle of illiterate and uneducated families who will most likely remain in poverty stricken situations. Child labor seems to be higher in families with illiterate parents or heads of household. They often use their children as a supplementary source of income by forcing them into the work force.
II. Children’s Rights
d. International Children’s Rights
Child labor not only prohibits children from obtaining the skills and education needed for a better future, it’s also responsible for poverty. It affects the country’s economy due to losses in competitiveness, productivity and potential income. Therefore in 1989 the United Nations held its first Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention was the first to legally bind the full range of human rights on a civil-, economical-, political-, cultural- and social level.
In article 32 it is outlined that, “State parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.” Further in article 28 it is outlined that children are entitle to education. The International Labor Organization Convention (ILO) N. 138 and N. 182 encourages the elimination of the worst forms of Child Labor and outlines specific regulations to international child labor laws. Worst Forms of child labor outlined by the ILO Convention N. 182 article 3 are:
(a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.
e. Children’s Rights in India
The Indian Constitution dated 26th of January 1950 states specific clauses on India’s child labor policy. There are four particular set of laws regarding child labor. They are as following:
Article 14: No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
Article 39-e: The state shall direct its policy towards securing that the health and strength of workers, men and women and the tender age of children are not abused and that they are not forced by economic necessity to enter vocations unsuited to there are and strength.
Article 39-f: Children shall be given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth shall be protected against moral and material abandonment.
Article 45: The state shall endeavor to provide within a period of ten years from the commencement of the constitution for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.
In 1986 India passed the Child Labor Act to prohibit and regulate child labor in India. In 1992 India ratified the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. However Indian has not yet ratified the ILO N. 138 or the ILO N. 182. In 1996 the Indian Supreme Court ruled that the State and Union government are responsible to make a list of all children involved in hazardous working conditions and processes. They were then instructed to remove these children from the hazardous conditions and provide them with a proper education. The Child Labor and Welfare Fund was set up for financial support involved in this process. The funds for this were derived from fines to companies who breached the Child Labor Act. In 2006 India banned child domestic servitude. This was designed to expand on the Child Labor Act of 1986
III. Reduction and Prevention
f. Applied Methods
In 1987 the Indian Government introduced the National Child Labor Policy. This policy shaped a major child labor elimination program called the National Child Labor Project (NCLP). So far over 150 NCLPs have been launched all over India to also provide rehabilitation services to children that have been removed from hazardous working conditions. Several major states implemented time-bound programs aiming at universal elementary education to compliment the NCLP. Rs 6,020 million (roughly US$131 million) is supplemented by the Indian Government to sustain these national programs.
Since 1992 India has been participating in International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). IPEC is subsidized by the Government of India as well as by the United States Department of Labor. IPEC’s goal is to build an integrated multi-sectional approach through various components dealing with education, training and creating income for poor families in India.
In December of 2002 the India Government declared a long-term plan to provide free and compulsory education for all children ages 6 to 14 by 2010. This stemmed from the passage of the 86th Amendment.
g. Progress
Technology may be the changing factor for the children’s futures in India. The tech-industry is growing rapidly throughout India and is demanding educated workers. A multitude of new dependable jobs are becoming available such as software design and engineering. Parents are now urging their children to stay in school so they can enter this promising industry. Accordingly school enrollment in India has significantly risen.
The Indian government has build schools in communities that lacked proper educational establishments. Teachers were hired in existing schools that lacked proper staff. The Indian government also constantly monitors schools to make sure that utilities are in good working condition.
The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported an increase of 5 % of boys and 13 % of girls completed primary school from 2002 to 2005. Secondary school enrollment increased by 4% of boys and 8% of girls from 2002 to 2005.The data from the 2001 Census of India estimates that there were 12.26 million working children between the ages of 5 and 14. However the data also shows a 2% decrease in child labor (ages 5 to 14) from 1991 to 2001. In the 2004/2005 the National Sample Survey (NSSO) estimates suggested that child labor at the time was around 8.9 million.
IV. Conclusion
The sheer size of child labor as reported by official sources shows a declining drift. Though this may sound promising, the truth is that there is an inadequate coverage of the real statistics. There seem to be a need for a more specific official definition of child labor to adequately collect data.It is also necessary to push for free and compulsory education on a secondary level in India. Many children will finish their primary education, but would not have the means to continue secondary education. This ultimately results as a lost effort to the introduction of compulsory primary education.The only way to eliminate child labor in India, as well as other parts of the world is by holding true to the anti-child labor laws set forth by the UN, ILO, and regional governments. There is still a basic element missing which is the translation of law into action. There has to be a way to that the Global community as a whole can monitor each other and practice these laws. Perhaps if this resorts to a more strict international system with fines to those breaching the laws and rewards for those reporting exploitation of child laborers, eventually it will come to an earlier end.
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