CHILD LABOUR BY VEDANT DAVE

 CHILD LABOUR 

Child labour is a word that refers to the exploitation of children through any occupation that deprives them of their childhood, stops them from attending regular school, and is detrimental to their physical, mental, social, and moral development. The use of children for labour is forbidden by law everywhere. At the same time, some exceptions exist, such as work performed by young artists, household chores, supervised training, and various kinds of child labour used by Amish children and native children in the Americas.

Child labour is employing and engaging the children in economic activities such as exploitative industries, trafficking, etc. on a part-time or full-time job basis.

According to the 2001 census, the number of child labourers in India was about 13 million; most of the child labourers are employed in rural areas.

About 60% of them are under 10 years of age. 23% of children are engaged in business, while 36% of children are in household work.

• Child Labour means making children work for money instead of studying and enjoying childhood.

• This issue is prevalent not only in India but has a global presence.

• Children should spend their days playing, studying, and eating healthy food.

• Child labour stops children from exercising their basic rights like education.

• Poverty triggers child labour worldwide.

• Children from families that don’t have adequate income are forced to work and earn wages.

• The payment is very less, and sometimes, they are not even paid for their hard work.

• Working under laborious conditions affects a child’s mental, physical, emotional, and social well-being.

• Little kids have to work in fields, mines, factories, workshops and other such establishments as cheap labourers while some kids also work in households as domestic helpers.

• The social peril of child labour must end and every child should attend school, play with friends and live a happy life without worrying about work.

CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA

According to the ILO, there are around 12.9 million Indian children engaged in work between the ages of 7 to 17 years old. When children are employed or doing unpaid work, they are less likely to attend school or attend only intermittingly, trapping them in the cycle of poverty. Millions of Indian girls and boys are going to work every day in quarries and factories, or selling cigarettes on the street. The majority of these children are between 12 and 17 years old and work up to 16 hours a day to help their families make ends meet. But child labour in India can start even earlier with an estimated 10.1 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 years-old engaged in work.

HOW MANY CHILD LABOURS ARE THEIR IN INDIA?

As children get older, their involvement in employment also increases. In India, 20 percent of all children aged 15 to 17 years old are involved in hazardous industries and jobs . Measuring the exact scale of child labour in India is difficult as it is often hidden and under-reported. There are almost 18 million children between the ages of 7 to 17 years old who are considered “inactive” in India, neither in employment nor in school. These missing girls and boys in India are potentially subject to some of the worst forms of child labour.

WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA 

Despite the recent economic boom in India, more than a third of all Indians still live below the poverty line. The technical innovations and developments in the IT sector have not created jobs in poverty-stricken areas. People from rural areas with little education often see no alternative but to take their children out of school and put them to work to help feed their family. Due to the dire situation of many families, children are sold by their fathers and mothers to child traffickers or parents abandon their children in the countryside while they look for work in a big city. These children are especially vulnerable and are often exploited by traffickers who force the boys and girls to work for very low wages or nothing at all.

WHAT NEEDS TO  BE DONE TO STOP CHILD LABOUR??

Much more has to be done in the political landscape to stop exploitative child labour in India: the laws against child labour must be further tightened and more strictly enforced. In addition, it is important to combat extreme poverty, a root cause of child labour. Addressing poverty and inequality is crucial to end child labour in India.

 

Access to education is also vital to break the vicious cycle of poverty and child labour. As children complete higher levels of education, they are more likely to find decent work in adulthood and can use their income to care for themselves and their families without relying on child labour. Although education is compulsory and free in India for children up to the age of 14, widespread poverty forces families to prioritize putting food on the table over sending their children to school. As a result, many children attend school irregularly or not at all because they have to work instead.