CHILD LABOUR Innocence lost, “Child is the father of man”,“Child is the father of man”, indeed a beautiful expression by Wordsworth. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru passionately advocated compulsory primary education to all of India’s children because he believed that it was essential for India’s future progress. Shri V.V. Giri the former president of India called child labour a bad economic practice and an overt social evil. It is such a shame that even in the 21st century child labour prevails and the vision of these greats and many others seem to remain just that a vision for a better future for our children. More like a mirage, the closer one gets, the further it seems.
WHAT IS CHILD LABOUR?
‘Child labor’ is a term which means ‘working child’ or ‘employed child’. ‘Child labor’ is any work done by a child for profit. It translates into child exploitation and inhumanity according to sociologists, development workers, medical professionals and educationists. Child labour has been identified as being harmful and hazardous to a child’s developmental needs, both mental and physical. “Failure comes only when we forget our ideals, objectives and principles.” “It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.” Both the quotes mentioned above are by Jawaharlal Nehru. He must have made the quotes in a different context but it still does hold good in relation to child labour also. The society as a whole, the nation as a whole, our political class, our elected representatives, our laws and bills, everything has failed miserably when it comes to child labour. We all seem to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.
CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
Some of the common causes of child labor are poverty, over population, parental illiteracy, social apathy, ignorance, lack of education and exposure; exploitation of cheap and unorganized labor etc. Parents are forced to send little children into hazardous jobs for reasons of survival, even when they know it is wrong. Monetary constraints and the need for food, shelter and clothing drives their children in the trap of premature labor. Over population in some regions creates paucity of resources. When there are limited means and more mouths to feed, children are driven to commercial activities and their development needs are not provided for. This is the case in most Asian and African countries.
Illiterate and ignorant parents do not understand the need for wholesome proper physical, cognitive and emotional development of their child. They are themselves uneducated and unexposed, so they don’t realize the importance of education for their children. Apart from this, the other major cause is that child labour has become an accepted norm in most parts of our country. Sociologists, NGO’s, medical professionals and educationists have all identified child labor as harmful and hazardous to the child’s development needs, both mental and physical. Sometimes it is the family practice to pass on traditional skills to the children. This also pulls little ones into the trap of child labor, as they never get the opportunity to learn anything else. Absence of compulsory education at the primary level, parental ignorance regarding the ill effects of child labor, the redundant child labour laws in terms of implementation, non availability and non accessibility of schools, boring and impractical school curriculum and cheap child labor are some other factors which encourage child labor. Adult unemployment and urbanization also causes child labor.
PREVALANCE OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
How often does a person think of what goes into making those shimmering sarees or dresses where there is elaborate use of zardosi and other hand embroidery? Behind all that sheen and shimmer of the evening wear of the cocktail circuits lie the harsh reality of child labour. Child labour is prevalent in home-based manufacturing work like embroidery and zardosi. Small units are set up in the crowded bylanes where children are engaged in this handmade embroidery work. Tiny hands are perfect tools for the carpet industry. Child labour is cheap and hence factory owners find it more beneficial to employ children. This exploitation is particularly visible in garment factories of urban areas. Adult exploitation of children is also seen in many places. For instance, begging which is an organized syndicate. Some of these issues have come into focus recently. Thanks to the sensitive films which have been made in the recent years. Now people are at least aware of the existence of the begging mafia. Hundreds and thousands of children are toiling as bonded labor in India’s silk industry, beedi units, cracker industry, construction business, etc and the government has done precious little to protect their rights. Indian sweet shops and hotels are notorious for profiting from child labor. These shops use small and vulnerable children in the manufacturing process. Children as young as eleven and thirteen toil in these shops for hours on end and suffer from exertion and fatigue. They have no fixed working hours, no proper food, and are constantly threatened by the owners and are deprived of their childhood. Children are also sexually exploited by the owners. But as always, their cries are muffled and just die a natural death in the din of the chaos that prevails around them.
STOP CHILD LABOUR
“WE CAN. WE MUST. WE WILL.” It is urgently required to save our children from the murderous clutches of social injustice and educational deprivation. We must ensure that they are given opportunities for healthy, normal and happy growth because the future of a community is in the well being of its children. Going back to Nehru’s quotes “Failure comes only when we forget our ideals and objectives and principles.” “It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.”
At YuvaLok we are doing our part. Over 35% of our children have been rescued from child labour. Today they are on the road to a bright future. They can hold their heads high looking at the opportunity that is there before them with dignity.
So let’s not forget our ideals and objectives and principles. And let’s not make suggestions and later forget them. Our children are our future. Let us remain united and take a stand for this genuine cause. Save our children. Save our planet and save our future generations. Like the saying goes, “we have not inherited our planet from our forefathers, but borrowed it from our children.” So let us think ahead and act today to save tomorrow.
