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http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/06/india-erupts-over-loopholes-in-child-labour-law/
INDIA ERUPTS OVER LOOPHOLES IN CHILD LABOUR LAW - GIRLS
NEW DELHI, Jun 9 2015 (IPS) - In a bid to overhaul the
country’s child labour laws, the Indian government has banned the employment of
children below 14 years of age in various commercial ventures, while permitting
them to work in family enterprises and on farmlands after school hours and
during vacations.
“In
a large number of families, children help their parents in occupations like
agriculture and artisanship. And while helping the parents, children also learn
the basics of occupations,” stated a note
by the Union Cabinet, which approved an amendment to the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986.
By Neeta Lal
The
Act defines 64 industries as hazardous, deeming it a criminal offence for
children to employed in any of them. While parents or guardians will not face
any punishment for the first offence, a maximum fine of about 150 dollars will
be levied for the second and subsequent offences.
The new amendment will, however, permit kids to work in
“non-hazardous” businesses, the entertainment industry (including films,
advertisements and TV serials) and sporting events from the 18 occupations and
65 processes specified under the 1986 law.
The
government’s directive has triggered a raucous debate on the subject in India
at a time when public opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of a complete ban on
all types of employment for children.
Indian
Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi, who helms the child rights non-profit
organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan,
has been calling for a ban on every form of child labour in India for kids up
to 14 years of age.
Activists
fear that the provision allowing children to help out in domestic or
family-based occupations will enable families to flout or skirt the new law.
“The
new amendment will push millions of innocent children into forced labour and
deprive them of education and a normal childhood,” Rakesh Slenger of Bachpan
Bachao Andolan told IPS. “The girl child will be particularly disadvantaged as
she will be denied education while being stuck with all the household work.”
Experts
also fear this loophole violates the spirit of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which India signed and
ratified in 1992.
The
worst off will be kids from marginalized backgrounds who need to equip
themselves with an education and job skills in Asia’s third largest economy to
brighten their employment prospects.
The
government’s contention that once the law is changed it will help impoverished
families earn a living while equipping children with job skills is also myopic,
say child rights crusaders. They emphasize that India’s poor law enforcement
system and weak policing standards will hinder efforts to keep tabs on
exploitative families.
Others
say this gap in the law will reverse India’s gains in moving children from
workplaces into classrooms in line with the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)
target of achieving universal primary education by the end of 2015.
It will also contravene the Right to Education Act (RTE) 2009, which
guarantees a child the right to complete his or her elementary education even
after the age of 14.
Experts
also allege the government is overlooking the fact that even in household
enterprises, children still remain vulnerable to exploitation and health
hazards, which impacts their education.
Others
have raised a red flag about the possibility of children being pushed into work
in the entertainment or sporting industry by ambitious parents.
The
International Labour Organisation (ILO) says child labour is “a violation of
fundamental human rights”, which impairs a child’s development, potentially
leading to lifelong physical or psychological damage.
The
organisation’s comprehensive research on the subject demonstrates that
eliminating child labour can help developing economies generate economic
benefits nearly seven times greater than the costs incurred in better schooling
and social services.
India
would do well to heed this warning. The country has the dubious distinction of
hosting the largest number of child labourers in the world.
The
2011 census puts the number at 4.35 million working children in the 5-14 age
bracket. One in every 100 full-time workers in India is under the age of 14,
and a third of those child workers are under the age of nine.
This
augurs ill for a country of 1.25 billion people, 42 percent of whom are
children. Already, many kids are at risk of languishing in an endless cycle of
poverty – an estimated 23 percent of the population survives on less than 1.25
dollars a day – particularly since the government slashed the budget allocation
for the ministry of women and child development by 1.5 billion dollars this
year.
Activists
say this move could deprive millions of marginalised Indian kids the chance to
turn their lives around.
According
to a report by the Ministry of Labour, Indian child workers are engaged in a
wide range of hazardous and stressful occupations.
Kids
in the agriculture sector are made to carry heavy loads and sprinkle harmful
pesticides on crops. Last October, a blast at a cramped
firecracker-manufacturing unit in the East Godavari district of the southeast
state of Andhra Pradesh left almost a dozen people dead, including many children.
India’s
beedi (cigarette)-making industry is particularly notorious for employing kids
as young as seven years old. While government figures put the total number of
workers engaged in this informal industry at 4.4 million, activists claim the
real number is nearly double that, totaling roughly 10 million labourers.
Worse,
production of beedis involves prolonged exposure to tobacco leaves, which can
cause life-threatening diseases like tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, asthma
and malnutrition among others.
So-called
“family enterprises” are no better, say experts. This includes such industries
as matchbox making, carpet weaving and gem polishing. In these sectors, where
child labour is in high demand, police raids have highlighted inhumane
conditions in which children are made to work for no pay, with scant food and
no access to toilets.
“A
closer scrutiny of the government’s [amendment] reveals that children of all
ages may in fact be used for labour in some of the most hazardous industries in
the country. The Cabinet’s idea of striking a balance between the need for
education for a child and helping parents to earn better incomes makes no
sense,” says Amod Kanth, founder of Prayaas, a non-profit working for
children’s welfare.
According
to the social activist, relaxing legislation on child labour as a means of
alleviating poverty is a deeply flawed strategy. “The move will nullify
whatever progress the country has made in getting children out of forced labour
and into school. As it is government surveys are known to under-report child
labour. If child labour is legalised, the situation will spiral out of
control,” Kanth told IPS.
Even
a report by the Parliamentary
Standing Committee On the Child Labour Amendment Act underscores the
fallacy of the government proposing to keep a check on children working in
their homes.
“The
Ministry is itself providing loopholes by inserting this proviso since it would
be very difficult to make out whether children are merely helping their parents
or are working to supplement the family income. Further, allowing children to
work after school is detrimental to their health, as rest and recreation is
important for fullest physical and mental development in the formative years,
besides adversely affecting their studies,” states the report.
Rather
than going in for piecemeal amendments to current laws, activists say the
government should revamp the flagship 1986 Act itself, which has failed to curb
child labour effectively.
A
new beginning will also pave way for the rehabilitation of millions of children
rescued from exploitative industries or households, they say.
Edited by Kanya D’Almeida