CHILD LABOUR –A SOCIAL EVIL
The title of the article , itself , is an expressed manifestation of the subject matter , intended to reach the student fraternity who are themselves children upto their 10+2 level . It is the student , the future world citizen who has to understand the notion of sustainable development and imbibe the very spirit of all round progress of society as whole which is not possible if a large section of their counterpart are left out to be poverty-stricken and under-privileged . These proverty-stricken children have to work just to earn their end meet . Like India , it is a common scenario in all developing countries , a large section of under-privileged children are working in unorganized sector like small shops , tea stall , as domestic help , as contractual labour who are often exploited .Majority of them are having ill health , suffers from malnutrition and to work hard at very meagre wages. They are also deprived of schooling and parental care. These disparities between same age children belonging to different economic classes are not created by God, rather it is created by the society itself and obviously it is “ A Social Evil ” .
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines child as “A human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child , majority is attained earlier . Although the defined age bar of being a child differs country to country but the basic understanding of the definition of child remains the same . It is the very phase of human development where the parental care or in a wider sense societal or state care is of prime significance . There should be ample scope and facilities for all children irrespective of countries , race , religion , gender to develop their cognitive skill , mental development , creative skill , all other social skill like empathy , access to proper health care and nutritious food and right to education . In contrast if they are forced to child labour , it is the greatest EVIL and a sin created by mankind afflicted to themselves .
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has defined child labour as work that deprives children of their childhood , their potential and their dignity and that is harmful to physical and mental development .
“ Child labour impedes children from gaining the skills and education they need to have opportunities of decent work as an adult " .
As per census 2011 , the total child population in India in the age group (5-14) years is 259.6 million . Of these 10.1 million (3.9% of total child population) are working as main worker or as marginal worker . In addition more than 42.7 million children in India are out of school .
Distribution of working Children in India by type of work in 2011
Area of work
Percentage
Numbers(in million)
Cultivators
26.0
2.63
Agricultural labourers
32.9
3.33
Household industry workers
5.2
0.52
Other workers
35.8
3.62
National legislations and ILO conventions
The enactment of Child Labour Amendment (Prohibition and Regulation) Act , 2016( prohibits employment of any person below age 14 , exception family owned business and child actor) and The Right to Education Act , 2009 ( right to education upto class X , age 16) passed by Govt of India are in consonance with ILO’s two core conventions --
Convention no 138 stipulates that the minimum age at which children can start work should not be below the age of compulsory schooling and in any case not less than 15 years , with a possible exception for developing country .
Convention no 182 prohibits hazardous work which is likely to jeopardize children health .
Although there are international and domestic laws , are in force , to prohibit this evil but to eradicate this menace , all sections of society have to come forward . Here the students should take the lead under the able guidance of their parents and teachers so that all childrens in this world can smile and recite “ Tamaso Maa Jyotir –Gamaya ’’ ---Lead us from darkness to light i.e towards the light of wisdom , knowledge , peace and all round prosperities .
Debashis Das
Astt Executive Engineer
LIC of India
Mob-8420469757
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