Child labour exposes India's dirty underbelly
The reason behind the success of polio eradication campaign, is said to be the support from the citizens, and that?s what lacking in child labour issue. So the government?s efficiency and public support can work wonders
FOR THE last 60 years India has been dealing with many sensitive issues, one such complex issue which is affecting the future of the country is the problem of child labour. However, first we need to know what exactly child labour is? “Whoever is below 14 years of age and is engaged in work or any kind of labour is a child labour”, says Makasare, public prosecutor in the Mumbai High Court. But Santosh Shinde, a Mumbai-based child right activist who has been fighting against child labour for the last 10 years has a different take and explains: “It’s quite confusing in our country to define who exactly should be called a child. The International Child Right Convention of Dec 11, 1992, has been rectified and according to that a child means a person below the age of 18 years and the same is applicable to child-labour issues.”
Kunti, a maid in Borivalli in Mumbai, who sends her kids to work and earn, says: “I have four kids, three of them work while the fourth one (Golu) is 1-year-old and is too small to work but he will also work when he grows up”. Kunti is not talking about Golu working when he matures but he will be working when he reaches the age of 7 to 8 years and will be deprived of primary education just like his other three siblings, who contribute to the family’s income.
When we talked to one of Golu’s sister, Anguri, some surprising facts came to light. “I am 8-years-old and have been working for the last two years; I earn Rs 300 from one house”. But a child of 6 years and gets Rs 200 less compared to an adult labour. When we talked to Suvarna S. (name changed), Anguri’s employer, who is an educated person and aware of the fact that child labour is prohibited by law but doesn’t mind these poor kids assisting her for domestic work.
On explanation for such breach of law, some readymade excuses are conveniently thrown in: “I have not employed Anguri, it’s her mother who works at my place but when she is unable to come she sends Anguri and I am compelled to make use of them, someone has to work, be it Anguri or her mother. On further investigation the real ploy if not plight is revealed. “Anguri works at Suvarna madam’s house, I don’t work there”, clarifies Anguri’s mother, Kunti.
These parents have their own good reasons to send their wards for work at such a tender age. “We are poor people and one or two people earning does not fulfill our needs. The more people work and earn the better it is for the family. Even I am working since my childhood”, explains Kunti.
There are many such kids like Anguri and her siblings who start working at an age when they don’t even know what they want to be. 12-year-old Promod is another such example who works as a cleaner in a Nalasopara (a suburb in Thane district) restaurant and bar. He also is an example of migrant child labour. “I am from Bihar and am working here since last year. Many of my cousins and neighbours in Bihar came here to work and so did I”, says Promod. No doubt these workers are paid less but besides money the employers have many benefits to recruit kids.
Uday, Promod’s employer explains, “Cleaning is a low-paid job and grown up people don’t like to do this work. And even if they do, they gain experience and switch jobs when they get a better paying restaurant. But these young kids don’t run away easily because they don’t get jobs elsewhere. So we give preference to them. We give every facility in addition to salary; like food three times and sometimes shelter too”. But Santosh Shinde explains, “It is easy to exploit kids than grown-ups as kids don’t say ‘No’ to any work”.
But about some children who are working out of their own free will, like 13-year-old Janardan, who is self-employed and sells novels and magazines at traffic signals near Bandra, a suburb in Mumbai. “I work on my free will, no one has asked me to do so. Our father has left us to live with some other woman. My mother works as maid in different houses which does not fulfill our needs; so being the eldest sibling amongst four I feel responsible and work and my mother runs the family. I need to work, be it legal or illegal” says Janardan. Public prosecutor Makasare says, “If the law prohibits child labour, it prohibits working even a child’s ‘free will’ or under compulsion”.
The government does have laws and they do take action against it but due to corrupt employees all the action goes in vain. There are regular raids by police at different restaurants and hotels but there is a bitter truth as explained by Uday, a bar owner: “There has not been any raid at my bar till now but we hear about them. But what’s the use of these raids when you find the same kids back at work at the same place after some days. It all fixed. It’s all a give and take relationship” (laughs).
The problem of child labour is acute in poor states, but the southern coordinator of National Health Family Survey (NFHS), P. Arokiasamy gives some shocking facts from the latest survey report (NFHS -3): “Surprisingly, Gujarat despite being a rich state shows the highest prevalence of child labour, which is followed by Andhra Pradesh and other poor states”.
Seeing all the facts one question that comes to our mind is: “What is the government doing to ensure that this problem gets uprooted?” Child right activist Santosh Shinde seems to have the answer: “The Government of India has made an integrated child protection scheme, according to which protection of a child has become a priority of the government. In the initial stage it started with five states taking the responsibility but soon 21 states will come under this scheme. So then protection of child will be in the government’s hand and protection means protection from all kinds of exploitation and for this an Indian citizen needs to help the government to make it a success”.
The reason behind the success of polio eradication campaign, is said to be the support from the citizens, and that’s what lacking in child labour issue. So the government’s efficiency and public support can work wonders for fighting against child labour and then we can expect a brighter future for our country.
These parents have their own good reasons to send their wards for work at such a tender age. “We are poor people and one or two people earning does not fulfill our needs. The more people work and earn the better it is for the family. Even I am working since my childhood”, explains Kunti.
There are many such kids like Anguri and her siblings who start working at an age when they don’t even know what they want to be. 12-year-old Promod is another such example who works as a cleaner in a Nalasopara (a suburb in Thane district) restaurant and bar. He also is an example of migrant child labour. “I am from Bihar and am working here since last year. Many of my cousins and neighbours in Bihar came here to work and so did I”, says Promod. No doubt these workers are paid less but besides money the employers have many benefits to recruit kids.
Uday, Promod’s employer explains, “Cleaning is a low-paid job and grown up people don’t like to do this work. And even if they do, they gain experience and switch jobs when they get a better paying restaurant. But these young kids don’t run away easily because they don’t get jobs elsewhere. So we give preference to them. We give every facility in addition to salary; like food three times and sometimes shelter too”. But Santosh Shinde explains, “It is easy to exploit kids than grown-ups as kids don’t say ‘No’ to any work”.
But about some children who are working out of their own free will, like 13-year-old Janardan, who is self-employed and sells novels and magazines at traffic signals near Bandra, a suburb in Mumbai. “I work on my free will, no one has asked me to do so. Our father has left us to live with some other woman. My mother works as maid in different houses which does not fulfill our needs; so being the eldest sibling amongst four I feel responsible and work and my mother runs the family. I need to work, be it legal or illegal” says Janardan. Public prosecutor Makasare says, “If the law prohibits child labour, it prohibits working even a child’s ‘free will’ or under compulsion”.
The government does have laws and they do take action against it but due to corrupt employees all the action goes in vain. There are regular raids by police at different restaurants and hotels but there is a bitter truth as explained by Uday, a bar owner: “There has not been any raid at my bar till now but we hear about them. But what’s the use of these raids when you find the same kids back at work at the same place after some days. It all fixed. It’s all a give and take relationship” (laughs).
The problem of child labour is acute in poor states, but the southern coordinator of National Health Family Survey (NFHS), P. Arokiasamy gives some shocking facts from the latest survey report (NFHS -3): “Surprisingly, Gujarat despite being a rich state shows the highest prevalence of child labour, which is followed by Andhra Pradesh and other poor states”.
Seeing all the facts one question that comes to our mind is: “What is the government doing to ensure that this problem gets uprooted?” Child right activist Santosh Shinde seems to have the answer: “The Government of India has made an integrated child protection scheme, according to which protection of a child has become a priority of the government. In the initial stage it started with five states taking the responsibility but soon 21 states will come under this scheme. So then protection of child will be in the government’s hand and protection means protection from all kinds of exploitation and for this an Indian citizen needs to help the government to make it a success”.
The reason behind the success of polio eradication campaign, is said to be the support from the citizens, and that’s what lacking in child labour issue. So the government’s efficiency and public support can work wonders for fighting against child labour and then we can expect a brighter future for our country.
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.Himanshu, its great to see that you understand the issue of Child Labour from the perspective of the families rather than in isolation. We are looking to build a public movement that pressurises the government to put in place holistic rehabilitaiton policies for children in labour. It would be great if you could use your skills as a CJ to throw light on this. Do let us know if you'd like to join in
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Sir, I totally agree with you, w/o citizen support any movement can��t become successful. We should contribute to eradicate this serious problem.
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