FAMOUS ENGLISH poet William Wordsworth once said, “The Child is the father of the Man.” With the time, the quote lost its significance and now hardly anyone cares about the saying of Wordsworth. Gruesome fact is that today the wealth of parents decide the fortune of the children whether they will enjoy the luxurious amenities or work from the childhood to earn bread. Nowadays children have been used for domestic work, mining, agriculture and other hard works. Besides, millions of children work for long hours in factories, mostly in dangerous conditions. These children are unaware about the liberty of childhood and suffer from the cruel trend generated by civilised society.
For those unlucky children living in misery, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has declared June 12 as World Day Against
Child Labour, which is observed across the world. Sadly the day is not popular as Valentine Day, Friendship Day or other celebrated day, but the concerned people across the world give importance to this day and observe with great enthusiasm. Non-government organisations, human right activists and other social welfare organisations work at their best to spread awareness among common people related to
child labour.
According the ILO estimate, about 165 million children between the ages of five and 14 are involved in
child labour across the world. Usually each year on World Day Against
Child Labour, the ILO focusses on one of the ’Worst Forms of
Child labour’ listed in Convention No 182. Like many countries in the world,
child labour condition is also very bad in India. World’s second largest most populated country, India has the highest number of
child labour of the world. Despite the strict laws, the
child labour is increasing day-by-day in India. A number of reasons are behind the huge number of
child labour in India. Poverty and illiteracy are the main reasons behind the increasing number of
child labours in India. Generally poor parents encourage their children to earn money by working instead of sending them to school. Traditionally, girls suffer more from boys, as parents prefer the boys to send school and send girls to work for household works. At the same time, rich people and owners of factories never think about the health and freedom of the children.
Seeing the continuous growth in the number of
child labour across the world the United Nations (UN) and the broader international community have set up the Millennium Development Goals. The community has set the target that by the year 2015, all boys and girls will complete a full course of primary education with gender parity. However, these targets cannot be fulfilled unless the factors that generate
child labour and prevent poor families from sending their children to school are addressed.
On this important day, we should at least think about the possible ways to stop the
child labour and save the children who are future of nation. We should create awareness among the parents that children need a good quality education and proper training for acquiring the skills necessary to succeed in the labour market. Last but not the least, those who hire children for work should think whether they will allow their children to do the same work. If such thinking will develop in the society then the evil of
child labour can be removed from the world.
