|
|
June 11, 2008
Missing, a Strong Legal Framework
to Combat Child Labor
By Azera Rahman
New Delhi
The numbers tell the sorry story - an estimated 60 million child
laborers in India but only 670,000 violations of the law detected in
eight years and just 22,588 convictions!
Behind the bland government numbers are the millions of young
children working in roadside eateries, slaving away in glass
factories, hunched up over carpet looms or sweeping and cooking in
homes in blatant violation of the Child Labor (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act.
The children are a visible proof of the failure to implement the
law, the inbuilt lacunae in the legislation itself and the poor
rehabilitation policies.
Although government figures put the number of child laborers in the
country at 12.6 million, child rights activists say the number is
closer to 60 million.
The low conviction rate in the eight years during 1997-98 to
2005-06, as indicated by the annual report of the ministry of labor
2007-08, gives a clear signal that the law has failed to act as a
deterrent to stop child labor, say experts.
"The number of people convicted because of flouting the law and
hiring children as laborers is very low. According to a study by the
V.V. Giri National Labor Institute (a body of the ministry of labor
and employment) in 2003, for instance, 14,163 inspections were done
with respect to enforcement of the Child Labor Act. However, the
number of convictions was only 99," Pradeep Narayanan of CRY India
told IANS.
Kailash Satyarthi of the Bachpan Bachao Aandolan (Save Childhood
Movement) added that judgments against those flouting the law on
child labor were rare; hardly anyone has been jailed for two years
for an offence under the law prohibiting child labor.
For first convictions, the act prescribes imprisonment of three to
12 months or a fine of Rs.10,000-20,000 ($250-500). Second offences
are to be punished with a mandatory six months to two years in
prison.
While implementation of the law is one problem, the legal framework
is also not strong enough.
According to Narayanan, the law, which bans the employment of
children under 14, itself has many limitations.
"According to the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,
children below the age of 14 should not be employed in factories and
hazardous occupations. Nowhere does it mention the agriculture
sector, where 70-80 percent of the child laborers are employed for
cheap labor," Narayanan told IANS.
Another reason why there seems to be no end to the vicious cycle of
child labor is the poor rehabilitation policies of the rescued child
laborers.
The economic context that forces the children to work or face
starvation is vital, say experts. What is needed is holistic
rehabilitation.
In a conference earlier this year, Dipa Dixit, member of the
National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), pointed
to the deplorable condition of juvenile homes where rescued child
laborers are taken to. Instead of helping matters, they just drive
the children back to the roads, she said.
Mahmun, a 15-year-old rescued child laborer, said: "The juvenile
homes are like jails. I was picked up from a railway station and put
into a juvenile home in Lajpat Nagar (in south Delhi) where I used
to be beaten up almost every day along with other children.
"Forget about love and care, the caretakers used to take back the
clothes that we used to get and purchased things like cigarettes and
tobacco. Frustrated, I used to escape from all these homes and go
back to the roads."
The National Child Labor Project (NCLP), which acts a bridge school
for rescued child laborers and is run by the ministry of labor, has
been functioning for the past 20 years but without much gain.
As a possible solution, Satyarthi suggests that all programmes such
the NCLP, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the midday meal scheme be
clubbed together and the responsibility of their implementation be
given to one officer in every district -- to begin with in 100
districts.
Experts also suggest the implementation of more officials and labor
inspectors and not looking at the issue of child labor in isolation.
"Poverty is the main reason which drives parents into pushing their
children to work instead of sending them to schools. Addressing that
is one of the main challenges to resolving this mammoth problem,"
Satyarthi told IANS.
As India stares at another global day against child labor, perhaps
it is time to finally take up the challenge.
(Azera
Rahman can be contacted at azera.p@ians.in)
IANS
|
June 11, 2008
Top
|
|
