Child labour is a grave developmental issue worth arguing, especially in India where you invariably bump into a kid slogging to earn a penny when he is supposed to be working on his math and science. India is the largest example of a nation plagued by the problem of child labour. Estimates cite between 60 and 115 million working children in India - the highest number in the world. What are the causes of child labour in India? How do governmental policies affect it? What role does education play in regard to child labour in India?
Certainly, children should not have to work for a living. Childhood is a phase which should be dedicated to nurturing, schooling, playing and exploring the opportunity to grow both emotionally and physically. When children are forced to work, it hampers their growth, stunts their psychological and intellectual development, and prevents them from realizing their full potential. Child labor is an unmitigated evil and any society which suffers from it should be ashamed of that fact. I am crippled by the fact that my nation is plagued by this epidemic and I am helplessly watching BBC and CNN flashing brutal images of India to the world.
Child labor is a disease and not a catastrophe. The problem lies elsewhere and unless the problem itself is addressed, it cannot be cured. The children who have to work are most certainly the children of desperately poor parents or orphaned kids who work for survival needs. Poor people do not love their children any less than rich people, its infact more. It is dire necessity that forces them to take that drastic step. It is a choice that they make after considering the alternatives. It is a rational response to an unbearable condition.
Certainly, children should not have to work for a living. Childhood is a phase which should be dedicated to nurturing, schooling, playing and exploring the opportunity to grow both emotionally and physically. When children are forced to work, it hampers their growth, stunts their psychological and intellectual development, and prevents them from realizing their full potential. Child labor is an unmitigated evil and any society which suffers from it should be ashamed of that fact. I am crippled by the fact that my nation is plagued by this epidemic and I am helplessly watching BBC and CNN flashing brutal images of India to the world.
Child labor is a disease and not a catastrophe. The problem lies elsewhere and unless the problem itself is addressed, it cannot be cured. The children who have to work are most certainly the children of desperately poor parents or orphaned kids who work for survival needs. Poor people do not love their children any less than rich people, its infact more. It is dire necessity that forces them to take that drastic step. It is a choice that they make after considering the alternatives. It is a rational response to an unbearable condition.
Consider a situation where a10year old boy working for a tea-stall manages to fill his stomach with left over food and is able to support his siblings from starving. Naturally his parents do not have the money or an executive job to educate their children. Then the social workers intrude into the situation and the kid loses his job at the stall and forced to rummage among the garbage bins around the city to stay alive, leave alone supporting his siblings. His parents work long hours in construction sites with not much time to spend around the kids wherein they are consumed by other social elements. From an already bad situation, they find themselves worse off. The combination of poverty and the lack of a social security network form the basis of the even harsher type of child labour -- bonded child labour. For the poor, there are few sources of bank loans, governmental loans or other credit sources, and even if there are sources available, few Indians living in poverty qualify. Here enters the local moneylender. For an average of five thousand rupees, parents exchange their child’s labour to local moneylenders. Since the earnings of bonded child labourers are less than the interest on the loans, these bonded children are forced to work, while interests on their loans accumulate. A bonded child can only be released after his/her parents make a lump sum payment, which is extremely difficult for the poor.
From the time of its independence, India has committed itself to fight child labour. Article 24 of the Indian constitution clearly states that "No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or employed in any hazardous employment" The Bonded Labour System Act of 1976 fulfills the Indian Constitution’s directive of ending forced labour. The Act "frees all bonded laborers, cancels any outstanding debts against them, prohibits the creation of new bondage agreements, and orders the economic rehabilitation of freed bonded laborers by the state". All of the policies that the Indian government has in place are in accordance with the Constitution of India, and all support the eradication of Child Labour. The problem of child labour still remains even though all of these policies are existent.
That law would be welcomed if it prevented the child from working as domestic help, and if the child was provided the opportunity to go to school, live in an adequate home, and receive sufficient nutrition. But that law does not do any good if the alternative to working as a domestic help is starvation and slow death. There are many factors when we delve deeper into the issue. First, their incomes are low. These people may then have too many mouths to feed. Low status of women in society leads to more children than can be reasonably cared for. Oversupply of unwanted children leads to a low “price”, that is, they are under-valued.
The concept of compulsory education, where all school aged children are required to attend school, combats the force of poverty that pulls children out of school. Policies relating to compulsory education not only force children to attend school, but also contribute appropriate funds to the primary education system, instead of higher education. The Indian state of Kerala distinguishes itself from the rest of India with its educational system. The government of Kerala allocates more funds to education than any other state. It is not only the expenditure of more funds, but where the funds are used that makes the difference. Kerala spends more money on mass education than colleges and universities.
Child labour cannot be eliminated by focusing on one determinant, for example education, or by brute enforcement of child labour laws. The government of India must ensure that the needs of the poor are filled before attacking child labour. If poverty is addressed, the need for child labour will automatically diminish. The rational solution would involve, first of all, implementing policies which prevent the birth of too many unwanted children. “Family planning” must be vigorously implemented. Make a law that a child laborer has to be paid the same wages as an adult which would give employers no reason to employ children when they can hire an adult for the same. Third, schools must provide meals at schools for all children to eliminate the need to work for survival. Our government must provide very poor parents a monthly stipend if their children attend school regularly. This would help them make ends meet without having to depend on their children to make ends meet.
No matter how hard India tries, child labour always will exist until the need for it is removed. The development of India as a nation is being hampered by child labour. Children are growing up illiterate because they have been working and not attending school. A cycle of poverty is formed and the need for child labour is reborn after every generation. India needs to address the situation by tackling the underlying causes of child labour through governmental policies and the enforcement of these policies. Only then will India succeed in the fight against child labour.
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