India Continues to Battle Against Child Labor

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) there is an estimated 165 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 whom are actively involved in child labor.  Just over a month ago on June 11th we celebrated World Day Against Child Labor, which as I stated in my post, that this year was one of great historical importance, as this year also marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of ILO Convention No. 182, which addresses the need for action to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.  The 2009 theme for World Day Against Child Labor was: ‘Education: The right response to child labor’. This year the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has established the campaign to tackle the right to education for all children to brake the chain of child labor that envelops millions of children worldwide.  The rate of child labor in a country has a direct correlation to education and literacy rates, both of which directly impact poverty and poverty once again is one of the main factors in the use of child labor.  Therefore it is a continuous cycle that often goes unbroken for generations and generations.  Some 75 million children worldwide are without access to basic primary education, an issue which the ILO addressed its 97th conference.

One country which continues to fall short in its battle against child labor is India.  Despite the establishment of a law in 2006 which banned the use of child labor for domestic purposes, and in the hospitality industry, India remains the worlds worst offender, as the country has more child labors than anywhere else across the globe.  While the law itself was a great achievement, it has proven to hold little force, despite fines and the threat of jail time.

“Since the law came into effect, the government has only found 6,782 child workers in jobs like domestic service and roadside restaurants but we know that there are millions of kids working out there,” Kailash Satyarthi, who founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Movement), one of India’s leading child rights groups, stated. “From this, there has only been 1,680 prosecutions launched against employers but not a single conviction has taken place.” (AP)

One reason for the slow enforcement of the law is rooted in an impoverished cultural view, where few see any crime, or true detriment to using children as a provider of income for a family.  The other obstacle is simply a lack of will on the part of law enforcement, which is often compounded by bribery and a lack of education on the true realities and impact of the use of child labor.

School children wear 'Stop Child Labour' masks in Hyderabad, India, on June 12, 2008 NOAH SEELAM / AFP / Getty Images

The 2006 law is not the first attempt by the Indian state to enact laws to address the country’s dire child labor problem, nor is it the fist failed attempt at eradicating one of the worst violations against children’s rights.  In fact the Indian government has some  made efforts to prohibit child labor by enacting Child labor laws in India including the 1986 Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act that stated that children under fourteen years of age were prohibited to be employed in occupations deemed hazardous.

Current figures by the Indian government estimate that more than 12 million children under the age of 14 remain employed as domestic servants, miners, carpet weavers, tea sellers, street peddlers, or in the hospitality industry (Indian State) in spite of the 2006 law, however activists estimate the true figures to be that of at least five times that.  The governments figures also fail to address those who continue to be forced to work in situations of hard labor, such as in mining often forces to break stones with their bare hands, or left to work in the textiles industry, such as to embroider saris.

The battle against child labor in India looks to continue to rage on, as millions of children toil away in hazardous and abusive conditions, while laws sit idle as immunity for such crimes against children  find themselves lost somewhere in a cultural vacuum.

Please see my previous posts; India’s Stubborn Child Labor and Continuing Child Malnutrition in India