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The abandoned generations: How child labourers suffer as India ignores the law Rhys Blakely in Mumbai
The abandoned generations: how child labourers suffer as India ignores the law - Times Online
The watchdog body charged with protecting India's 420 million children has a staff of just ten people
Indias woeful record of tackling illegal child labour has been laid bare by official records obtained by The Times under the countrys right-to-information laws.
Only 138 cases were brought against people employing child workers from October 2006 to April 2008 the only period for which records have been made available. Activists say that the Labour Ministry figures, which equate to less than one case for every three million Indian children, make a mockery of the Child Labour Prevention Act.
India has the largest population of child workers in the world, with an estimated 60 million to 115 million minors forgoing education to earn money. So great is the problem that activists suggest that it is well nigh impossible to spend a day there without using some goods or services from domestic help to mined minerals that do not rely on under-age labour.
The child labour law, passed in 1986, bans the employment of children under the age of 14 in a swath of industries, from working on factory floors to waiting on tables.
The National Commission for Child Rights, for example, which was established in 2007 and which is responsible for protecting Indias 420 million children, has a staff of ten.
Many of Indias child workers, like Mohammad, 10, who was rescued from a sweatshop in Delhi two weeks ago, endure miserable existences and are paid a pittance. He was trafficked from his home in the impoverished northern state of Bihar to Delhi, where he spent nine months working 16-hour days, making cheap garments. He was paid 50 rupees (69p) a week. We bathed outside, otherwise we were kept in one room without windows, he told The Times.
The Labour Ministry figures show that in Delhi, where hundreds of under-age workers like Mohammad are rescued every year while thousands more go undetected there was no record of any official investigation into child labour being carried out by the authorities. There were no records of any prosecutions. Similarly, in the state of Goa, with its range of beach resorts that are favoured by British holidaymakers, there was not a single investigation into child labour.
In Maharashtra, just two official inspections for child labour were carried out in 19 months, despite Mumbai, the states largest city, being known to be a hotbed of sweatshops that rely on under-age labour.
Bhuwan Ribhu, of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, the activist group that rescued Mohammad, said: This indicates a serious lack of political will and lack of preparedness on the part of government to implement the law.
The concern now is that Indias massive young population about one third of the country is under 18 years of age may prove a crippling burden, sufficient to derail the countrys economic renaissance if huge numbers are denied a basic education.
India is ranked a lowly 102 out of 129 countries in the 2009 Unesco Education for All Development Index, a measure of the quality of primary education and adult literacy. A World Bank report published in 2004 found that as many as 25 per cent of Indian teachers were absent at any one time. That, along with the high rates of child labour, helps to explain why about one third of Indias 1.2 billion people cannot read or write, compared with 9 per cent in China, analysts say.
According to the Governments own census of 2001, more than 12 million children work, including many in the agricultural sector, where child labour is not banned.
Estimates by non-governmental organisations and activist groups are much higher, and place the numbers of children employed as domestic servants and at roadside eateries as high as 20 million.
Only five of Indias twenty-eight states and seven union territories have set up state-level commissions to protect child rights, despite them all being called upon to do so.
There is also evidence of public apathy, especially among the middle classes, who often employ young girls as maids. From April 2007 to March 2008 the commission received just 439 complaints
The abandoned generations: how child labourers suffer as India ignores the law - Times Online
The watchdog body charged with protecting India's 420 million children has a staff of just ten people
Indias woeful record of tackling illegal child labour has been laid bare by official records obtained by The Times under the countrys right-to-information laws.
Only 138 cases were brought against people employing child workers from October 2006 to April 2008 the only period for which records have been made available. Activists say that the Labour Ministry figures, which equate to less than one case for every three million Indian children, make a mockery of the Child Labour Prevention Act.
India has the largest population of child workers in the world, with an estimated 60 million to 115 million minors forgoing education to earn money. So great is the problem that activists suggest that it is well nigh impossible to spend a day there without using some goods or services from domestic help to mined minerals that do not rely on under-age labour.
The child labour law, passed in 1986, bans the employment of children under the age of 14 in a swath of industries, from working on factory floors to waiting on tables.
The National Commission for Child Rights, for example, which was established in 2007 and which is responsible for protecting Indias 420 million children, has a staff of ten.
Many of Indias child workers, like Mohammad, 10, who was rescued from a sweatshop in Delhi two weeks ago, endure miserable existences and are paid a pittance. He was trafficked from his home in the impoverished northern state of Bihar to Delhi, where he spent nine months working 16-hour days, making cheap garments. He was paid 50 rupees (69p) a week. We bathed outside, otherwise we were kept in one room without windows, he told The Times.
The Labour Ministry figures show that in Delhi, where hundreds of under-age workers like Mohammad are rescued every year while thousands more go undetected there was no record of any official investigation into child labour being carried out by the authorities. There were no records of any prosecutions. Similarly, in the state of Goa, with its range of beach resorts that are favoured by British holidaymakers, there was not a single investigation into child labour.
In Maharashtra, just two official inspections for child labour were carried out in 19 months, despite Mumbai, the states largest city, being known to be a hotbed of sweatshops that rely on under-age labour.
Bhuwan Ribhu, of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, the activist group that rescued Mohammad, said: This indicates a serious lack of political will and lack of preparedness on the part of government to implement the law.
The concern now is that Indias massive young population about one third of the country is under 18 years of age may prove a crippling burden, sufficient to derail the countrys economic renaissance if huge numbers are denied a basic education.
India is ranked a lowly 102 out of 129 countries in the 2009 Unesco Education for All Development Index, a measure of the quality of primary education and adult literacy. A World Bank report published in 2004 found that as many as 25 per cent of Indian teachers were absent at any one time. That, along with the high rates of child labour, helps to explain why about one third of Indias 1.2 billion people cannot read or write, compared with 9 per cent in China, analysts say.
According to the Governments own census of 2001, more than 12 million children work, including many in the agricultural sector, where child labour is not banned.
Estimates by non-governmental organisations and activist groups are much higher, and place the numbers of children employed as domestic servants and at roadside eateries as high as 20 million.
Only five of Indias twenty-eight states and seven union territories have set up state-level commissions to protect child rights, despite them all being called upon to do so.
There is also evidence of public apathy, especially among the middle classes, who often employ young girls as maids. From April 2007 to March 2008 the commission received just 439 complaints
