Child Labor

Author And Page Information

by Anup Shah

This Page Last Updated Monday, January 01, 2001

This page:http://www.globalissues.org/article/62/child-labor.

To print all information e.g. expanded side notes, shows alternative links, use
the print version:
o

http://www.globalissues.org/print/article/62

Child labor is not an easy issue to resolve; while it seems noble to immediately
withdraw investments and cooperation with firms and factories that employ child
labor it may do more harm than good. Many of these children are from very poor
families and work to pay for their family and/or their education. Depriving them of
this income has led to some children seeking different, lower paid work, and even
prostitution in some cases. Other ways with schemes to help children would likely
be needed so that this labor can be phased out. The same has been suggested by
the International Labor Organization (ILO), at a meeting in Mexico City in 1999, who
also pointed out that child labor affects over 250 million children, 30 percent of
which are in Latin America. A gradual phase out is said to be a more preferable
solution.
According to the UK Committee for UNICEF, poverty is the most common factor
contributing to child labor. In addition, "debt, bloated military budgets and
structural adjustment programmes imposed by the International Monetary Fund and
the World Bank, have eroded the capacity of many governments to provide
education and services for children, and have also pushed up prices for basic
necessities". (For more information on these aspects, also see this site's section
on causes of poverty and the harmful structural adjustment policies.)
According to UNICEF, Somalia and USA are the only two countries in the world that
havenot ratified the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child. The
convention is the world's most widely ratified treaty. (USA have signed it, but
Somalia has neither signed, nor ratified it, at the time I write this -- and Somalia
doesn't currently have an internationally recognized government, which is why they
cannot ratify the convention. The US have no such excuse.)

A huge movement called the Global March Against Child Labor, (which
didn't get much media coverage in the USA), was an important event with marches

in many major cities around the world drawing global attention towards the most
heinous human rights violation: child labor and child slavery. The six-month long
intercontinental March took off from Philippines in mid-January 1998, culminating in
Geneva to coincide with the Debate Session of the International Labor Organization
(ILO) on the Draft Convention on Child Right.
To find out more about children with regards to trade, labor, rights etc. the following
may be helpful:

Save the Children Fund UK and their section on child labor

The Global March web site. They also have a link to other websites that are
supporting the movement.

Unicef, the United Nations Children's Fund. In particular:

o

The Convention on the Rights of the Child.

State of the World's Children annual publications examines key issues

about children.

A report on the State of the World's Children, 1997 focused on Child

Labor, for example

Casa Alianza, a South American-based group helping street kids.

OneWorld Guides to:

Child Rights and the section on war.

Child Labor.

Boes.org is a site devoted to child rights.

Where Next?

Global Warming FAQ

What is Global Warming?
Global Warming is the increase of Earth's average surface temperature due
to effect of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide emissions from
burning fossil fuels or from deforestation, which trap heat that would
otherwise escape from Earth. This is a type of greenhouse effect.
Is global warming, caused by human activity, even remotely plausible?
Earth's climate is mostly influenced by the first 6 miles or so of the
atmosphere which contains most of the matter making up the atmosphere.
This is really a very thin layer if you think about it. In the book The End of

Nature, author Bill McKibbin tells of walking three miles to from his cabin in
the Adirondack's to buy food. Afterwards, he realized that on this short
journey he had traveled a distance equal to that of the layer of the
atmosphere where almost all the action of our climate is contained. In fact,
if you were to view Earth from space, the principle part of the atmosphere
would only be about as thick as the skin on an onion! Realizing this makes it
more plausible to suppose that human beings can change the climate. A look
at the amount of greenhouse gases we are spewing into the atmosphere (see
below), makes it even more plausible.
What are the Greenhouse Gases?
The most significant greenhouse gas is actually water vapor, not something
produced directly by humankind in significant amounts. However, even slight
increases in atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) can cause a
substantial increase in temperature.
Why is this? There are two reasons: First, although the concentrations of
these gases are not nearly as large as that of oxygen and nitrogen (the main
constituents of the atmosphere), neither oxygen or nitrogen are greenhouse
gases. This is because neither has more than two atoms per molecule (i.e.
their molecular forms are O2 and N2, respectively), and so they lack
the internal vibrational modes that molecules with more than two atoms
have. Both water and CO2, for example, have these "internal vibrational
modes", and these vibrational modes can absorb and reradiate infrared
radiation, which causes the greenhouse effect.
Secondly, CO2 tends to remain in the atmosphere for a very long time (time
scales in the hundreds of years). Water vapor, on the other hand, can easily
condense or evaporate, depending on local conditions. Water vapor levels
therefore tend to adjust quickly to the prevailing conditions, such that the
energy flows from the Sun and re-radiation from the Earth achieve a
balance. CO2tends to remain fairly constant and therefore behave as
a controlling factor, rather than a reacting factor. More CO2 means that the
balance occurs at higher temperatures and water vapor levels.
How much have we increased the Atmosphere's CO2 Concentration?
Human beings have increased the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere by
about thirty percent, which is an extremely significant increase, even on
inter-glacial timescales. It is believed that human beings are responsible for

this because the increase is almost perfectly correlated with increases in

fossil fuel combustion, and also due other evidence, such as changes in the
ratios of different carbon isotopes in atmospheric CO 2 that are consistent
with "anthropogenic" (human caused) emissions. The simple fact is,
that under "business as usual" conditions, we'll soon reach carbon dioxide
concentrations that haven't been seen on Earth in the last 50 million years.

Combustion of Fossil Fuels, for electricity generation, transportation, and

heating, and also the manufacture of cement, all result in the total
worldwide emission of about 22 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the
atmosphere each year. About a third of this comes from electricity
generation, and another third from transportation, and a third from all
other sources.
This enormous input of CO2 is causing the atmospheric levels of CO2 to rise
dramatically. The following graph shows the CO2 levels over the past 160
thousand years (the upper curve, with units indicated on the right hand side
of the graph). The current level, and projected increase over the next
hundred years if we do not curb emissions, are also shown (the part of the
curve which goes way up high, to the right of the current level, is the
projected CO2 rise). The projected increase in CO 2 is very startling and
disturbing. Changes in the Earth's average surface temperature are also
shown (the lower curve, with units on the left). Note that it parallels the
CO2 level curve very well.

Is the Temperature Really Changing?

Yes! As everyone has heard from the media, recent years have consistently
been the warmest in hundreds and possibly thousands of years. But that
might be a temporary fluctuation, right? To see that it probably isn't, the
next graph shows the average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere as
determined from many sources, carefully combined, such as tree rings,
corals, human records, etc.

These graphs show a very discernable warming trend, starting in about 1900.
It might seem a bit surprising that warming started as early as 1900. How is
this possible? The reason is that the increase in carbon dioxide actually
began in 1800, following the deforestation of much of Northeastern
American and other forested parts of the world. The sharp upswing in
emissions during the industrial revolution further added to this, leading to a
significantly increased carbon dioxide level even by 1900.
Thus, we see that Global Warming is not something far off in the future - in
fact it predates almost every living human being today.
How do we know if the temperature increase is caused by anthropogenic
emissions?
Computer models strongly suggest that this is the case. The following graphs
show that 1) If only natural fluctuations are included in the models (such as
the slight increase in solar output that occurred in the first half of the 20th
century), then the large warming in the 20th century is not reproduced. 2) If
only anthropogenic carbon emissions are included, then the large warming is
reproduced, but some of the variations, such as the cooling period in the
1950s, is not reproduced (this cooling trend was thought to be caused by
sulfur dioxide emissions from dirty power plants). 3) When both natural and
anthropogenic emissions of all types are included, then the temperature
evolution of the 20th century is well reproduced.

Is there a connection between the recent drought and climate change?

Yes. A recent study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
gives strong evidence that global warming was a major factor. Click here for
more details.
Who studies global warming, and who believes in it?
Most of the scientific community, represented especially by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC - www.ipcc.ch), now
believes that the global warming effect is real, and many corporations, even
including Ford Motor Company, also acknowledge its likelihood.
Who are the IPCC?
In 1998, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was
established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in recognition of the threat that
global warming presents to the world.
The IPCC is open to all members of the UNEP and WMO and consists of
several thousand of the most authoritative scientists in the world on climate

change. The role of the IPCC is to assess the scientific, technical and socioeconomic information relevant for the understanding of the risk of humaninduced climate change. It does not carry out new research nor does it
monitor climate related data. It bases its assessment mainly on published
and peer reviewed scientific technical literature.
The IPCC has completed two assessment reports, developed methodology
guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories, special reports and
technical papers. Results of the first assessment (1990--1994): confirmed
scientific basis for global warming but concluded that ``nothing to be said
for certain yet''. The second assessment (1995), concluded that `` ...the
balance suggests a discernable human influence on global climate'', and
concluded that, as predicted by climate models, global temperature will
likely rise by about 1-3.5 Celsius by the year 2100. The next report, in 2000,
suggested, that the climate might warm by as much as 10 degrees
Fahrenheit over the next 100 years, which would bring us back to a climate
not seen since the age of the dinosaurs. The most recent report, in 2001,
concluded that "There is new and stronger evidence that most of the
warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities".
Due to these assessments, debate has now shifted away from whether or not global
warming is going to occur to, instead, how much, how soon, and with what impacts.

Global Warming Impacts

Many of the following "harbingers" and "fingerprints" are now well under way:
1. Rising Seas--- inundation of fresh water marshlands (the everglades), low-lying
cities, and islands with seawater.
2. Changes in rainfall patterns --- droughts and fires in some areas, flooding in
other areas. See the section above on the recent droughts, for example!
3. Increased likelihood of extreme events--- such as flooding, hurricanes, etc.
4. Melting of the ice caps --- loss of habitat near the poles. Polar bears are now
thought to be greatly endangered by the shortening of their feeding season due
to dwindling ice packs.
5. Melting glaciers - significant melting of old glaciers is already observed.
6. Widespread vanishing of animal populations --- following widespread habitat
loss.

7. Spread of disease --- migration of diseases such as malaria to new, now

warmer, regions.
8. Bleaching of Coral Reefs due to warming seas and acidification due to
carbonic acid formation --- One third of coral reefs now appear to have been
severely damaged by warming seas.
9. Loss of Plankton due to warming seas --- The enormous (900 mile long)
Aleution island ecosystems of orcas (killer whales), sea lions, sea otters, sea
urchins, kelp beds, and fish populations, appears to have collapsed due to loss
of plankton, leading to loss of sea lions, leading orcas to eat too many sea
otters, leading to urchin explosions, leading to loss of kelp beds and their
associated fish populations.

Where do we need to reduce emissions?

In reality, we will need to work on all fronts - 10% here, 5% here, etc, and work to
phase in new technologies, such as hydrogen technology, as quickly as possible. To
satisfy the Kyoto protocol, developed countries would be required to cut back their
emissions by a total of 5.2 % between 2008 and 2012 from 1990 levels. Specifically,
the US would have to reduce its presently projected 2010 annual emissions by 400
million tons of CO2 . One should keep in mind though, that even Kyoto would only go a
little ways towards solving the problem. In reality, much more needs to be done.
The most promising sector for near term reductions is widely thought to be coal-fired
electricity. Wind power, for example, can make substantial cuts in these emissions in
the near term, as can energy efficiency, and also the increased use of high efficiency
natural gas generation.
The potential impact of efficiency should not be underestimated: A 1991 report to
Congress by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Policy Implications of Greenhouse
Warming, found that the U.S. could reduce current emissions by 50 percent at zero
cost to the economy as a result of full use of cost-effective efficiency improvements.
Discussing Global Climate Change:
Here is a useful list of facts and ideas:
1. Given the strong scientific consensus, the onus should now be on
the producers of CO2 emissions to show that there is not a problem, if they still
even attempt to make that claim. Its time to acknowledge that we are, at very
least, conducting a very dangerous experiment with Earth's climate.
2. A direct look at the data itself is very convincing and hard to argue with. Ask a
skeptical person to look at the data above. The implications are obvious. The

best source of data is probably the IPCC reports themselves, which are
available at www.ipcc.ch (see, for example, the summaries for policy makers).
3. The recent, record-breaking warm years are unprecedented and statistically
significant. It is a fact that they are very statistically unlikely to be a
fluctuation (and now we can point to specific side effects from those warm
temperatures that appear to have induced recent worldwide drought).
4. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, whether or not you believe in global
warming per se, the fact remains that the carbon dioxide levels are rising
dramatically --- there is no debate about this. If we continue to use fossil fuels
in the way we presently do, then the amount of carbon we will release will
soon exceed the amount of carbon in the living biosphere. This is bound to
have very serious, very negative effects, some of which, such as lowering the
pH of the ocean such that coral cannot grow, are already well known.

Response of Government: Develop "Carbon Sequestration" Technology

Many government agencies around the world are very interested in maintaining fossil
fuel use, especially coal. It should be noted that US energy use, which is enormous, is
increasing, not decreasing. Furthermore, we are not going to run out of coal in the
near term (oil may begin to run low sometime after 2010). Methods for reducing
carbon emission levels while still burning coal are now investigation by government
and industry, as we now discuss.
We believe that a major increase in renewable energy use should be achieved to help
offset global warming. While there are some US government programs aimed in this
direction, there is simply not enough money being spent yet to achieve this goal in a
timely manner. A primary goal of many new programs is not to increase renewables,
but rather, is to find ways to capture the extra CO2 from electricity generation plants
and "sequester" it in the ground, the ocean, or by having plants and soil organisms
absorb more of it from the air.

Possible Problems with Carbon "Sequestration"

One of the Carbon sequestration approaches under investigation is the possibility of
depositing CO2 extracted from emission streams in large pools on the Ocean bottom. It
is possible that such pools will not be stable, and may either erupt to the surface, or
diffuse into the ocean and alter the oceans pH.
Another scheme under investigation is the idea of stimulating phytoplankton growth
on the ocean surface by dusting the surface with iron (the limiting nutrient). This will
cause an increased uptake of carbon by the plankton, part of which will find its way
to the ocean bottom. Fishing companies are considering using this to increase fish
harvests while simultaneously getting credit for carbon sequestration. Serious

ecological disruptions could occur, however, especially if this approach is conducted

on a sufficiently large scale.
Another idea is to stimulate Earth's terrestrial ecosystems to take up more carbon
dioxide. While the impacts here are more difficult to ascertain, an important point to
note is that these systems are not thought to be able to completely absorb all the
extra CO2 . At best, they may be sufficient to help the US stabilize carbon emission
rates for a few decades, but even if this is achieved, stabilization of rates are not
likely to return the Earth to pre-industrial carbon levels. Worse, biological feedbacks
to global warming, such as forest fires, drying soils, rotting permafrost, etc, may
actually greatly accelerate carbon emissions, i.e. we may experience massive
carbon de-sequestration.
Another major approach under consideration is to pump CO2 into old oil and gas wells.
While seemingly attractive, it must be kept in mind that for this to be truly effective,
it would have to be done on a world wide scale, include many sources of CO 2 ,
including many sources which are presently small and widely distributed (such as car
emissions, and not just coal plant emissions). All of this CO 2 would need to be
captured, transported, injected into old wells, and then the wells would need to be
sealed and monitored. It is not clear that this would be affordable at all, and that
there would be adequate capacity or assurance that CO2 would not leak out in massive
quantities.
In the worst case scenario, carbon sequestration efforts may simply fail, but also end
up being a political tool that is used to seriously delay a transition to renewable
energy sources, and also possibly create many new environmental problems problems
while prolonging old ones.
In the best case scenario, given the truly enormous amount of CO2 we are presently
emitting, some sequestration approaches may serve as a useful bridge to curbing
emissions while the transition to renewables is being made.

Some Global Warming Related Websites

IPCC site: http://www.ipcc.ch : Try the Summaries for Policy Makers for starters.
These are concise, well written documents that also contain some of the best and
latest data.
US Global Change Research Program: www.usgcrp.gov
Weathervane: an online forum designed to provide the news
media, legislators, opinion leaders, and the interested public with
analysis and commentary on U.S. and global policy initiatives related to climate
change. http://www.weathervane.rff.org/

The global warming primer and discussion at website of the Institute of Geophysics
and Planetary Physics at Los Alamos National Laboratory: http://www.igpp.lanl.gov
Back to Table of Contents

Child labour in India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Child labour in India and rest of the world, during 2003 in 10-14 age group, per World Bank. [1] India with
estimated 11%, is in green with 10-20% incidence levels, along with countries in red (30-40%) and black
(>40%).

Child labour is the practice of having children engage in economic activity, on part or full-time basis.
The practice deprives children of their childhood, and is harmful to their physical and mental
development. Poverty, lack of good schools and growth of informal economy are considered as the
important causes of child labour in India.[2][3]
The 1998 national census of India estimated the total number of child labour, aged 514, to be at
12.6 million, out of a total child population of 253 million in 5-14 age group. [4][5] A 2009-2010
nationwide survey found child labour prevalence had reduced to 4.98 million children (or less than
2% of children in 5-14 age group).[6] The 2011 national census of India found the total number of child
labour, aged 514, to be at 4.35 million,[7] and the total child population to be 259.64 million in that
age group.[8] The child labour problem is not unique to India; worldwide, about 217 million children
work, many full-time.[9]
In 2001, an estimated 1% of all child workers, or about 120,000 children in India were in a hazardous
job.[10] UNICEF estimates that India with its larger population, has the highest number of labourers in
the world under 14 years of age, while sub-saharan African countries have the highest percentage of
children who are deployed as child labour.[11][12][13] International Labour Organisation estimates that
agriculture at 60 percent is the largest employer of child labour in the world, [14] while United
Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates 70% of child labour is deployed in agriculture
and related activities.[15] Outside of agriculture, child labour is observed in almost all informal
sectors of the Indian economy.[16][17][18]
Companies including Gap,[19] Primark,[20] Monsanto[21] have been criticised for child labour in their
products. The companies claim they have strict policies against selling products made by underage
children, but there are many links in a supply chain making it difficult to oversee them all. [21] In 2011,
after three years of Primark's effort, BBC acknowledged that its award-winning investigative
journalism report of Indian child labour use by Primark was a fake. BBC apologized to Primark, to
Indian suppliers and all its viewers.[22][23][24]
In December 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or
Forced Labor and India figured among 74 countries where significant incidence of critical working
conditions has been observed. Unlike any other country, India was attributed 23 goods the majority
of which is produced by child labor in the manufacturing sector.

Article 24 of India's constitution prohibits child labour. Additionally, various laws and the Indian Penal
Code, such as the Juvenile Justice (care and protection) of Children Act-2000, and the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Abolition) Act-1986 provide a basis in law to identify, prosecute and stop child labour
in India.[25]
Contents
[hide]

1 Definition

2 Child labour acts and laws

3 Causes

4 Bonded child labour in India

5 Consequences of child labour

o

5.1 Diamond industry

5.2 Fireworks manufacture

5.3 Silk manufacture

5.4 Carpet weaving

5.5 Domestic labour

5.6 Coal mining

6 Initiatives against child labour

o

6.1 Non-governmental organisations

7 Demography of child labour

8 References

9 See also

10 External links

Definition[edit]
The termchild labour, suggests ILO,[26] is best defined as work that deprives children of their
childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It
refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, or
work whose schedule interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or work that affects in any
manner their ability to focus during school or experience a healthy childhood.

UNICEF defines child labour differently. A child, suggests UNICEF, is involved in child labour
activities if between 5 to 11 years of age, he or she did at least one hour of economic activity or at
least 28 hours of domestic work in a week, and in case of children between 12 to 14 years of age, he
or she did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and
domestic work per week.[27] UNICEF in another report suggests, "Childrens work needs to be seen
as happening along a continuum, with destructive or exploitative work at one end and beneficial
work - promoting or enhancing childrens development without interfering with their schooling,
recreation and rest - at the other. And between these two poles are vast areas of work that need not
negatively affect a childs development."
India's Census 2001 office defines[28] child labor as participation of a child less than 17 years of age
in any economically productive activity with or without compensation, wages or profit. Such
participation could be physical or mental or both. This work includes part-time help or unpaid work
on the farm, family enterprise or in any other economic activity such as cultivation and milk
production for sale or domestic consumption. Indian government classifies child laborers into two
groups: Main workers are those who work 6 months or more per year. And marginal child workers
are those who work at any time during the year but less than 6 months in a year.
Some child rights activists argue that child labour must include every child who is not in school
because he or she is a hidden child worker.[29] UNICEF, however, points out that India faces major
shortages of schools, classrooms and teachers particularly in rural areas where 90 percent of child
labour problem is observed. About 1 in 5 primary schools have just one teacher to teach students
across all grades.[30][31][32][33]

Child labour acts and laws[edit]

Section 12 of India's Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 requires prominent display of 'child
labour is prohibited' signs in many industries and construction sites in local language and English. Above a sign
at a construction site in Bangalore.

After its independence from colonial rule, India has passed a number of constitutional protections
and laws on child labour. The Constitution of India in the Fundamental Rights and the Directive of
State Policy prohibits child labour below the age of 14 years in any factory or mine or castle or
engaged in any other hazardous employment (Article 24). The constitution also envisioned that India
shall, by 1960, provide infrastructure and resources for free and compulsory education to all children
of the age six to 14 years. (Article 21-A and Article 45). [25][34]
India has a federal form of government, and child labour is a matter on which both the central
government and country governments can legislate, and have. The major national legislative
developments include the following:[35]

The Factories Act of 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years
in any factory. The law also placed rules on who, when and how long can pre-adults aged 1518
years be employed in any factory.
The Mines Act of 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18 years of age in a
mine.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986: The Act prohibits the employment of
children below the age of 14 years in hazardous occupations identified in a list by the law. The list
was expanded in 2006, and again in 2008.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000: This law made it a crime,
punishable with a prison term, for anyone to procure or employ a child in any hazardous employment
or in bondage.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009: The law mandates free
and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years. This legislation also mandated that 25
percent of seats in every private school must be allocated for children from disadvantaged groups
and physically challenged children.
India formulated a National Policy on Child Labour in 1987. This Policy seeks to adopt a gradual &
sequential approach with a focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations. It
envisioned strict enforcement of Indian laws on child labour combined with development programs to
address the root causes of child labour such as poverty. In 1988, this led to the National Child
Labour Project (NCLP) initiative. This legal and development initiative continues, with a current
central government funding of 6 billion, targeted solely to eliminate child labour in India. [36] Despite
these efforts, child labour remains a major challenge for India.

Causes[edit]

Children around an oil press, in 1916.

For much of human history and across different cultures, children less than 17 years old have
contributed to family welfare in a variety of ways. UNICEF suggests that poverty is the big cause of
child labour. The report also notes that in rural and impoverished parts of developing and
undeveloped parts of the world, children have no real and meaningful alternative. Schools and
teachers are unavailable. Child labour is the unnatural result.[37] A BBC report, similarly, concludes
poverty and inadequate public education infrastructure are some of the causes of child labour in
India.[38]
Between boys and girls, UNICEF finds girls are two times more likely to be out of school and working
in a domestic role. Parents with limited resources, claims UNICEF, have to choose whose school
costs and fees they can afford when a school is available. Educating girls tends to be a lower priority
across the world, including India. Girls are also harassed or bullied at schools, sidelined by prejudice
or poor curricula, according to UNICEF. Solely by virtue of their gender, therefore, many girls are
kept from school or drop out, then provide child labour. [37]

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Spreading Smiles Through Education
Organisation(OSSE) suggests poverty is the greatest single force driving children into the workplace.
[2]
Income from a child's work is felt to be crucial for his/her own survival or for that of the household.
For some families, income from their children's labour is between 25 to 40% of the household
income.
According to a 2008 study by ILO,[2] among the most important factors driving children to harmful
labour is the lack of availability and quality of schooling. Many communities, particularly rural areas
do not possess adequate school facilities. Even when schools are sometimes available, they are too
far away, difficult to reach, unaffordable or the quality of education is so poor that parents wonder if
going to school is really worthwhile. In government-run primary schools, even when children show
up, government-paid teachers do not show up 25% of the time.[39][40][41] The 2008 ILO study suggests
that illiteracy resulting from a child going to work, rather than a quality primary and secondary
school, limits the child's ability to get a basic educational grounding which would in normal situations
enable them to acquire skills and to improve their prospects for a decent adult working life. [2] An
albeit older report published by UNICEF outlines the issues summarized by the ILO report. The
UNICEF report claimed that while 90% of child labour in India is in its rural areas, the availability and
quality of schools is decrepit; in rural areas of India, claims the old UNICEF report, about 50% of
government funded primary schools that exist do not have a building, 40% lack a blackboard, few
have books, and 97% of funds for these publicly funded school have been budgeted by the
government as salaries for the teacher and administrators.[42] A 2012 Wall Street Journal article
reports while the enrollment in India's school has dramatically increased in recent years to over 96%
of all children in the 6-14-year age group, the infrastructure in schools, aimed in part to reduce child
labour, remains poor - over 81,000 schools do not have a blackboard and about 42,000 government
schools operate without a building with makeshift arrangements during monsoons and inclement
weather.[40][43]
Biggeri and Mehrotra have studied the macroeconomic factors that encourage child labour. They
focus their study on five Asian nations including India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines.
They suggest[3] that child labour is a serious problem in all five, but it is not a new problem.
Macroeconomic causes encouraged widespread child labour across the world, over most of human
history. They suggest that the causes for child labour include both the demand and the supply side.
While poverty and unavailability of good schools explain the child labour supply side, they suggest
that the growth of low paying informal economy rather than higher paying formal economy called organised economy in India - is amongst the causes of the demand side. India has rigid
labour laws and numerous regulations that prevent growth of organised sector where work
protections are easier to monitor, and work more productive and higher paying. The unintended
effect of Indian complex labour laws is the work has shifted to the unorganised, informal sector. As a
result, after the unorganised agriculture sector which employs 60% of child labour, it is the
unorganised trade, unorganised assembly and unorganised retail work that is the largest employer
of child labour. If macroeconomic factors and laws prevent growth of formal sector, the family owned
informal sector grows, deploying low cost, easy to hire, easy to dismiss labour in form of child labour.
Even in situations where children are going to school, claim Biggeri and Mehrotra, children engage
in routine after-school home-based manufacturing and economic activity.[3] Other scholars too
suggest that inflexibility and structure of India's labour market, size of informal economy, inability of
industries to scale up and lack of modern manufacturing technologies are major macroeconomic
factors affecting demand and acceptability of child labour.[44][45][46]
Cigno et al. suggest the government planned and implemented land redistribution programs in India,
where poor families were given small plots of land with the idea of enabling economic independence,
have had the unintended effect of increased child labour. They find that smallholder plots of land are
labour-intensively farmed since small plots cannot productively afford expensive farming equipment.
In these cases, a means to increase output from the small plot has been to apply more labour,
including child labour.[47][48]

Bonded child labour in India[edit]

Srivastava describes bonded child labour as a system of forced, or partly forced, labour under which
the child, or usually child's parent enter into an agreement, oral or written, with a creditor. The child
performs work as in-kind repayment of credit.[49] In this 2005 ILO report, Srivastava claims debtbondage in India emerged during the colonial period, as a means to obtain reliable cheap labour,
with loan and land-lease relationships implemented during that era of Indian history. These were
regionally called Hali, or Halwaha, or Jeura systems; and by colonial administration
the indentured labour system. These systems included bonded child labour. Over time, claims the
ILO report, this traditional forms of long-duration relationships have declined. [49][50]
In 1977, India passed legislation that prohibits solicitation or use of bonded labour by anyone, of
anyone including children. Evidence of continuing bonded child labour continue. A report by the
Special Rapporteur to India's National Human Rights Commission, reported the discovery of 53 child
labourers in 1996 in the state of Tamil Nadu during a surprise inspection. Each child or the parent
had taken an advance of Rs. 10,0000 to 25,0000. The children were made to work for 12 to 14 hours
a day and received only Rs. 2 to 3 per day as wages.[51][52] According to an ILO report, the extent of
bonded child labour is difficult to determine, but estimates from various social activist groups range
up to 350,000 in 2001.[49]
Despite its legislation, prosecutors in India seldom use the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of
1976 to prosecute those responsible. According to one report, [53] the prosecutors have no direction
from the central government that if a child is found to be underpaid, the case should be prosecuted
not only under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act,
1986, the case should include charges under the Bonded Labour Act of India. The few enforcement
actions have had some unintended effects. While there has been a decrease in children working in
factories because of enforcement and community vigilance committees, the report claims poverty
still compels children and poor families to work. The factory lends money to whoever needs it, puts a
loom in the persons home, and then the family with children works out of their homes, bring finished
product to pay interest and get some wages. The bonded child and family labour operations were
moving out of small urban factories into rural homes.[53]

Consequences of child labour[edit]

A young fruit seller in streets of Kolkata

The presence of a large number of child labourers is regarded as a serious issue in terms of
economic welfare. Children who work fail to get necessary education. They do not get the
opportunity to develop physically, intellectually, emotionally and psychologically.[54] In terms of the
physical condition of children, children are not ready for long monotous work because they become
exhausted more quickly than adults. This reduces their physical conditions and makes the children
more vulnerable to disease.[55] Children in hazardous working conditions are even in worse condition.
[56]
Children who work, instead of going to school, will remain illiterate which limits their ability to
contribute to their own well being as well as to community they live in. Child labour has long term
adverse effects for India.
To keep an economy prospering, a vital criteria is to have an educated workforce equipped with
relevant skills for the needs of the industries. The young labourers today, will be part of Indias
human capital tomorrow. Child labour undoubtedly results in a trade-off with human capital
accumulation.[57]
Child labour in India are employed with the majority (70%) in agriculture[58] some in low-skilled labourintensive sectors such as sari weaving or as domestic helpers, which require neither formal
education nor training, but some in heavy industry such as coal mining. [59]
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are tremendous economic benefits
for developing nations by sending children to school instead of work. [13] Without education, children
do not gain the necessary skills such as English literacy and technical aptitude that will increase their
productivity to enable them to secure higher-skilled jobs in future with higher wages that will lift them
out of poverty.

Diamond industry[edit]
In the year 1999, the International Labour Organisation co-published a report with Universal Alliance
of Diamond Workers, a trade union.[60] The ILO report claimed that child labour is prevalent in the
Indian diamond industry. International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in a separate
1997 press release observed that child labour continued to flourish in India's diamond industry.[61] Not
everyone agreed with these claims. The South Gujarat Diamond Workers Association, another trade
union, acknowledged child labour is present but it is not systematic, is less than 1% and against
local industry norms. Local diamond industry businessmen too downplayed these charges. [62]
According to the 1999 ILO paper,[60] India annually cuts and polishes 70 per cent of the worlds
diamonds by weight, or 40 per cent by value. Additionally, India contributes 95 percent of the
emeralds, 85 percent of the rubies, and 65 percent of the sapphires worldwide. India processes
these diamonds and gems using traditional labour-intensive methods. About 1.5 million people are
employed in the diamond industry, mostly in the unorganized sector. The industry is fragmented into
small units, each employing a few workers. The industry has not scaled up, organised, and big
operators absent. The ILO paper claims that this is to avoid the complex labour laws of India. The
export order is split, work is subcontracted through many middlemen, and most workers do not know
the name of enterprise with the export order. In this environment, claims the ILO report, exact
number of child labourers in India's diamond and gem industry is unknown; they estimate that child
labourers in 1997 were between 10,00 to 20,00 out of 1.5 million total workers (about 1 in 100). The
ILO report claims the causes for child labour include parents who send their children to work
because they see education as expensive, education quality offering no real value, while artisan
work in diamond and gem industry to be more remunerative as the child grows up. [60]
A more recent study from 2005, conducted at 663 manufacturing units at 21 different locations in
India's diamond and gem industry, claims incidence rates of child labour have dropped to 0.31%. [63][64]
[65]

Fireworks manufacture[edit]

Be humbal to the children .... The town of Sivakasi in South India has been reported to employ child
labour in the production of fireworks.[66] In 2011, Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu was home to over 9,500
firecracker factories and produced almost 100 percent of total fireworks output in India. [67] The
fireworks industry employed about 150,000 people at an average of 15 employees per factory. Most
of these were in unorganised sector, with a few registered and organised companies.
In 1989, Shubh Bhardwaj reported[68] that child labour is present in India's fireworks industry, and
safety practices poor. Child labour is common in small shed operation in the unorganized sector.
Only 4 companies scaled up and were in the organised sector with over 250 employees; the larger
companies did not employ children and had superior safety practices and resources. The child
labour in small, unorganised sector operations suffered long working hours, low wages, unsafe
conditions and tiring schedules.
A more recent 2002 report by International Labour Organisation claims [69] that child labour is
significant in Tamil Nadu's fireworks, matches or incense sticks industries. However, these children
do not work in the formal economy and corporate establishments that produce for export. The child
labourers in manufacturing typically toil in supply chains producing for the domestic market of
fireworks, matches or incense sticks. The ILO report claims that as the demand for these products
has grown, the formal economy and corporate establishments have not expanded to meet the
demand, rather home-based production operations have mushroomed. This has increased the
potential of child labour. Such hidden operations make research and effective action difficult,
suggests ILO.

Silk manufacture[edit]
A 2003 Human Rights Watch report claims children as young as five years old are employed and
work for up to 12 hours a day and six to seven days a week in silk industry.[70] These children, claims,
are bonded labour; even though the government of India denies existence of bonded child labour,
these silk industry child are easy to find in Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, claims Children are forced to
dip their hands in scalding water to palpate the cocoons and are often paid less than Rs 10 per day.
[71]

In 2010, a German news investigative report claimed that in states like Karnataka, non-governmental
organisations had found up to 10,000 children working in the 1,000 silk factories in 1998. In other
places, thousands of bonded child labourers were present in 1994. But today, after UNICEF and
NGOs got involved, child labour figure is drastically lower, with the total estimated to be fewer than a
thousand child labourers. The released children were back in school, claims the report. [72]

Carpet weaving[edit]
Siddartha Kara finds about 20% of carpets manufactured in India could involve child labour. He
notes, "determining the extent to which the hand-made carpet supply chain from India to the U.S.A.
is tainted by slavery and child labor requires an additional exercise in supply chain tracing." [73] Kara's
study also finds variation in child labour practices between ethnic and religious groups. Kara and
colleagues report highest level of child labour in Muslim community carpet operations, [74] and the
presence of debt bonded child labourers in Muslim villages.[75]

Domestic labour[edit]
Official estimates for child labour working as domestic labour and in restaurants is more than
2,500,000 while NGOs estimate the figure to be around 20 million.[76] The Government of
Indiaexpanded the coverage of The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act and banned the
employment of children as domestic workers and as workers in restaurants, dhabas, hotels, spas
and resorts effective from 10 October 2006.

Coal mining[edit]

Despite laws enacted in 1952 prohibiting employment of people under the age of 18 in the mines
primitive coal mines in Meghalaya using child labour were discovered and exposed by the
international media in 2013.[59]

Initiatives against child labour[edit]

In 1979, the Indian government formed the Gurupadswamy Committee to find about child labour and
means to tackle it. The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act was not enacted based on the
recommendations of the committee in 1986.[citation needed] A National Policy on Child Labour was
formulated in 1987 to focus on rehabilitating children working in hazardous occupations. [77] The
Ministry of Labour and Employment had implemented around 100 industry-specific National Child
Labour Projects to rehabilitate the child workers since 1988.[78]

Non-governmental organisations[edit]
Many NGOs like Bachpan Bachao Andolan, CARE India, Talaash Association Child Rights and
You, Global march against child labour, RIDE India, Childline etc. have been working to eradicate
child labour in India.[77]
Pratham is India's largest non-governmental organisation with the mission 'every child in school and
learning well.' Founded in 1995, Pratham has aimed to reduce child labour and offer schooling to
children irrespective of their gender, religion and social background. It has grown by introducing low
cost education models that are sustainable and reproducible.[79][80]
Child labour has also been a subject of public interest litigations in Indian courts. [81][82]

Demography of child labour[edit]

According to 2005 Government of India NSSO(National Sample Survey Org.), child labour incidence
rates in India is highest among Muslim Indians, about 40% higher than Hindu Indians. Child labour
was found to be present in other minority religions of India but at significantly lower rates.
Across caste classification, the lowest caste Dalit children had child labour incidence rates of 2.8%,
statistically similar to the nationwide average of 2.74%. Tribal populations, however, had higher child
labour rates at 3.8%.[83]

References[edit]
1.

Jump up^

2. Effects of child labor

Childhood is perhaps the most blessed stage in a human
life. It is that phase of life where, children are not really
aware of any form of worldly responsibilities, they are free
from all the tensions and they can learn a whole lot of new
things. No wonder, people keep having this wistful desire
of going back to their childhood and relive all those
beautiful memories. But there is other side to this phase
and in that, many children are forced to work in inhumane
conditions. This phase is also known by child labor where
a child is full of tensions and burdens and he has to
perform the tough job of being primary earning member of
the family. Such children lose their innocence to satisfy the
needs and wants of their family. The problem of child labor

is huge and is faced by many countries in the world.

Child labor is not a recent phenomenon. Throughout
human history, children have been made to work under
hazardous and unhealthy conditions. In other words, child
exploitation has remained an integral part of our culture
and despite the advances made by us in last few
centuries; we havent been able to eradicate this menace.
Children are made to work in factories, mining,
agriculture, on streets and as domestic helps. Child labor
is an attack on basic rights of the children. Leave alone
lack of educational opportunities to them, most of these
children are malnourished and treated like animals. Child
labor practices causes damage to a childs physical and
mental health apart from depriving him of his basic rights
to education, development, and freedom. Unfortunately,
the number of underage children working in unfavorable
working conditions has kept on increasing.
India has one of the largest populations of child laborers.
These children work in unsafe environments where there is
a constant danger of fatal accidents. Children employed as
laborers spend most of their waking hours working. They
are condemned to a life of poverty, illiteracy, and
prolonged misery with no end in sight. They are required
to perform grueling and physically demanding tasks and in
return receive only meager wages. Poor working conditions
cause severe health problems to such children. A child
labor not just suffers physical and mental torture but also
becomes mentally and emotionally mature too fast which
is never a good sign.
As children are sensitive to influences of toxics, chemicals,
noise, pollution, heat and accidents, as a result of which
many children develop lifelong health complications in
worst cases, even lose their lives. A large number of child
laborers are employed in mining, manufacturing,
transportation and construction sectors where chances of
fatal injuries are quite high. Because of the environmental
influence, underage children suffer from permanent
psychological scars. They do not possess confidence or self
esteem. It is hard to imagine, how we as a country are
going to prosper when a significant population of the
nation suffers from such huge problems. It is not just duty
of the government to take appropriate measures to rectify
the situation but it is also the responsibility of the Indian
citizens to contribute their bit in getting rid of barbaric
practice of child labor.