Child labour is a worldwide problem that has seen an alarming rise in recent years. Based on the findings of the 5th world conference on elimination of child labour in recent years, the problem has grown worse, due to factors like conflict, poverty and climate changes. Today, more than 160 million children, or nearly 10 percent of all children in the world are forced into child work.
Child labour of India is a recurring issue that has over 8.3 million children working between the ages of 5 to 14. Despite the legal and constitutional framework, a large number of Indian children, mostly of poor families, begin working as young children to support their families, or become the business of their parents. This is in violation of children’s rights and raises serious concerns about the development of India.
The report outlines the latest trends in child work and labor in India and the connections between them and children’s participation in school. The research employs secondary quantitative survey data as well as primary qualitative interviews to achieve the aim of:
Detailing the pattern of child work and labor (including child labour that is not at the age of minimum, dangerous work, and the most harmful forms of child labor apart from hazardous work like child trafficking) India as well as updating estimates that primarily rely upon Census 2011 data;
- assessing the interrelationships that exist between the children’s involvement in school or work, and their labour participation; and
- examining children’s perspectives on their experience of work, labour, and their intersections
- and schooling, as well as in school hours, including during the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting closures of schools.
The reason for child labour in India
The issue of child labor in India is the result of the complex mix of socioeconomic elements. The main reason is poverty that forces households to put their children to work to earn a living. Other causes include migration and emergencies, the absence of jobs that are decent and the harsh living conditions. These conditions create a climate which makes child labor an option for survival, thereby perpetuating an unsustainable vicious cycle of poverty, and an illiteracy.
The COVID-19 virus has worsened the problem of child labor and led to a slowdown in growth across the globe as well as a rise in unemployment, which has deprived millions of people of subsistence.
The repercussions of child labor in India
Child labour can have significant effects on children’s health, education and growth. It strips the children of their childhood and exposes them to the dangers of exploitation, abuse and illness, and hampers their chances of a bright future.
In India the girls are most vulnerable, and are twice as likely to drop absent from school and take on domestic jobs. This perpetuates the cycle of poverty which is all too prevalent in India which is hindering sustainable socio-economic growth. Furthermore to the psychological repercussions of child labor can be just as serious as the physical consequences that can lead to psychological illness and long-term trauma.
How can we stop child labour
To stop child labor, a greater investment on quality, free education is vital. Governments need to recognize the magnitude of the issue and the impact it has on families across the world and children. It is essential to implement policies that give families opportunities to help families to live comfortably without the need to resort to child labor as well as universal social security insurance should be implemented as well as information campaigns should be increased to create awareness of the risks of child labor.
Public awareness and fostering international cooperation are crucial to exchanging best practices and creating efficient strategies.
It is the Indian government has enacted a number of laws to stop child labour. These comprise The Forced Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1976 as well as the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill 2016. Institutions and committees have been established to study child abuse, and rehabilitation programs have been initiated since the latter part of the 1980s. In spite of these laws, goals are not always achieved because of cultural and economic aspects. For instance it is not the law’s intention to cover children doing jobs that are not officially declared as is the norm in India. Furthermore, in most industries, women’s work typically not recognized, which makes them inaccessible to the eye of law enforcement.
Conclusion
The country has moved towards rapidly approaching near-universal schooling, paralleling declining child labour. The Government of India, along with various other development partners, has been focused for last two decades on eradicating child labor. A series of legislations has aimed at both tackling the problem of child labor, in addition to providing the impetus towards childhood education such as enactment of Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 to regulate the process of child labor and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012.Â
While from the educational side of the spectrum, we have a Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 alongside integration of Mid-Day Meal scheme with National Food Security Act, 2013.Â
A couple of recently launched government initiatives in the education sector for school education consist of the Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing( DIKSHA), a national school education based digital infrastructure in 2017 and the National initiative for schoolheads’ and teachers’ holistic Advancement (NISHTHA), the program for teachers’ development. In pursuant of National Education Policy, 2020, GoI have in 2021 established National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with understanding and numeracy (NIPUNBharat),2021and PM Schools for Rising India (PMSHRI) in 2022, focused on improving the quality of schools. National curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF FS) was launched in 2022 and National Curriculum Framework for School Education in 2023.