Child Labour in India
It is a matter of shame that even after 60 years of independence there are reportedly more than 8 crore children between the age group of 5-14 suffering as slave labourers. It is scandalous. Today we don’t have any foreign rulers to blame for. It appears that the independence has come to ten percent of our population only. Thus, ours is a vast ocean of poverty dotted by a few small islands of prosperity. To make the matters worse population is multiplying which leads to more children being condemned to labour bondage.
It is shocking that more than 80,000,000 youngsters of our population are robbed of their right to childhood. Instead of playing, laughing, dreaming and studying they are forced into labour. Their tender hands are made to do harsh menial work for 12 hours a day without any break or holiday. In addition to toil they are subjected to torture and abuses. The employers exploit their helplessness as they are most defenseless and fragile citizens.
These unfortunate children work like slaves in farms, mines, brick-kilns, roadside dhabas, tea shops, homes, garages and stores. Other small scale industries like glass bangles, carpets, tea, tiles, match sticks, fire crackers, bidi and leather goods are the most notorious child labour exploiters.
The bonded children are the cheapest source of human labour. They come from the poorest sections of the society mostly from rural areas. Most of them are sold or bonded out to unscrupulous employers by their own parents for some extra money.
There are laws against child labour but they are of effective. There is lack of political will to implement the laws. Public opinion and voluntary agencies do play some role. Some social activists, individuals and public representatives are doing good work in fighting for the rights of these children. The parliament, central and state governments need to be sensitized about this ruthless crime. Gut the biggest criminal is our society and attitude of the poor parent. Poverty, hunger and unemployment are also contributing factors. Poor and the illiterate people do not realize their responsibility towards their children. For them children are financial assets like poultry or sheep. The child labour has been in practice in our society for ages like a tradition. It is a social evil like dowry or untouchability that is hard to eradicate because the people are orthodox minded and callous. It is at this level that something needs to be done really. A relentless awareness and education campaign is the only answer. It should be coupled with rural employment schemes and effective population control. It is a huge challenge and is easy said than done. The people’s mindset must change. All the adults must realize their primary responsibility towards the children of India, our future.
