Author: Andre Coleman

The International Labour Organization estimates that there are 218 child labourers in the world (ILO, 2006). In 1991, there were approximately 11.3 million child labourers in India, with 2 million of those children working in highly dangerous situations (2004). However, as of late 2000 the ILO states that there are now 10.4 million child labourers in India. It important to stress that these children are working because they do not have a choice, Mummun Jha argues more specifically that, “they come not from the well-off households but from marginalized sections that are already the hardest hit, such as the children of the poor, the lower castes, and the female” (2009, p. 217). In India, there are a variety of complex social and economic factors for why children are working. These reasons can include: a lack of access to education and unemployed parents (Venkatanarayana, 2004). Commonly, poverty is said to be the cause of child labour, yet it can also be a result of child labour as well. Zubair Kabir argues that a cycle of poverty can exist within child labour and India is no exception (2003). Thus, this keeps children in India in a disadvantaged state because they are denied access to education and as a result, will not learn any new skills for a higher paying job (Kabir, 2003). In addition to the lack of education, child labour can pose serious health risks to children. They are often exposed to unsanitary and dangerous situations because employers will not provide basic health measures due to the low-income employment child labourers commonly do and the lack of governmental regulations that exist (2003). Due to children working in the low-income sector of the workplace, this decreases the value of work for adults and thus, adult unemployment rises. With poorly paid, unskilled children working in unsafe conditions, these children will become the future generation in India; and therefore, child labour continues the cycle of poverty (2003).

Another important social factor that causes child labour in India is the deeply ingrained cultural values that have existed for decades (Kabir, 2003). Often girls are left out of statistics regarding child labour because sometimes they do not work in the formal sectors of child labour such as factories; rather they participate in domestic labour (Das & Mishra, 2005). Mummun Jha states that there is an abundance of poverty in India and thus the,

Situation is worsened by the fact that for the poor families in India, alternative sources of income are non-existent. There are no social welfare systems as those in the West. There are fewer sources of bank loans, government loans, or other credit sources. What is available is usually for the relatively better off (2009, p. 211).

India has passed some legislation regarding the well being of children. India did sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 (Jha, 2009). However, the Indian government has not signed off on Convention 138 on Minimum Age (1973) and Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999) which to the ILO is considered very progressive in regard to the law against child labour (2009). The Indian government maintains due to their decentralized style of government, only the individual states in India have the constitutional power to change the law regarding the minimum age (2009). As a result, millions of Indian children are working illegally (2009).

I feel passionate about eliminating child labour in my lifetime and I feel educating individuals, especially youth about the effects of child labour is crucial in achieving this goal. In this paper, I will argue that child labour is a detriment to the development of less economically developed countries because it prevents access to education, especially to young girls, it risks the health of young children, and decreases the value of adult work; thus weakening the economic growth of a country by perpetuating poverty.

Theoretical Backing:

W.W. Rostow’s theory on the stages of economic growth provides a justification for why child labour exists today. Rostow presented a model of economic growth in the 1960s and it provides a theory on why some countries developed economically while others did not, in his book called The Stages of Economic Growth (1960). Rostow would make the argument that child labour is necessary for some countries to industrialize as there were some forms of child labour during the Industrial Revolution in Europe (Venkatanarayana, 2004). Further applying Rostow’s theory of economic development to child labour, another possible explanation for why it still exists today is because LECDs are employing child labourers in order to compete with multi-national corporations and other more economically developed countries. Most countries employing young children are stuck in Rostow’s second stage known as ‘pre-conditions for take-off’, which can be characterized by a need to develop a surplus of wealth in order to increase investment in transportation, communication and natural source exploitation (1960). Whereas, many other industrialized countries are in Rostow’s final stage of economic development known as ‘mass consumption’, which can be characterized by a growing demand for consumer goods and services, incomes being greater than necessary for buying essentials and an increase in investment by society in health, education and social programs (1960). As a result, Rostow would make the argument that child labour is necessary for economic development in LEDCs, and in order to move through the stages of development, from ‘pre-conditions for take-off’ to ‘mass consumption’ (Rostow, 1960).

Research and Analysis:

Child labour is detrimental to the development of less economically developed countries because it presents a barrier to the education system for children in India. “Many scholars and activists now see a direct relationship between education and child labour” (Jha, 2009, 210). Traditionally, education was only accessible to the upper caste levels (2009). Furthermore, old, cultural values still exist in India today; for example, education is not thought of for people in the lower castes, in particular females (2009).

Kumar Das and Sarojini Mishra (2005) focus specifically on the economic effects of child labour on girls in India. Das and Mishra state that child labour for young girls is related to the deeply ingrained cultural factors such as, caste, religion, family type and size. Thus, girls belonging to the lower caste acquire little to no education and as a result are forced into child labour to help her family financially. Das and Mishra also highlight that much of the research done on child labourers in India focuses on children forced to work in factories; whereas many young girls are experiencing child labour in the informal work sector, such as working at home, but are still exploited (2005). Das and Mishra conclude that better understanding of the causes, consequences of child labour, the labour market and emphasis on the importance of primary school for girls in India is crucial for eliminating child labour (2005).

Similar to Das and Mishra, studies conducted by Rubiana Chamarbagwala (2008), provides evidence that the overall increase of availability of primary education in India will not only increase the number of children attending school, but it will also decrease the chances of girls and boys working in factories. It is important to point out that a simple increase in the availability of education in India would not solve the number of young girls who watch their brothers go to school while they work in the unpaid labour force, and are still being exploited. Unlike other literature focused on child labour in India, Chamarbagwala states that governmental policies should be implemented that will increase the economic benefits of education, and thus provide an incentive for families to send their children to school rather than to work.

Mitesh Badiwala argues for a solution for the lack of access to education due to child labour. He states that even if the schools in India are good, the economic benefits out weight the educational benefits for Indian parents and as a result poverty raises the dropout rates (1998). Therefore, India should implement compulsory schooling for children. It is also important to point out that with children in school, the availability of jobs for adults will increase. The idea of mandatory school requires policies to be enacted and these policies can help provide funds for the primary school system (1998). In addition, Badiwala points out that this idea of compulsory education worked for the Indian state of Kerala, which spends a lot of money on education and has the highest literacy rate in the country (1998).

Recent research conducted by the International Labour Organization (2009), has stated the most recent global economic crisis that occurred in 2008 could increase the number of girls in child labour. The ILO reports approximately 100 million girls worldwide are involved in some of the worst forms of child labour today. In addition, the report says this is especially evident in families that place higher importance on educating the boys of the family, which can be attributed to the traditional values embedded in India (ILO, 2003). As the global crisis affects LEDCs, families will start to prioritize what children go to work and to school. In addition, the ILO states that the financial crisis would decrease the national education budget and thus, affect the importance of education to already financially disadvantaged families.

Child labour can have various devastating effects on the health of child labourers. A study carried out by Occupational Medicine (2006) studied different groups of child labourers in various LEDCs. Yet, only conclusive evidence was found amongst child labourers in India. The goal of the study was to determine whether child labour had any effect on the final height of child labourers. While child labour is known to have other negative health effects such as exposure to harsh chemicals, unsanitary conditions, and the potential for serious injuries; whether growth is affected by child labour is still considered controversial. Occupational Medicine focuses on the idea that child labour can directly or indirectly affect the health of children. For example, “It has been assumed that the chronic physical strain of work on growing bones and joints could lead to stunting, spinal injury and lifelong deformations, (2006, 1). However, growth could be indirectly affected by the strain on already weak bones and joints due to malnourishment. Malnourishment in child labourers is caused by long hours working and unsanitary conditions, essentially child labourers do not get all of the required nutrients for healthy development while working in factories. The study concluded that among the children studied in India, there was evidence that child labour did affect the final height of the child labourers. This is an example of negative long term health effects for child labourers and it is problematic because these children represent the future of India.

Child labour is detrimental to the development of India economically because child labour devalues the work done by adults. Basu and Van support this by suggesting that child labour is competing with adult labour in India and the relationship is unhealthy economically (1999). Basu’s studies show that “when adult wages rise or unemployment falls, the incidence of child labour tends to fall. Hence, if we are seriously concerned about child labour, we will have to improve the economic condition of the adult worker,” (1999, N.P.).

In comparison, Augendra Bhukuth and Jerome Ballet (2006) focus on whether child labour is complementary to adult labour, in particular the brick kiln industry in India. The report states that parents are aiding child labour in the brick kiln industry because children are often found working alongside their parents. Unlike almost all other literature on child labour, this study focuses on how child labour is used to increase the price of labour, because an employer is getting an entire family’s labour. This helps to increase household productivity because the whole family works together to earn a living. While it is importance to decrease the debt owed by families in LECDs, the study fails to acknowledge the psychological damages a child will face due to the intensive labour they experienced during childhood.

Sebastian Braun (2006) examines the relationship between child labour and foreign direct investment (FDI). One would think that FDI would be attracted to countries with child labour due to the increases in profits made as a result of the low wages earned by workers compared to developed countries. However, strong evidence points to less FDI flowing to countries that have child labourers, due to young children making up the labour force. To foreign investors child labour reflects poorly on an economy, because the labour force is in fact young children. Therefore, to improve the chances of receiving FDI and thus improving the economy, countries such as India, should eliminate all forms of child labour and employ adults only. If FDI is deterred based on child labour, then LEDCs employing children are continuing the cycle of poverty and decreasing chances of economic growth because they will not receive foreign investment.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the economic development of less economically developed countries is only negatively impacted by child labour. In regards to school, child labour is preventing access to education. In India young girls attend school less than boys, due to traditional values still prevalent in the country today (Das and Mishra, 2005). Chamarbagwala argues that governmental policies should be implemented that specifically enhance the economic benefits of sending children to school; thus giving families an incentive to send their children to school in India (2008). Badiwala claims there is potential for compulsory education to help eradicate child labour in India; pointing to the Indian state of Kerala as an example (1998).

In regards to the health of child labourers, there is evidence that states that child labour affects the final height of an Indian child, among various other serious short and long term effects (Occupational Medicine, 2006). Sadly, there are few studies that state the health effects of child labour on young girls working in the domestic or unpaid labour force.

Lastly, one of the most detrimental effects child labour has on the economic development of a country is the fact that child labour devalues the work done by adults (Basu and Van, 1999). Basu and Van argue that only when the economic situation is improved, will child labourers cease to exist (1999). Furthermore, an interesting study conducted by Bhukuth and Ballet states that sometimes parents continue the problem of child labour by having their children work alongside them in the brick kiln industry (2006). Moreover, it has been proven that child labour can be harmful economically because it decreases the country’s chance at attracting foreign direct investment (Braun, 2006). As a result, child labour is damaging to the economic development of a less economically developed country because it presents a barrier to the education of children, it risks the health of child labourers short and long term and continues the cycle of poverty by devaluing the work done by adults.

Growing up, I truly believed that every child had the same advantages I did: clothes, books, toys, food, a home, and most importantly, the chance to go to school. I remember the first time I realized this wasn’t the case: I was seven years old, sneaking downstairs to watch Saturday morning T.V when I stumbled upon an infomercial urging people to donate on behalf of World Vision. I remember the commercial showing a little girl, approximately six years old and explaining how she went to work at a factory every day for little to no compensation. I was bewildered to say the least; I thought every child went to school. Naturally, this prompted several unanswered questions to my parents, and a general curiosity as to why there is this unequal divide between the affluent and those who are forced to work from as young as five years old. Child Labour is undoubtedly present in countries such as India. I am curious to research the implications on the life of a child worker in India- specifically the implications on said child’s education.

Child labour, according to Free the Children (2005), is seen as “work that is done by children under the age of fifteen (fourteen in some developing countries) which restricts or damages a child’s physical, emotional, intellectual, social and/or spiritual growth” (Free the Children 2005). Currently, it is estimated that there are upwards of 12.6 million child workers in India today, which is the largest number of child labourers under the age of 14 in the world. (CBC 2005: 2) Through my research, I intend to show that the employment of children, though used to advance the production of goods ultimately impacts a child’s ability to access education. I will argue this thesis by providing a brief history of the child labour laws in India, as well as providing a quotation by the Indian government describing the thoughts and laws concerning child labour. I intend to juxtapose this testimonial with one given by UNICEF, an international organization that is dedicated to ending child labour in the global south. I then intend to show the impacts of child labour on developmental indicators such as education.

India is currently one of the countries described in the Free the Children quotation that attempts to enforce child labour laws for children less than fourteen years of age. In 1979, the Indian Government formed the Gurupadswamy Committee; a committee that was formed in the hopes of suggesting measures to end child labour. While the Government has put forward several goals towards the end of child labour, it is recognizably a difficult endeavour. On the Indian Government Website, it states that “aˆ¦poverty is the root cause of child labour [and] the action plan emphasizes the need to cover these children and their familiesaˆ¦” (Ministry of Labour and Employment 2005) From this quote, it is clear that the Government of India recognizes that the amount of poverty in India is a determining factor in the amount of child labourers in the country. In a CBC article, “The End is within Reach?” (2005), speaks of the relationship between poverty and child labour in India, suggesting that one cannot exist without the other. If this is the case, and if the Indian government considers reducing and eventually eliminating child labour a concern and goal, then it becomes necessary to consider the factors that lead to poverty in India before pursuing the elimination of child labour.

A law enacted in 1986, based upon the recommendations of the Gurupadswamy Committee, states that “children less than fourteen years of age cannot be employed in hazardous occupations.” (Ministry of Labour and Employment 2005) Hazardous occupations, according the Government, refers to any work that involves unsafe activities or working conditions, and includes such activities as operating transportation vehicles, work that involves proximity to a railway line and work that involves handing toxic and hazardous substances. These are only some examples of hazardous occupations that are part of an expanding list. Since this law, several others, for example the Legislative Action Plan, a plan for enforcing Child Labour laws in India, have been enacted and are now referred to as The National Policy on Child Labour. According to the 2005 Indian Census, the National Child Labour Projects now covers 41% of the country.

The Indian Government, in the attempt to enact long term legislative changes on the subject of child labour, acknowledges that these changes will take time to fully come into effect. The Government also acknowledges that the amount of poverty in India is a definite factor to this debate in that the revenue gained from the work of children is necessary income to their families’ welfare.

UNICEF is one of the organizations, governmental and non-governmental, that has taken a strong interest into the affairs of the millions of children currently being employed in India. UNICEF sees child labour as a violation against a child’s right to education. They are of the opinion that, though the Indian Government has implemented such efforts as the National Child Labour Projects- more commonly referred to as NCLP-intervention by organizations in the pursuit of partnerships with the national, as well as state governments are necessary. They believe that in order for a child to have a nurturing childhood, they need “to build a protective environment in which children can live and develop according to their fundamental rights.” (UNICEF 2007) .UNICEF provides three examples of intervention plans in order to provide children with fundamental rights that they see as lacking due to working from a young age. Their primary focus is to promote a child’s right to basic education; second is the implementing of community initiatives in order to empower communities to be active against child labour; and thirdly “addressing [the] existing attitudes towards child labour and facilitat[ing] people’s behavioural change towards a more protective environmentaˆ¦” (Ministry of Labour and Employment 2005) Through such projects and initiatives such as the World Day against Child Labour, these groups aim to raise awareness in the hopes of ending child labour.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child labour as follows: “the “official” definition of child labour asaˆ¦(1) activity which violates the minimum standards of the 1973 Minimum Age Convention, and (2) activity which is considered prohibited child labour under national law.” (Simolin 2000: 942) The ILO runs the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), which was created in 1992 “with the overall goal of the progressive elimination of child labour” (ILO 2008). Currently they have partnerships with several NGOs, as well as the governments of nations where child labour is prominent. With their partnerships, IPEC and their partners have operations in 88 countries, including India. They believe that child labour perpetuates poverty, and have therefore come up with several priorities to combat the “worst forms of child labour” (ILO 2008), such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage, as well as practices of slavery, amongst others. IPEC is also in partnership with UNICEF and assists in the annual World Day against Child Labour.

In recent years another form of child labour has risen in India. Bonded Child Labour refers to the “phenomenon of children working in conditions of servitude in order to pay off a debt. In India, there are an estimated fifteen million bonded child labourers, and possibly more.” (Tucker 1997: 574) According to Lee Tucker, author of “Child Slaves in Modern India: The Bonded Labour Problem” (1997), bonded child labour occurs as a result of the Government spending less than half its budget on primary education, spending it instead on high school and secondary education institutes. As a result, “India is subsidizing the maintenance of a small class of highly educated people, while simultaneously marginalizing the literacy needs of the majority”. (Tucker 1997: 576) Secondly, is the lack of employment opportunities for children who have gone to school, which therefore not only makes working in the labour industry a more alluring choice, as well as a last-resort option for children and their families.

In this same report, author Lee Tucker also addresses the myths surrounding all areas of child labour in India, specifically that of the “nimble fingers”:

“Nimble fingers” theory is applied to some of the harshest industries employing children. This includes the carpet, silk, beedi [1] , and silver industries. This theory asserts that children make the best product in these occupations, thanks to their small and agile fingers, which are, theoretically, better able to tie the tiny knots of wool, unravel the thread from the boiling silk cocoons, or solder tiny silver flowers to thin chains. Under this view, child labour is a production necessity. (Tucker 1997: 570)

Tucker believes that this myth makes it so that more children ultimately sign up for labour positions, as children are encouraged to view their bodies are a needed commodity. This then creates a situation where more children are forced to work long-term; in an environment that can be highly exploitative, as well as emotionally and physically harsh. Another myth surrounding child labour is the need to be trained at the right age, which is usually around six or seven. This myth “contends that children who go to schoolaˆ¦will either be unable to adequately learn a skill or will be at an irreparable disadvantage in comparison with those who did begin working as younger children.” (Tucker, 1997: 577) By this quotation, Tucker discusses the implications behind the choice to attend school from a young age and how that decision can affect a child’s schooling, and by extension literacy, as well as choosing job opportunities and that child’s marketability into later life.

In “Child Labour and Education for All”, Lorenzo Guarcello (2008) argues that when children are forced to work, it is a direct violation to their right to education. Guarcello states:

Education is a key element in the prevention of child labour; at the same time, child labour is one of the main obstacles to Education For All (EFA). Understanding the interplay between education and child labour is therefore critical to achieving both EFA and child labour elimination goal. (Guarcello 2008)

Guarcello continues to say that there is an overwhelming consensus among such organizations, such as UNICEF and the International Labour Organization that “the single best means of stopping child labour is to improve school access and quality” (Guarcello 2008) When education costs are high, families are less likely to send to send their children to school, and are more likely to pull them out of school at a young age. The costs involved in a child’s education can be high for a number of reasons, such as a country’s minimal investment in primary education, living costs being too high in areas surrounding schools and the unavailability of public transportation for the majority. Additionally, school fees can be incredibly pricey, and therefore school cannot be an option for some families.

Guarcello continues in his analysis of child labour and the relationship to education in reflecting on a child worker’s ability to attend school in countries where child labour is common. He identifies the work settings that he believes are the most detrimental to a child worker’s attendance” (Guarcello 2008) and by extension success in the education system. Firstly are children that are solely responsible for non-economic, household duties. These children, according to Guarcello, are the least impacted in terms of school attendance, as their duties can be more flexible and less binding than economical work. Additionally, families are less likely to interfere with their child’s education. The second category of working children is broken up into three groups: children that will never enter school, children who enrol late into their childhoods and those who are forced to leave school early. Children who are never enrolled in primary school are the worst off, says Guarcello, as they are “denied the benefit of formal education altogether, and therefore constitutes a particular policy priority” (Guarcello 2008). The Third and final category of child workers are those that attend classes irregularly. Though these groups differ in terms of how much school is actually missed, Guarcello believes that the lack of schooling is ultimately a determent to the learning of a child, as a working child is less likely to learn at school due to the irregularity and lack of repetition that comes from attending class on a daily basis. Furthermore, child labour does not only affect a child’s ability to getting to school, but also their ability to absorb material, thereby learning effectively, while at school. To sum up his findings, Guarcello states that his findings supported the notion that child labour, both economic work, as well as household duties is a detriment to a child’s education, and suggests that more work should be done to integrate more child workers into the education system.

In addition to putting a greater effort into incorporating more child workers into the education systems, some scholars believe that more work needs to be done in western nations if child labour should be eliminated. In “Buying out Child Labour”, Stephanie Pallage and Christian Zimmermann (2007) discuss their views concerning child labour. Through economical calculations, these authors suggest that countries that trade with the West ultimately have a high comparative advantage in the production of goods if they choose to pay children minimal compensation. Due to the low cost of employing children, the product efficiency is high because these companies can sell these goods at a cheap rate and at the same time, pay their workers close to nothing. A solution, according to these authors, is for countries, such as India, to shift a portion of their GDP to reinvest into their own economy as well as education sectors, and to slowly attempt at distancing themselves from trading nations.

In conclusion, the material that I reviewed largely supports the notion that that child labour, in terms of both economic work, as well as household duties serves largely as a detriment to a child’s education. Child labour does not only affect a child’s ability to getting to school, but also their ability to absorb material, thereby learning effectively. Moreover, families who are in an economic state where they require their children to work are less likely to afford the necessary costs involved in a child’s education such as transportation, a uniform, supplies, as well as tuition. However, the impacts of going to school versus a child’s work involvement remained largely unanswered in the literature I reviewed. More research needs to be done in this field in order for any solution to be successful. Additionally, more programs that integrate child workers into education systems should arise in India in order for current child workers to have the opportunity for literacy.

Although the Indian Government has successfully enacted laws, such as The National Child Labour Projects to protect their minors from hazardous working environments, more time is needed in order for these laws to be enforced to serve the entire country. The partnerships between the state and such organizations as UNICEF and IPEC, through their mission to end child labour, should continue to work closely in order to enable more children the opportunity for an education. However, if these missions are to be successful, they should ensure the proper research as to India’s reasoning for employing child workers and understanding the broader implications behind the need for child workers before suggesting such solutions. As for the more economic solutions, being the reinvestment of GDP into national markets and distancing from international trading nations; I believe that more time, as well as more planning is needed before cutting off all economic ties with the international corporations, as the disruptions could easily provide huge detriments to India’s economic sector. Perhaps India could begin with reinvesting more into primary education, while remaining an international trading nation, and slowly progress to becoming economically independent.

In terms of initiatives intended to raise awareness, such as the World Day against Child Labour, there needs to be included the same research into India’s reasoning for employing children stated clearly on the websites of organizations, rather than just a statement that it is simply a cruel practice against children going against child’s rights. If awareness in western citizens is the goal of these initiatives, then a more inclusive report on child labour in India is needed in order for the issue to be fully understood.

According to the Government of India, there are 2 million children working in hazardous industries. Hazardous occupations include brick manufacturing, stone quarrying, fireworks manufacturing, lock making and glassware production. An ILO (International Labour Organization) study on hazardous child labour in Bangladesh found that more than 40 types of economic activities carried out by children were hazardous to them. The survey also revealed that except for light work, child labour usually had harmful consequences on the mental and physical development of children. Also in countries like Pakistan, it was found that of the total population of child labourers, 7 percent suffered from illness/injuries frequently and 28 percent occasionally. The majority of children suffering from illness/injuries were found in agricultural activities. The situation in Sri Lanka seems to be less problematic since, according to a child activity survey, nearly 90 percent of the working children in the age group of 5-17 years have never experienced a health or safety hazard due to the activity in which they were engaged. In Nepal, identified hazardous sectors include construction, transportation and production, and especially the bidi and carpet industries.

THE BIDI AND CIGAR WORKERS (CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT) ACT, 1966

Defines a child as under Section 2 (b) “Child” means a person who has not completed fourteen years of age .

The Act also defines “manufacturing process” as under

(k) “Manufacturing process,” means any process for, or incidental to, making, finishing or packing or otherwise treating any article or sub-stance with a view to its use, sale, transport, delivery or disposal as bidi or cigar or both;

The 2001 National Census of India estimated the total number of child labour; aged 5-14, to be at 12.6 million Child labour problem is not unique to India; worldwide, about 215 million children work, many full times.

In 2001, out of the 12.6 million, about 0.12 million children in India were in a hazardous job. UNICEF estimates that India with its larger population has the highest number of labourers in the world less than 14 years of age, while sub-saharan African countries have the highest percentage of children who are deployed as child labour. International Labour Organization estimates that agriculture at 60 percent is the largest employer of child labour in India, while United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates 70 percent of child labour is deployed in agriculture and related activities. Outside of agriculture, child labour is observed in almost all informal sectors of the Indian economy.

Companies including Gap Primark, Monsanto[ and others have been criticised for child labour in their products. The companies claim they have strict policies against selling products made by underage kids, but there are many links in a supply chain making it difficult to police them all. 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. 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.

Section 21 of the Constitution states that:

No juvenile/child shall carry any of the following prohibited articles, namely:-

(a) Bidi, cigarette and tobacco in any loose form or packing; including Gutka or Masala under any brand name;

(b) Alcohol and spirit of every description;

(c) Bhang, Ganja and opium and other narcotic drug or psychotropic substances;

(d) Fire-arms or other weapons, whether requiring licence or not.

(e) Any other article specified in this behalf by the Superintendent by general or special orders.

In Bidi factories of Block I & II of Bankura District of State of West Bengal the scenario is not at all different with many children working in bidi rolling activities who are unregistered so are devoid of any facilities prescribed by the Government.

DISCUSSION

Bidi rolling is done in almost all major states of India and it takes place mainly in the home based unorganized sector, with sub-contractors playing the main role for the principal bidi manufacturers. There are about 300 major manufacturers of branded bidis but there are thousands of small-scale manufacturers cum contractors who account for the bulk of the bidi production in India

Government estimates of the total number of bidi workers is about 4.5 million, majority of who are home based women workers. Trade unions claim that there could be about 7-8 million bidi workers in the country, especially if those engaged in bidi trade and the kendu leaf collection are also taken into account. Over the years, many efforts have been made to improve the working and living conditions of workers and their families involved in the bidi industry. Besides the general labour laws applicable (such as Minimum Wages Act and the Provident Funds Act), the Government of India has also enacted two major laws specifically for

the bidi sector workers – Bidi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966 – to regulate the

conditions of service of the bidi workers, and Bidi Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1976 – to provide for welfare schemes for the bidi workers and their families, relating to health, education, maternity benefits, group insurance, recreation, housing assistance etc. Under the fund, there are also special schemes to encourage education of children of bidi workers, especially for the girl child.

In April, 1992, a Group Insurance Scheme for the Bidi Workers was also introduced under the social security scheme of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India. This provides insurance cover of Rs. 5000/- in case of natural death and Rs. 25,000/- in case of accidental death to those bidi workers who have identity cards.

It is written in the Preamble

Recalling that, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations has proclaimed that childhood is entitled to special care and assistance,

Rights (in particular in article 10) and in the statutes and relevant instruments of specialized agencies and international organizations concerned with the welfare of children, ‘

Bearing in mind that, as indicated in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, “the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth”,

PART III of the Constitution states The Fundamnetal Rights which provides for the protection of children. it states under :

Right to Freedom which includes speech and expression, assembly, association or union or cooperatives, movement, residence, and right to practice any profession or occupation (some of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, decency or morality), right to life and liberty, right to education, protection in respect to conviction in offences and protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.

Right against Exploitation, prohibiting all forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic in human beings;

Right to Education which ensures that children up to the age of 14 get education. It can also be free of cost.

Fundamental rights for Indians have also been aimed at overturning the inequalities of pre-independence social practices. Specifically, they have also been used to abolish untouchability and hence prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. They also forbid trafficking of human beings and forced labour. They also protect cultural and educational rights of ethnic and religious minorities by allowing them to preserve their languages and also establish and administer their own education institutions.

It is seen in the study surveyed held in Block I and Block II of the district Bankura, West Bengal, that children were deprived of their Fundamnetal Rights.

Objectives of the Study

1. To highlight the conditions of child labourers in Bidi factories of Block I & II of Bankura District.

2. To touch on the the Government policies related to child labours.

3. To estimate the facilities the child labourers are getting in the study area.

4.To suggest measures to improve the welfare of child labourers and to establish a society without child labourers

METHODOLOGY
1. Sampling Technique

Multi stage random sampling method is followed. There are 11 factories , scattered all over the blocks.

2. Questionnaire Design The child labourers belong to lower class, and as they are uneducated,it is decided to use Interview Schedule because the respondent is unable to read and understand the questions and answer the questions. Therefore Interview Schedule is found to be suitable for the study. The Interview Schedule is structured on the basis of various components, which cover the problems of child labourers.

3. Sources of Data The sources of data were primary as well as secondary. The data collected from the child labourers survey constitute Primary and the information gathered from books, journals, magazines, reports, dailies were secondary. The data collected form both these sources were scrutinized, edited, and tabulated.

4. Period of Study The present study covers a period of 2 years i.e., from 2009 to 2011.

Importance of the Study Child labour cannot be eliminated by focusing on one determinant, for example education, or by brute enforcement of child labour laws. The government of India must ensure that the needs of the poor are filled before attacking child labour. If poverty is addressed, the need for child labour will automatically diminish. No matter how hard it is, child labour always will exist until the need for it is removed. The development of India as a nation is being hampered by child labour. Children are growing up illiterate because they have been working and not attending school. A cycle of poverty is formed and the need for child labour is reborn after every generation. India needs to address the situation by tackling the underlying causes of child labour through governmental policies and the enforcement of these policies. This is a pilot project to focus on the burning issue of Child Labourers in Biri factories.

In Bankura district of West Bengal bidi workers are quite widespread. Bidi workers come from lower socio-economic strata. Traditionally lower Hindu castes and poor Muslim communities have been the source of labour in bidi industry. 93% are yearly workers who are either binding bidis inside a factory or getting the kendu leaves and utilizing his/her home space for bidi binding.7% of the binders are seasonal in nature , involved in this profession on a part time basis.87% of workers are directly attached to bidi factories like 522,Co-operative, Priya bidi etc.

Rest are either dealing with middle men who supply the binders with kendu leaves and collect the bidi packet after process completion in exchange of very nominal charges or collect the kendu leaves from the forests and selling the bidis in local market.

Among the surveyed population, irrespective of a seasonal or yearly engagement, 89% of them are home based workers and 11% are factory based workers.

The Bidi workers earn a living by binding bidis for long hours in a day. Their income varies between Rs 1 to Rs 80 per day depending on the hours of binding bidis . Around 66% earn below Rs 40 per day. 32% belong to the group who earn between Rs 40 to Rs 80 and 2% earn above Rs 80 per day. The dust of the kendu leaves with which the workers roll bidis are very bad for the condition of lungs of the workers.

Involvement of these children in this hazardous work is taking a toll on their health aspect. When Lung Function test was done on children bidi workers and Control children population a massive difference is found regarding their lung capacity. A very strong deterioration is visible in condition of lungs among children bidi workers. This point is very alarming.

The right to Health & Care: 58% of India’s children below the age of 2 years are not fully vaccinated. And 24% of these children do not receive any form of vaccination. Over 60% of children in India are anemic. 95 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see their fifth birthday. 70 in every 1000 children born in India, do not see their first birthday.

Recent UNICEF report on the state of the world’s children under the title “Childhood Under Threat” , speaking about India, states that millions of Indian children are equally deprived of their rights to survival, health, nutrition, education and safe drinking water. It is reported that 63 per cent of them go to bed hungry and 53 per cent suffer from chronic malnutrition.

The report says that 147 million children live in kuchcha houses, 77 million do not use drinking water from a tap, 85 million are not being immunized, 27 million are severely underweight and 33 million have never been to school. It estimates that 72 million children in India between five and 14 years do not have access to basic education. A girl child is the worst victim as she is often neglected and is discriminated against because of the preference for a boy child.

Article 24 of the Constitution states that:

States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services.

2. States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures:

(a) To diminish infant and child mortality;

(b) To ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and health care to all children with emphasis on the development of primary health care;

(c) To combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water, taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental pollution;

The children are not registered in the factories of the study area thus health care facilities are not provided to those children. The main bidi manufacturers do not formally (unregistered) employ children to roll bidis, the system of sub-contracting to home based workers and the logic of the piece rate system of payment (the more you produce, the more you will earn) leads to the involvement of children. The children, whether they go to school or not, end up helping out the family in rolling bidis (such as cutting the kendu leaves, tying the threads to the rolled bidis and folding the tips of the bidis). There are more girls than boys engaged in the bidi industry. There is however no reliable estimate of the number of children who are engaged in the bidi rolling activities.

The 1995 Survey by the Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour estimated the incidence of child labour as 1% of the total bidi workers.

Legally, India’s child labour law does not cover children who help out as family labour and this loophole creates the scope for employment of children in many home based activities. The labour department officials have difficulties in taking any action against the employers/ contractors who claim that they have given work to only the adult members.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is an agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards and decent work for all. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1969. It has no power to impose any sanctions on governments.

“The ILO Convention No. 182 (article 3d) defines hazardous child labour as “work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of children.”

The ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) was created in 1992 with the overall goal of the progressive elimination of child labour, which was to be achieved through strengthening the capacity of countries to deal with the problem and promoting a worldwide movement to combat child labour.

IPEC’s work to eliminate child labour is an important facet of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda. Child labour not only prevents children from acquiring the skills and education they need for a better future, it also perpetuates poverty and affects national economies through losses in competitiveness, productivity and potential income. Withdrawing children from child labour, providing them with education and assisting their families with training and employment opportunities contribute directly to creating decent work for adults.

Article 28 of the Constitution states that :

States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular:

(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;

(b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, make them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need;

(c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means;

(d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible to all children;

(e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates.

The West Bengal Government has the probation for providing free education or providing scholarships to the children of adult bidi workers. So those children who are employed in a part time basis in bidi rolling have the option to go to schools. But because of the poverty striken conditions the parents prefer to make their children work and earn some extra penny rather than sending them to school.

An article in newspaper (TNN Jul 23, 2012, 01.43PM IST) has focused on All India Trade Union Congress to back demands of bidi workers in Mangalore . It states that pixelpixel All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) has announced its intent to lay siege to office of deputy commissioner here on July 26 to press for resolution of various demands of bidi workers. These include delay in release of scholarship amount to children of bidi workers for past three years; and move to shift onus of distributing scholarship from office of commissioner for bidi workers welfare to department of education.HV Ananatha Subba Rao, general secretary of AITUC told reporters that the authorities concerned have reduced the number of beneficiaries eligible for scholarship from the academic years 2009-10 and 2010-11. Nearly 75% of children of bidi workers are not receiving the scholarship, he said, adding problem has aggravated ever since it was decided to credit the scholarship amount to joint account of student and parents.

pixelArticle 32 of the Constitution states the followings:

1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

2. States Parties shall take legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure the implementation of the present article. To this end, and having regard to the relevant provisions of other international instruments, States Parties shall in particular:

(a) Provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for admission to employment;

(b) Provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions of employment;

(c) Provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective enforcement of the present article.

The children of the study area survive in unhealthy environment. The air that they breathe is full of dust of kendu leaves and is creating immense deterioration in their respiratory system. Measures are not being taken to rehabilitate them to a cleaner, better environment.

Under Indian law, bidi rolling is defined as hazardous work, but a loophole means children who help their parents in their work fall outside the legal framework.

“Formally, it is the women who take on the orders from the contractors,” says Anita Kumar of Plan India. “However, behind the scenes, the pressures these women face in terms of delivering on huge volumes, invariably children, mainly girls, get pulled into this to support their families in bidi rolling.”

As part of its global “Because I am a Girl” campaign, children’s rights organization Plan International has started a program focused on girl child labour in Andhra Pradesh, including girls involved in bidi making. The project will collectively impact 1,500 girls over 3 years. Children trapped in bidi work will need a rescue effort on a much larger scale.

From unhealthy living conditions to exploitative wages, slave-like working conditions and severe health consequences – the situation of bidi workers involves violation of their fundamental rights and freedoms on many levels. The majority of girls are pulled out of education by the time they complete primary school to support their families’ income.

The ban on the use of forced child labour is one among the labour standards. In India, Article 24 of the Constitution prohibits employment of children below 14 years in a factory, mine or any other hazardous employment. In pursuant to the said Article 24, various enactments like Mines Act, 1952; The Merchant Shipping Act 1958; The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1951; The Plantation Labour Act, 1951; The Bidi and Cigar Workers (Condition of Employment) Act, 1966 and the Apprentice Act, 1961 prohibiting employment of children below a certain age come into the Statute Book. The earlier enactments i.e., The Employment of Children Act, 1938 and the Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933, The Factories Act, 1948 fall in the same category.

Article 39 states that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and children should not be abused and the citizens not be forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength. This Article also states that children be given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in freedom and dignity; that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation, and against moral and material abandonment.

Article 45 provides for free and compulsory education for children. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 provides the statutory backing against employment of children in factories, mines and hazardous employment, and regulates working conditions of children in other employment. This law, as also the Bidi and Cigar Workers (Condition of Employment) Act, 1966, prohibits child labour in bidi-making.

Suggested measures:

The National Policy on Child Labour, August 1987 contains the action plan for tackling the problem of child labour. It envisages:

A legislative action plan

Focussing and convergence of general development programmes for benefiting children wherever possible, and

Project-based action plan of action for launching of projects for the welfare of working children in areas of high concentration of child labour.

In pursuance of National Child Labour Policy, the NCLP Scheme was started in 1988 to rehabilitate child labour. The Scheme seeks to adopt a sequential approach with focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations & processes in the first instance. Under the Scheme, after a survey of child labour engaged in hazardous occupations & processes has been conducted, children are to be withdrawn from these occupations & processes and then put into special schools in order to enable them to be mainstreamed into formal schooling system.

Way back in 1979, Government formed the first committee called Gurupadswamy Committee to study the issue of child labour and to suggest measures to tackle it. The Committee examined the problem in detail and made some far-reaching recommendations. It observed that as long as poverty continued, it would be difficult to totally eliminate child labour and hence, any attempt to abolish it through legal recourse would not be a practical proposition. The Committee felt that in the circumstances, the only alternative left was to ban child labour in hazardous areas and to regulate and ameliorate the conditions of work in other areas. It recommended that a multiple policy approach was required in dealing with the problems of working children.

Based on the recommendations of Gurupadaswamy Committee, the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act was enacted in 1986. The Act prohibits employment of children in certain specified hazardous occupations and processes and regulates the working conditions in others. The list of hazardous occupations and processes is progressively being expanded on the recommendation of Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee constituted under the Act.

In consonance with the above approach, a National Policy on Child Labour was formulated in 1987. The Policy seeks to adopt a gradual & sequential approach with a focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations & processes in the first instance. The Action Plan outlined in the Policy for tackling this problem is as follows:

Legislative Action Plan for strict enforcement of Child Labour Act and other labour laws to ensure that children are not employed in hazardous employments, and that the working conditions of children working in non-hazardous areas are regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Child Labour Act. It also entails further identification of additional occupations and processes, which are detrimental to the health and safety of the children.

Focusing of General Developmental Programmes for Benefiting Child Labour – As poverty is the root cause of child labour, the action plan emphasizes the need to cover these children and their families also under various poverty alleviation and employment generation schemes of the Government.

Project Based Plan of Action envisages starting of projects in areas of high concentration of child labour. Pursuant to this, in 1988, the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme was launched in 9 districts of high child labour endemicity in the country. The Scheme envisages running of special schools for child labour withdrawn from work. In the special schools, these children are provided formal/non-formal education along with vocational training, a stipend of Rs.100 per month, supplementary nutrition and regular health check ups so as to prepare them to join regular mainstream schools. Under the Scheme, funds are given to the District Collectors for running special schools for child labour. Most of these schools are run by the NGOs in the district. Government has accordingly been taking proactive steps to tackle this problem through strict enforcement of legislative provisions along with simultaneous rehabilitative measures. State Governments, which are the appropriate implementing authorities, have been conducting regular inspections and raids to detect cases of violations. Since poverty is the root cause of this problem, and enforcement alone cannot help solve it, Government has been laying a lot of emphasis on the rehabilitation of these children and on improving the economic conditions of their families.

A World Bank Report published in January 2000 has revealed that there are six crore working children in India-the largest in terms of any country in the world. Elimination of child labour is no doubt a big challenge for facing the country today. The former Union Labour Minister Dr. Satya Naayan Jatiya and present Union Labour Minister Mr. Praveen Ranjin Das Munsi says that the Government has adopted a progressive and integrated approach to eliminate child labour in the country. In order to resolve this socio-economic problem, a multi-dimensional action plan involving awareness generation among all sections of the society is required. In creating a national awareness campaign for the elimination of child labour, the non-government organizations (NGOs) and the mass media have also to complement the governmental efforts. Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children that works to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. Their founder Eglantyne Jebb drafted the ‘Declaration of the Rights of the Child’ in 1922 which was adopted by the League of Nations in 1924.

Save the Children works to bring about a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation.

Our Approach:

Save the Children actively works with the communities, the State governments and the National government to bring lasting changes for the most marginalized children by:

Providing them with immunization and nutrition.

Ensuring that they have a chance to join formal school.

Exposing and preventing exploitative child labour practices and running prevention programs.

During emergencies, we provide emergency supplies as well ensure that children are protected in safe places as well continue schooling.

CONCLUSION

The problem of child labour continues to pose a challenge before the nation. Government has been taking various pro-active measures to tackle this problem. However, considering the magnitude and extent of the problem and that it is essentially a socio-economic problem inextricably linked to poverty and illiteracy, it requires concerted efforts from all sections of the society to make a dent in the problem.

The worst thing for bidi workers is the feeling that there is no protection, no welfare, no state support. They vote but have no power or effective representation. For all development indicators they remain at the bottom of the ladder all their lives.

And among them, the girls suffer the most. Throughout their life cycle their basic rights are violated; as children, as child brides, as young mothers, they continue to fight for survival with extreme labour and economic slavery. The worst thing for bidi workers is the feeling that there is no protection, no welfare, no state support. They vote but have no power or effective representation. For all development indicators they remain at the bottom of the ladder all their lives.

Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

The Commission has the power to inquire into complaints and take suo motu notice of matters relating to deprivation of child’s rights and non-implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children among other things.

Aimed at e

Introduction

Child labour is undoubtedly a human rights issue. It is not only exploitative but also endangers children’s physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and moral development. It perpetuates poverty because a child labour, deprived of education or healthy physical development, is likely to become an adult with low earning prospects. [1] This is a vicious cycle which apart from ruining the lives of many results in an overall backwardness in the masses.

Moreover, conceptualising child labour as a human rights issue gives the victim with the authority to hold violators liable. Human rights generate legal grounds for political activity and expression, because they entail greater moral force than ordinary legal obligations. Children are right holders with the potential to make valuable contributions to their own present and future well being as well as to the social and economic development of the society and thus they should under no circumstances be perceived as passive and vulnerable.

Today, traditionally prescribed interventions against child labour which were welfare based like providing a minimum age for work are being replaced by rights-based approach. A rights-based approach to child labour needs to be adopted which puts internationally recognized rights of children to the center while utilizing UDHR, ICCPR and ICESCR as a supportive framework. Child labour is a condition from which the children have a right to be free and it is not merely an option for which regulating standards must be devised.

In this paper we shall firstly trace the slow orientation of child labour laws to include human rights perspective internationally, and then evaluate current Indian laws and policies from a human rights perspective

A Human rights approach to child labour

Initially, scholars were unsure over extending human rights to children. [2] For instance, the 1948 Universal declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) emphasises that “everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms set forth in the declarationaˆ¦” but makes no age qualification to the same. So it is unclear whether it extends to children. However, Art.4 of UDHR has been interpreted as prohibiting exploitation of child labour by interpreting “servitude” to include child labour. [3]

In addition, Articles 23 and 26 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights seek to guarantee “just and favorable conditions of work” and the “right to education,” both of which are violated constantly and globally through the exercise of the worst forms of child labor.

In 1966 the International Covenant on economic, social and cultural rights (ICESCR) and International Covenant on civil and political rights (ICCPR) took significant preliminary steps towards modifying human rights according to age, by defining childhood as a state requiring special protection, with rights distinct to those of adults. [4] Even so it was not until 1989 that the Convention on Rights of Children (CRC) clearly spelt out the rights of the child while giving them a special status apart from the adults.

Thus, it should not be surprising that early international legal efforts to address child labour tended to be abolitionist in tone and treated as an aspect of labour market regulation. [5] Next, a prioritization approach was adopted where concentration was on the more abusive forms of child labour. So the ILO adopted Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, 1999, aimed at the immediate elimination of intolerable forms of child labor. The convention requires signatories to work with business groups to identify hazardous [6] forms of child labor and introduce time-bound programs for eliminating them.

Conventions 138 and 182 are recognised as core International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions but unfortunately human rights groups have done much to criticise it. They argue that this artificial division of hazardous and non-hazardous forms of child labour is artificial and made only for the benefit of labour regulations. Child labour in any form is very harmful and exploitative for the children. [7]

Secondly, child labour, as defined by ILO is work done by children under the age of 12; work by children under the age of 15 that prevents school attendance; and work by children under the age of 18 that is hazardous to their physical or mental health. It is an economic activity or work that interferes with the completion of a child’s education or that is harmful to children in any way. [8] Such an age based classification is incongruous and is behind time. [9] The right to a childhood cannot be replaced by placing such age barriers which imply at least some work could be done by children at even age 12! Where is the best interest of child seen in such laws?

Fortunately, a human rights approach to child labour was soon adopted by Convention on Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989. Such rules focus not only on the avoidance of harm to children but as well, on regulation of employment relationship in which working children find themselves and beyond that, on rights of children to education and to participate in decisions that affect their lives, including those related to their employment. This holistic view of child labour as only a part of a child’s life is principally what sets human rights approach apart from the labour regulation approach. [10] However, some critique of CRC feel that categorizing child labour as a special category has trivialized their rights and have made them weak and in need of an adult advocate. Conversely, the defenders of CRC argue that it is through this classification that children gain more rights with legally recognized interests which are specific to their stage in life cycle.

The slavery convention, 1926 and Supplementary convention on abolition of slavery, the slave trade, institutions and practices similar to slave trade, 1956 entered into force in 1957 prohibits slavery like practice under Art 1. In recent times Child labour has been read as a slave like practice as it involves economic exploitation. Since children are more vulnerable than adults and are dependent on their parents, it can be assumed that when they are economically exploited by their parents or by their consent, the decree of dependency necessary for work to b qualified as slavery like practice will be attained in most cases.

In the light of ICCPR (art 8(2)) and Supplementary convention on abolition of slavery, the slave trade, institutions and practices similar to slave trade, 1956, Art.4 of UDHR should be interpreted as prohibiting exploitation of child labour as child labour comes under “servitude”. Child labour also comes under the term “forced or compulsory labour” in Art.8(3) of ICCPR. The obligations of state parties under art 8 are immediate and absolute. Thus state parties have to prevent private parties from violating child labour norms. Art 24, ICCPR obliges the state to protect children from economic exploitation.

Convention on rights of child

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate a full range of human rights such as civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights for children. The Convention offers a vision of the child as an individual and as a member of a family and community, with rights and responsibilities appropriate to his or her age and stage of development. By recognizing children’s rights in this way, the Convention firmly sets the focus on the whole child.

The Convention under Art.32 speaks of economic exploitation of children by making them perform work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. The Convention spells out a child’s right to education [11] , as well as identifying the forms of harm to which children should not be exposed. Other rights given to children include right “to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health” and to abolish traditional practices that are prejudicial to children’s health (Article 24), a right “to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development”; parents have the main responsibility for this, but governments are required “within their means” to assist parents, as well as to provide material assistance and support in case of need(Article 27) and a right “to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child”. Article 22 specifies that refugee children have the same rights as all other children.

Article 6 of the convention makes it the obligation of the governments to ensure that children are able to survive and develop “to the maximum extent possible” while Article 11 urges governments to prevent “the illicit transfer and non-return of children abroad”. Under Article 19, Governments must take action to protect children against all forms of physical or mental violence, injury, abuse, neglect, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse [12] and must provide special protection and assistance to children who are deprived of their own family environment under article 20. Article 35, requires governments to take action to prevent children from being trafficked while articles Article 36 and 39 requires governments to protect children “against all other forms of exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of the child’s welfare” and to help children recover from exploitation, neglect or abuse (particularly their physical and psychological recovery and return and reintegration into the communities they come from).

Two other provisions in the Convention are also vitally important for working children. Article 3 says government agencies and other institutions taking action concerning a child or children must base their decisions on what is in the children’s “best interests”. Article 12 emphasises that when a child is capable of forming his or her views, these should be given due attention, in accordance with the child’s age and maturity.

Other conventions of interest include Optional protocol to the convention on rights of child on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and Optional protocol to the convention on rights of child on the involvement of children in armed conflict both adopted in May, 2000.

India and its International commitments

India has ratified six ILO conventions [13] relating to child labour but have not ratified the core ILO conventions on minimum age for employment (convention 138) and the worst forms of child labour, (convention 182) recognised as the core conventions at the international labour conference which makes it mandatory for the international community to follow certain standards in their crusade against child labour. Nevertheless, India has taken commendable steps to eliminate child labour.

The recent right of children to free and compulsory education Act, 2009 and the preceding 86th amendment exemplifies the same. Furthermore, the passing of Juvenile Justice (care and protection) Act, 2006 shows India’s commitment to a human rights approach to child labour. The Act emphasises on looking into the best interests of the child and allows for social reintegration of child victims.

In such a scenario India not signing the core labour conventions does not make a difference in the fight against child labour. India is a party to the UN declaration on the Rights of the Child 1959. India is also a signatory to the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children. More, importantly India ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 12 November 1992. [14]

Other important international initiatives against child labour include the adoption of the first Forced Labor Convention (ILO, No. 29), 1930, Stockholm Declaration and Agenda for Action: States that a crime against a child in one place is a crime anywhere, 1996, establishment of 12 June as the World Day Against Child Labor in 2002 by ILO and the first global economic study on the costs and benefits of elimination of child labour. [15]

Indian laws on child labour

The present regime of laws in India relating to child labour are consistent with the International labour conference resolution of 1979 which calls for combination of prohibitory measures and measures for humanising child labour wherever it cannot be immediately outrun. [16]

In 1986 Child labour (Prohibition and regulation) Act was passed, which defines a child as a person who has not completed 14 years of age. The act also states that no child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the occupations set forth in Part A or in the process set forth in Part B, except in the process of family based work or recognised school based activities. Through a notification dated 27 January 1999, the schedule has been substantially enlarged to add 6 more occupations and 33 processes to schedule, bringing the total to 13 occupations and 51 processes respectively. The government has amended the civil service (conduct) rules to prohibit employment of a child below 14 years by a government employee. Similar changes in state service rules have also been made.

The framers of the Indian Constitution consciously incorporated relevant provisions in the constitution to secure compulsory primary education as well as labour protection for children. If the provisions of child labour in international conventions such as ILO standards and CRC are compared with Indian standards, it can be said that Indian constitution articulates high standards in some respects The constitution of India, under articles 23,24, 39 ( c) and (f), 45 and 21A guarantees a child free education, and prohibits trafficking and employment of children in factories etc. The articles also protect children against exploitation and abuse. Equality provisions in the constitution authorises affirmative action policies on behalf of the child.

The National child labour policy (1987) set up national child labour projects in areas with high concentration of child labour in hazardous industries or occupations, to ensure that children are rescued from work and sent to bridge schools which facilitate mainstreaming. It is now recognised that every child out of school is a potential child labour and most programs working against child labour tries to ensure that every child gets an education and that children do not work in situations where they are exploited and deprived of a future. Similarly, there are other programmes like National authority for elimination of child labour, 1994 (NAECL) and National resource centre on child labour, 1993 (NRCCL). Recently, government of India notified domestic child labour, and child labour in dhabas, hotels, eateries, spas and places of entertainment as hazardous under the child labour (prohibition and regulation) Act, 1986, effective from 10-10-2006.

National human rights commission has played an important role in taking up cases of worst forms of child labour like bonded labour. In 1991 in a silk weaving village of Karnataka called Magdi it held an open hearing which greatly sensitised the industry and civil societies. It also gave rise to new NCLP programmes. [17]

Judicial reflections

Judiciary in India has taken a proactive stand in eradicating child labour. In the case of M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors [18] , this Court considered the causes for failure to implement the constitutional mandate vis-a-vis child labour. It was held that the State Government should see that adult member of family of child labour gets a job. The labour inspector shall have to see that working hours of child are not more than four to six hours a day and it receives education at least for two hours each day. The entire cost of education was to be borne by employer.

The same was reiterated in Bandhua Mukti Morcha v.UOI [19] and directions were given to the Government to convene meeting of concerned ministers of State for purpose of formulating policies for elimination of employment of children below 14 years and for providing necessary education, nutrition and medical facilities.

It was observed in both the case that it is through education that the vicious cycle of poverty and child labour can be broken. Further, well-planned, poverty-focussed alleviation, development and imposition of trade actions in employment of the children must be undertaken. Total banishment of employment may drive the children and mass them up into destitution and other mischievous environment, making them vagrant, hard criminals and prone to social risks etc. Immediate ban of child labour would be both unrealistic and counter-productive. Ban of employment of children must begin from most hazardous and intolerable activities like slavery, bonded labour, trafficking, prostitution, pornography and dangerous forms of labour and the like. [20]

Also, in case of PUCL v. UOI and Ors [21] children below 15 years forced to work as bonded labour was held to be violative of Article 21 and hence the children were to be compensated. The court further observed that such a claim in public law for compensation for contravention of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the protection of which is guaranteed in the Constitution, is an acknowledged remedy for enforcement and protection of such rights.

However, Human rights experts criticise the scheme of payment of compensation envisage in Child labour act and further adopted by the Judiciary with gusto. [22] They say that monetary compensation is like washing away ones conscious which still believes that if a child labour is sent to school he must be compensated for the amount which he might have got if he had worked instead. This only confuses the already divided opinion of the society today which still thinks that poor and needy children are better off working.

Conclusions

India has done well in enacting suitable legislations and policies to combat child labour. Nonetheless, its implementation at grass root level is very much lacking. The child labour laws today are like a scarecrow which does not eliminate child labour but only shifts it geographically to other places, to other occupations like agriculture which may be less paying or it might be still continued clandestinely. [23] The lack of a specialised enforcement officer leads to lesser attention being given to child labour legislations. Furthermore, many of the child labour programmes remain poorly funded.

Child labour is a complex problem which cannot be eliminated without first attacking it at the roots. Thus, poverty, unemployment, lack of social security schemes, illiteracy and the attitude of society need to be tackled first before any progress can be made. A starting point can be to treat Child labour as a human rights problem and discouraging its manifestation in any form. If the society as such sees child labour as a social malaise, we will be much closer at achieving success.

Lastly, there is a lot of debate over the age from which child labour should be banned. The ILO conventions do not give a definite age, 14 years seems to be the general understanding but CRC defines a child to be below 18 years. Right to education is for children below 14 years and Child labour is prohibited till age of 14 years. This brings the question as to whether children of age 14-18 years are to be denied basic human rights and are to be left vulnerable.

All people were born with rights. Children are people as well; so, children also have theirs. Their right have been violated from child labor. Child labor is defined as, “the employment of a child in a business or industry especially in violation of state or federal statutes prohibiting the employment of children under a specified age.” Obviously, child labor has been a big social problem from over the world, mainly the third wrodl countries or developing country such as Philippines. This paper will argue the cases of child laborers, specifically in the city and in provinces of the Philippines. The social problem in Philippines, the government has ways to manage and improve it or not or even made it disappeared or not. It is a known fact that the disadvantages outnumber the advantages of child labor. There are three points, so that it is easier to view the advantages and the disadvantages of the said problem. Having a history background of Philippines which will have understand what is going on better. The purpose of this argument paper is to present the increasing amount of child labor in Philippines and how they were harm. Another would be to discuss the effects of child labor to the family, economy, and to the self. Lastly, the paper will suggest ways to stop or reduce child labor.

In the pass industrial background of child labor first appeared with the development of the developing country’s system. In this type of business a dealer bought raw materials to be “put out” to the homes of worker to be spun, woven, sewn, or handled in some other materials. This allows a division of labor and a level of specialization among different types of people. Products are paid by pieces, and children were commonly used at whatever task they could perform. In England and North America, this system was important from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century and is still being seen up to the present in some industries and, in some country including Philippines. (Labor) The kids were forced to beg on the streets and help making money for the professional beggars. The children that are prostitute help trading with the tourist. The girls were used as a servant in a private home and being treated no better than slave. Many children were brought from the dumpsites and put on the street to make money. Children are being use as a runner helping distribute illegal drugs in to the city. The nubile girl working as a striper and night and teenage exposing their skin than necessary on the theater screen. Truly, child labor has many faces. Children performed these can either endangers their health or safety, interferes with their education or prevent them from playing other activities that are important to their development. The children can not really survive. (Heineman, 2001) Most of the children must be kept inside so that they could not be seen by the public. They would mostly be working in factories at night or as prostitutes at night. Cloth factory in Philippine uses child labor to produce goods and export the goods to the United States. (Deshpande, 2008) The reason the number of child labor is increasing because they were taken from other province and were promised with good live. Another is that they were forced to work due to poverty. Since industrious works are more suitable for children than compared to other people who are in the right age to work.

Child slave labor is to use the illegal working children below 18 years of age in danger job. Underage children are being forced to do physical labor to help their families mainly due to poverty. About 2.06 million all around the Philippines are forced to do labor, such as in crop plantations, mining caves, rock mining, and factories. Due to the poverty problems that are not being help from the government, the number of child labor will continue increasing. (Deshpande, 2008)Child labor has many health effects in children who are supposed to be in the environment of a classroom rather than walking on the streets and risking every chance, over and over again, to earn money. Although most do get the privilege of education, most end up being dropouts and repeaters because they are not able to focus on their studies. Because of child labor, children suffer from starvation, the ability to grow, and improper health development. (Deshpande, 2008)The problems of child laboring continue to grow, so the economics of the country will drop rapidly. People with proper education will not get job due to higher salary payment compare to illegal child labor. The cost of child labor is incredibly low comparing to workers with high education. Philippines is a young nation with high percentage number of young people in its overall population. There are up to 22.4 million children ages between five and seventeen. Sixteen percent of the overall population represent working children ages between five and seven, which means that one of every six children work. In the last twelve months, 3.7 million children ages five to seventeen worked. Children from rural area make up 67.1 percent of this number and almost half are between the ages of five and fourteen. These working children are mostly all boys, who account for 65 percent. As far as the locations where these children work, 60 percent perform unpaid family work in their own households, 17.2 percent work in their own homes and 53 percent work in family farms. (Group, 2002)

The impact of the children’s health is a big problem for some country. The illness and death of family income head family means that the children has to go out and find money. A child that has health problem maybe judge unfairly and their work most of the time affect with their education. Child that believes to be clean from disease maybe put on the street as a prostitute. There is very few information available about the reason of disability on child labor – research is deeply needed in this area. However, there is evidence of children being intentionally disabled for use such as begging. Furthermore, it is noticeable that disability can lead to poverty. (Group, 2002) By disabled children can weaken the poverty organization and there are higher risk of treating people unfairly. Anecdotal evidence believed that like women, disabled children are less likely to get equal pay for equal work. Most of the work for children is and dangerous job that require the risk of their health daily. If children are disabled from doing work, they would not be getting reward or very less, however their live may have been ruined forever and damage to their life and future. This is why there are increasing risk of people treating unfairly and poverty. The same is true for those who have HIV/AIDS or STIs or are raped at work. Sexually oppressed children is the mainly risk here. Child labor continues to live throughout the world. Children have to work because their survival and that of their families depend on it, and in some cases, because dishonest adults take advantage of their weakness. Child labor is caused from weaknesses in education systems and is deeply rooted in cultural and social attitudes and traditions. The problem is more by the fact that child labor is kept away from public view, making the problem seem less of an important. What can be done about child labor? 1. Prioritize education. It is a fact that the countries with a lot of child labor are worst at education than those that spend more primary education. Primary education should be free, made it important, well-resourced, and located everywhere. It is much easier to keep track on school attendance that to check on factories and workshops. It might make us feel good, but it only helps educate one child, isolating them from others in their community. (Group, 2002)2. Give the jobs of child workers to the adult that is capable of working. This way, the family does not suffer, and indeed should be better off, as adult wages are generally much higher than child wages. (Group, 2002)

All in all, child labor can be widely spread in Philippine, but that are more disadvantage of using child labor than advantage. Government has to come in to help set law more stricty. Children labor are get harm both my mental and psychical. They are not able to live in a normal society because of their difference, both from accident or harm to make people feel sorry. All these things can be help if the government gives more attention to education and give jobs to the people that are allegeable to do work and band all the factories or any organization that use child under age.

Child labor refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labor. It is the full-time employment of children under a minimum legal age. The practice of child labor is considered illegal by many countries and exploitative by many international organizations. (Child Labor at Distrcit Level, 2009)Child labor is one of the problems that occur as a result of the responses to the economic problems faced by vulnerable children. In most developed and emerging countries, use of children as labors is considered as violation of human rights and is outlawed, while some poorer and developing countries do tolerate and allow child labor.

In Pakistan, a country where almost half of the population lives below the poverty line, child labor is deeply entrenched and pressing phenomenon. Child labor in Pakistan is prevalent in all sectors of the economy, thought it primarily exists in the informal sector of employment and home-based industry. Pakistan’s high population growth of around 1.6% poses multiple challenges and threatens to constrain limited resources and social and economic development of the country. According to the survey of Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) in 2002, the number of working children in Pakistan was approximately 3.5 million or 7% of the total workforce in Pakistan. However, the children under the age of 10 and those working in small and family businesses that are not registered with the government were not the part of the survey. So the actual figure is deemed to be much higher than the official figures.

In Pakistan, children aged 5-14 are around 40 million. The survey conducted by UNISEF in 2003, estimated that 8 million children under the age of 14 are engaged as labors. Most of them are engaged as labors in brick kiln factories, carpet weaving centers, agriculture, small industries and domestic services. The survey also indicated that rural and urban ratio of child labors was 7:1. The province with most number of cases of child labor was Punjab with nearly 60% of the total child labor population.

HISTORY AND IMPACT OF CHILD LABOR IN PAKISTAN

Child labor has been prevalent in Pakistan in all the sectors of the economy, though it mostly exists in informal sector of employment and in the home based industry. In late nineties, the matter of child labor emerged as a serious consideration due to international exposure. In 1996, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto acknowledged the problem of child labor in the country and announced the plan to eliminate it. In his speech in April 1998, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stated that the problem of child labor occupied a prominent place in the agenda of government of Pakistan. In 1999, Federal minister for labor and manpower, Shaikh Rashid announced a four point policy for curbing child labor in Pakistan. In Jan-99, government announced the draft of the labor policy. The policy envisaged that the government is committed to end child labor. It was also promised by the government of Pakistan in 2000, that the law to eliminate child labor and bonded labor at an economic level would be implemented in 2002 and till 2005; there would be no bonded labor or child labor in Pakistan. Even after so much regulations and promises by the government of Pakistan, the attempt has not been successful till now. Though the issue has received international attention and various organizations at international level like ILO and UNICEF are participating in the issue, still the improvement in this case is very slow.

In eradicating and creating awareness against child labor in Pakistan many communities are having a stake. Some of these communities/autonomous bodies working for the cause are:

Government of Pakistan
Children Parliament Pakistan
International Labor Organization
UNICEF
Other NGO’s, Society and Media

All the above government and private bodies are actively working for the eradication of child labor in Pakistan. The issue has been seriously addressed by the above bodies either individually or in conjunction with any other body. The role of each of the above mentioned body in the eradication of child labor in Pakistan is as follows:

GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN: Government of Pakistan has been actively working for the eradication of child labor in Pakistan. Activities of government towards the issue have been gaining considerable attention since late 1990’s, when the matter of child labor emerged as a serious consideration due to international exposure. In Jan-99, government announced the draft of the labor policy. The policy envisaged that the government is committed to end child labor. It was also promised by the government of Pakistan in 2000, that the law to eliminate child labor and bonded labor at an economic level would be implemented in 2002 and till 2005; there would be no bonded labor or child labor in Pakistan. Though the government has not been able to deliver on the promises made due to the increased political weaknesses in the company, still there have been continuous efforts made on their part. Government also identified poverty and lack of education for children as root causes for the child labor in the country.

(Arshad)The present government in Pakistan has made elementary education compulsory for children. Along with that, the government has also made the policy of distributing free books in primary schools. This would help the parents, who cannot afford their child’s education and school expenses can send their children to schools. Along with all of the above, the following laws are made by government of Pakistan to address the issue (Pakistan):

National Child Labor Laws: In Pakistan a child is defined as a person younger then fifteen. The legal minimum age for employment of children is 14 for normal businesses and 15 for railways and mines. The constitution of Islamic republic of Pakistan prohibits forced labor, slavery, and employment of children below the age of 14. The government of Pakistan asserts that the labor inspectors are empowered to carry out regular visits to all employment places covered under employment of children act 1991 to check the compliance of the law at that places.

Education Laws: Articles 37 (b) & (c) of the constitution of Pakistan declares public policy to “remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within the minimum possible period [and to] make technical and professional education generally available and higher education equally accessible to all on the basis of merit”. Despite a law in 1962 requiring each province to designate areas where primary education is compulsory, none of the provinces have complied. As of now, the present government in Pakistan has made elementary education compulsory for children. Along with that, the government has also made the policy of distributing free books in primary schools.

International Conventions: Pakistan is a party to ILO convention concerning minimum age of employment in the industry and UN convention for rights of the child.

Through above legislatures and laws, and to some other timely regulations, the government of Pakistan is acting as an active community stakeholder in eradication of child labor in the country. Though in present scenario Pakistan is suffering through political weaknesses, but still government is committed to take the work one step ahead.

CHILDREN PARLIAMENT OF PAKISTAN: The children’s parliament for Pakistan was launched on 14-Nov-08, by Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC). The main aim of this parliament is to create awareness and promote child rights in the country. The members were elected from different schools of Peshawar, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Karachi, Lahore etc. Besides providing basic rights to every child in Pakistan other objectives of this parliament are:

End child labor

Educate every child

Provide medical facilities to children

Protect the children

In addition, children parliament serves as their voice to convey the difficulties and problems faced by the children to government of Pakistan.

INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION: With the matter of child labor in Pakistan gaining international attention, ILO has fastened its steps to address the issues. ILO does timely surveys within various industries in Pakistan suspecting large amount of child labor. (International Programme for elimination of child labor)Based on the survey they come out with survey reports addressing the issue and recommending ways to deal with the situations. Some of the latest surveys conducted by ILO in Pakistan are:

Survey on Child Labor in Kasur Tanneries in 2004

Survey on Child Labor in Glass Bangles industry in Hyderabad-2004

Survey on child labor in surgical instruments manufacturing industry in Sialkot

Survey on child labor in coal mine industries in Chakwal, Noshera and Shangla

ILO has also been working with the government of Pakistan guiding them from time to time on this issue. It is also acting as a watch dog, inspecting the ways in which government is addressing the issue.

UNICEF: The name UNICEF needs no introduction. United Nation International Children’s Emergency Fund, a UN organization has consistently working towards the development of children in underdeveloped countries. UNICEF conducts timely surveys to see the improvement in the case. The survey conducted by UNISEF in 2003, estimated that 8 million children under the age of 14 are engaged as labors. Most of them are engaged as labors in brick kiln factories, carpet weaving centers, agriculture, small industries and domestic services. The survey also indicated that rural and urban ratio of child labors was 7:1. The province with most number of cases of child labor was Punjab with nearly 60% of the total child labor population. UNICEF also set-up centers in the Pakistan, helping destitute children get home. Pakistan is also amongst the countries that get funding from UNICEF to promote the steps in eradication of child labor.

OTHER NGO’S SOCIETY AND MEDIA: This is another group of very important stakeholders in the issue of child labor in Pakistan. NGO’s like ACM Apostolic Charismatic Ministry and Child Reach International has continuously worked towards the development of children in Pakistan to eradicate child labor. Though the NGO’s in Pakistan don’t get proper funding from government of Pakistan neither from any corporate bodies, still the work they do in crating awareness and providing elementary education to children is quite appreciable. Society and media as a whole has a major role to play in the eradication of child labor in Pakistan. These two stakeholders are still dormant in the issue, but for the development of children in Pakistan society and media have to play a major part.

Poverty levels in Pakistan appear to necessitate that children work in order to allow the families to reach their target take-home pay. The lack of economic opportunity for adult employment in Pakistan needs to be studied and taken under consideration; the government also needs strict to inspect the strict implementation of laws made by it. Lack of education is another reason for the high rate of child labor in Pakistan. Thought government of Pakistan has made policies for providing free elementary education to children, the policies need strict implementation to address the issue. Also, other stakeholders of the issue specially Children parliament, ILO, UNICEF, Media and NGO’s have to work in tandem to create awareness for the rights of the children in the country.

REFERENCES

(n.d.). Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from www. unicef. org: www. unicef. org/ protection/ index_3717. html

Ahmad, M. (2001). Child Labor: A time to reflect. In M. Ahmad, Child Labor: A time to reflect. UNICEF.

Arshad, R. (n.d.). Child labor in Pakistan. Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from http://www.hamariweb.com: http://www.hamariweb.com/articles/article.aspx?id=91

Child Labor at Distrcit Level. (2009, Sep). Retrieved August 1, 2010, from http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/17333/1/MPRA_paper_17333.pdf

H.Zaidi, H. (2004, Jan). Baseline survey report on child labor. Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from http://www.ilo.org: http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/viewProduct.do?productId=5225

International Programme for elimination of child labor. (n.d.). Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from http://www.ilo.org: http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/searchProduct.do;?type=normal&title=&selectedMonthFrom=-1&productYearFrom=&selectedMonthTo=-1&selectedCountries=342&selectedMediaTypes=14&keywords=&userType=3&selectedFieldOfficeId=-1&resultPerPage=20&selectedSortById=4

Pakistan. (n.d.). Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from http://www.dol.gov: http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/sweat/pakistan.htm

Population census organization. (n.d.). Retrieved Aug 1, 2010, from http://www.statpak.gov.pk: http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/pop_sex_ratio_growth_rate/pop_sex_ratio_growth_rate.html

COMMUNITY PROGRAM TO ADDRESS CHILD LABOR IN PAKISTAN
ABSTRACT

Child labor refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labor. It is the full-time employment of children under a minimum legal age. The practice of child labor is considered illegal by many countries and exploitative by many international organizations. (Child Labor at Distrcit Level, 2009)Child labor is one of the problems that occur as a result of the responses to the economic problems faced by vulnerable children. In most developed and emerging countries, use of children as labors is considered as violation of human rights and is outlawed, while some poorer and developing countries do tolerate and allow child labor.

In Pakistan, a country where almost half of the population lives below the poverty line, child labor is deeply entrenched and pressing phenomenon. Child labor in Pakistan is prevalent in all sectors of the economy, thought it primarily exists in the informal sector of employment and home-based industry. Pakistan’s high population growth of around 1.6% poses multiple challenges and threatens to constrain limited resources and social and economic development of the country.

The paper designs a community program to address the issue of child labor in Pakistan. It identifies various stakeholders in the issue and based on certain strategies and programs, intends to bring an effective social change. The paper also addresses potential challenges in the way of eradicating the child labor in Pakistan and ways for addressing the issue.

GOAL OF THE STUDY:

The primary goal of the study is identifying the trends in the issue if child labor in Pakistan. Based on the issue, paper intends to identify various stakeholders of the issue. The aim of studying this is to a community program to address the issue of child labor in Pakistan. It identifies various stakeholders in the issue and based on certain strategies and programs, intends to bring an effective social change. The paper also addresses potential challenges in the way of eradicating the child labor in Pakistan and ways for addressing the issue.

The goals had been made keeping in mind the resources available in Pakistan to bring a social change. Political weakness in the economy of Pakistan has also been kept in mind. The success of this community program depends upon the working in conjunction of the stakeholders of the issue.

STRATEGIES TO BE ADOPTED

In order to eradicate child labor in Pakistan both preventive and corrective strategies are proposed. Successful intervention models are also founded so that the change in knowledge would be easier to bring about, attitude change requires relatively longer time frame and finally the change in total mind set and behavioral change requires the longest time. Interventions are to be phased out in the time bound manner and change strategies are age specific and gender equitable.

GENERAL AND POSITIVE ACTION STRATEGIES: The following general and positive action strategies are requires to be taken to address the issue of child labor in Pakistan:

Change in attitude of stakeholders: Awareness campaigns, counseling sessions and advocacy workshops need to be geared towards parents for gaining their confidence and for raising their awareness about the ill-effects of child labor concerning their children. The campaigns and counseling would highlight the alternatives of child labor, including non-formal and formal education and apprenticeship. Parents would be educated about the benefits of schooling in terms of income and increased efficiency and guiding that child labor in many cases is futile with a very meager income associated with it.

Similar services for gaining employers confidence would be arranged for building support for struggle in eliminating child labor. Carefully designed educational and informative conferences and/or seminars would be arranged to restore the self esteem and dignity of labor. Labor Department working with industry should work with missionary zeal in order to accomplish an eventual elimination of labor in a reasonable time frame.

Poverty Alleviation: Numerous steps would be aimed at family’s alternative income generation and poverty. Poverty alleviation would be addressed very seriously at different levels with the involvement of international organizations, various non-government agencies and Provincial, federal and district governments. The problem of child labor in Pakistan can be managed effectively only if the problem of poverty is worked out effectively, through income generation projects for society and parents and through equitable and fair access to safety nets such as zakat funds and other benevolent programs.

Poverty alleviation efforts of provincial and state governments PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) would coincide well with time-bound program endeavors targeted at phasing out child labor from the country.

(Beig, 2004)The survey carried out by ILO in 2004 in coal mine industries in Chakwal, Noshera and Shangla revealed following figures:

Chakwal:
Category
Sample Plan
Actual Interview conducted
Working Children

450

126

Parents

12

16

Employers

60

27

Total

522

169

Chirat/ Noshera:
Category
Sample Plan
Actual Interview conducted
Working Children

400

48

Parents

5

4

Employers

10

13

Total

415

65

Drop-out Survey:
Category
Sample Plan
Actual Interview conducted
School-going

150

250

Drop-outs

15

27

Parents

27

22

Teachers

40

38

Total

212

337

Formal Schooling, Non-Formal Schooling and Vocational Training: (Kulsoom, 2009)Poverty being major reason for majority drop-outs, provision of fee and subsidized education would be recommended at formal schools. Formal school teachers need to be trained to adopt child friendly teaching methodologies and attitude in order to reduce risk of drop-outs. Apart from the traditional program of study, training at non-formal educational schools should include vocational training & health and safety education. NFE schools would be a really essential measure because to stop the supply of labor at source, alternative sources of productive engagement needs to be available with children.

Quality of education will also be enhanced and it needs to be attractive and relevant to help reduce the drop-out tendency in schools. Issues concerning child labor, including information about the hazardous nature of child labor and gender biases needs to be incorporated into the educational curriculum of non-formal and formal schools for both male and female students.

Occupational health hazards and safety measures: Till the child labor is eliminated totally, the culture of occupational safety would be promoted in all industries by raising awareness through advocacy seminars. These awareness-related advocacy seminars should be arranged at the worksites and at community level, would also be used for educating children about the ill effects of child labor and raising awareness about the value of education and its other positive alternatives. The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) study undertaken by ILO in 2004 also yielded detailed insights on the same issue. In addition to seminars, group meetings and workshops would also be arranged on a sustainable basis for promoting norms and adopting preventive health measures.

Improved Legislative Measures: Steps would be taken for enforcement of existing labor laws. Till the child labor is completely eliminated, increased protection to child workers would be provided upon the consent of the government against the violation of their rights and against unsafe industrial practices including child labor. High powered mystery clients would be requested to monitor adherence in safety standards along with labor departments and ILO monitors.

PARTNERSHIPS AND CAPACITY BUILDING: ILO would be requested to build strategic alliances with Non Governmental Organization in Pakistan. ILO also need to consider alliances with consultation agencies working on child labor issues to use them as catalyst-facilitators, monitors and trainers in working towards the common goal of eradicating child labor and reducing its ill-effects. To rectify the problem of child labor, cross agency partnerships in Pakistan would be prompted till the operations are self sustained and fully streamlined. These partnerships would be supported by ILO and jointly partnered with government agencies in Pakistan and with relevant international agencies such as UNICEF, UN department for Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and other stakeholders like NGOs, Media etc. cost effective innovative transformations would be geared towards effective building of District level labor departments, Provincial planning, district governments and NGO’s. The aim of training would be to inculcate learning about a proactive work culture along with a missionary zeal in addressing the issue of child labor in Pakistan.

MEDIA SUPPORT: Various media like T.V, Press, and Internet media would be involved in the broad-based awareness regarding the child labor issues, including vocational and formal education. Effective information, education and communication materials would be created and would be disseminated to press and other media in order to win their support and create awareness. Electronic media would be used later as an effective partner in the struggle against the child labor in Pakistan. Strategies will also be made to gain the confidence of electronic media through workshops, conferences and meetings.

All the above strategies used for community engagement are based on the following model.

Different Stakeholders that are involved in this program of community engagement are:
Government of Pakistan
International Labor Organization (ILO)
United Nation International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
Society, especially parents of the children
UN Department for Assistance Framework (UNDAF)
Non Government Organizations (NGOs)
Schools and their staffs, especially teachers
Employers
Labor Union
Media in all forms
Children Themselves
POTENTIAL CHALLENGES AND THE ROAD AHEAD

Potential challenges in the way of making community engagement for eradicating child labor in Pakistan are:

Weak Political and Economic Scenario in Pakistan: Pakistan is going through a period of weak political and economic scenario. So that will be the major potential challenge in making the community engagement because in an unstable economy implementing legislatures is a very difficult task. Also, making arrangements for funds in a weak political scenario becomes difficult because in this case government may not be ready to fund the program. For overcoming this challenge, fund needs to be raised from major corporate. They should be encouraged to fund the program as much as possible as the part of their corporate social responsibility. For implementing the legislatures, proper alliance needs to be made between Government bodies and foreign bodies like ILO and UNICEF who are already working for the cause. These bodies will help monitoring laws and legislatures formed.

Poverty: Poverty is another major challenge in the effectiveness of community engagement in Pakistan. Most families send their children to work to reach their target take-away home pay. So making them understand about not considering the pay of their children as the major factor would be really difficult. To overcome this challenge, workshops would be held and proper counseling would be provided to parents about the harmful effects of child labor and benefits of elementary education for the future of their children.

Attitudes of Employers, Parents and Children: This is another challenge in the effectiveness of the community program. In various industries children are considered as cheap labors. So changing the attitude of the employers about employing children by considering them as cheap labor would be difficult to change. Every business needs to be inspected at intervals along with counseling and advocacy meetings with employers to change the attitude of the employees. Same would be the problem with Parents and children. This would be addressed by showing the ill-effects of child labor and benefits of education.

Though poverty levels in Pakistan appear to be a necessitate reason that children work in order to allow the families to reach their target take-home pay, effective community engagement can help raise awareness against the issue. The lack of economic opportunity for adult employment in Pakistan needs to be studied and taken under consideration; the government also needs strict to inspect the strict implementation of laws made by it. Lack of education is another reason for the high rate of child labor in Pakistan. Thought government of Pakistan has made policies for providing free elementary education to children, the policies need strict implementation to address the issue. Also, other stakeholders of the issue specially Children parliament, ILO, UNICEF, Media and NGO’s have to work in tandem to create awareness for the rights of the children in the country.

The factor of engaging a child below 15, to some work rather than sending them to school is called child labor. Child labor all over the world has increased speedily in the recent years. There is no exact information regarding child labor. In most developing countries of world, mostly children are working on the places that are auto mobile workshops, weaving industries, domestic servants, restaurants and in many industries in Pakistan. In other forms of work, it has seen that children are begging which they have to make for their masters.

Lack of awareness and illiteracy are the main causes between parents who avoid sending their children to school. Mostly child labors are from alliterate families. Mainly three forms of child labor are

Non-exploitative child labor mean any work done by a children which is hazardous, harmful for their health, or harmful for their mental, physical or social development and stop to get education. Some hazard conditions are working in mines, working with dangerous machinery and working with chemicals.

Hired child labor mean children which are preferred by employers because they are cheaper as compare to adult. In many works child labor are more active like they have more speed to do work and their eyesight is sharper than any adult person.

Bound child labor is performing in which owner give high interest loans to labors in exchange for long term work or when a person children or any family member takes a debt against any work.

Labor may also be categorized according to the nature of job. Domestic servants, the child worker who are working in carpet industry, the children who work on shops, canteens, general store as salesman, the children who are working in the workshop using light machines like tools, tailoring or embroidery and children who are working in heavy workshops tough labor that is light labor.

Children are working in different sectors of countries in different ways, types and in professions some of them are agriculture sector, cotton industry, flower industry , domestic labor, brick kilns, fireworks, cigarette rolling, construction, mining, forestry, manufacturing, retail and service industry, stone quarries, sugarcane, toys, slavery, child soldiers, jewelry making, news, sweatshops, restaurants, fishing, factories, carpets weavers, farm works, and trafficking.

“Child labor in Pakistan is the employment of children for work in Pakistan, leading to mental, physical, moral and social harm to children. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated in the 1990s that 11 million children were working in the country, half of those under the age of ten. In 1996, the median age for a child entering the work force was seven, down from eight years old 2 years prior. It was estimated that one quarter of the country’s work force was made up of child laborers” (Wikipedia)

“Child Labor by Numbers are 218 million children worldwide are child laborers, 73 million working children are less than 10 years old, 126 million are estimated to work in the worst forms of child labor, one in every 12 of the world’s five to 17 years olds, 8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labor, forced recruitment for armed conflict, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities, 2.5 million children work in the developed economies, 22,000 children die every year in work-related accidents, 127 million working children are in the Asia Pacific region. Nearly one third of children in Sub-Saharan Africa work” (Child Labour Public Education Project)

“Child labor is a significant phenomenon, large in scope, and with very important social and economic implications. It takes a variety of forms, from children working on family farms or in family businesses to children engaged in sweatshop labor, prostitution, armed conflict, or other illicit activity. It also has serious implications on human capital accumulation and in perpetuating poverty and therefore is closely linked to progress against the MDGs, especially the goal of achieving universal primary education. Given the connections between child labor and schooling, the efforts of the Education for All partnership will not be fully successful without addressing child labor.” (Gordon Betcherman, 2004)

“Child labor was employed to varying extents through most of history. Before 1940, numerous children aged 5-14 worked in Europe, the United States and various colonies of European powers. These children worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, and mining and in services such as newsies. Some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labor laws, the incidence rates of child labor fell.”(encyclopedia)

“One-third of the working children are literate, which shows that mere completion of primary education is not an effective deterrent to child labor. School enrolment indicates that economically active children who are not enrolled in school (34.2 per cent) are higher than economically active children combined with school (13.2 per cent). This shows that enrolment is negatively correlated with the involvement of children in economic activity. Education attainment is low because of limited opportunities resulting from inaccessibility of schools; inability of parents to afford schooling costs; irrelevance of school curriculum to real needs, and restrictions on girls’ mobility in certain parts of the country.” (ILO, 2009)

“Child is not born for work rather to study, but wall of encumbrance either in financial term, economic term or in social term made him compelled for labor work. Understanding real economics of child labor can have better policy to tackle this issue. Asia has a large number of child domestic workers. These include children working as child minders, maids, cooks, cleaners, gardeners and general house-helps. The lack of information is major cause of not having thorough analysis of incidence and nature of child domestic workers in many Asian countries. However, there is not a significant reduction in child labor participation, especially in Asia.” (htt12)

“Child labor has been acknowledged as a serious and challenging issue in the civilized societies around the globe. Its continued existence remains a source of concern for all segments of human society. Different socio-economic factors can be held responsible for the prevailing poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, lack of family planning, dissatisfaction about education system, absence of social security mechanism and many others. Now it is the responsibility of the government to provide children with their rights and to protect them from all sorts of exploitation, because the future of mankind and civilization lies in children. Their protection from physical and social hazards is a pre-requisite for proper development of children to ensure future progress and prosperity of mankind.” (Khan)

Objective of the Study

The aim of this study is to determine the factors responsible for child labor in Pakistan and to find out the problems which affect the children to do work in early age in which all children are going to schools and play. Another aim if research is to know that what are the factors due to which a child in enforced to be a child labor in Pakistan. The objective of the study is to find out variables and factor due to which child labor occur or what are the causes behind child labor, why children do work in small age and the forms of the child labor in the country. The main three variables behind child labor are poverty, inflation and unemployment in the country which are somewhere cause of child labor. The primary object of this study is to estimate the effect of poverty, literacy, inflation and unemployment on the occurrence of child labor. So

HYPOTHESIS

The study would be based on following hypothesis; these hypothesis have been develop after reviewing the relevant literature

To analyze the effect of poverty on child labor

H1: Effect of poverty on child labor is significant

H1o: Effect of poverty on child labor is in-significant

To analyze the effect of Literacy on child labor

H2: Effect of inflation on child labor is significant

H2o: Effect of literacy on child labor is in-significant

To analyze the effect of inflation on child labor

H2: Effect of inflation on child labor is significant

H2o: Effect of inflation on child labor is in-significant

To analyze the effect of Unemployment on child labor

H3: Effect of Unemployment on child labor is significant

H3o: Effect of Unemployment on child labor is in-significant

Chapter # 2
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Child is a person 14 years and below.

Child labor is a permanent employment of children under the age of legal minimum. Worldwide total numbers of child labor (5-14 ages) are 250 million and almost half of them 120 million are working full-time.

“According to The ILO and the ETI Base Code state that a child is any person younger than 15 years of age, unless local minimum age law stipulates a higher age for work or mandatory schooling, in which case the higher age shall apply. If however, local minimum age law is set at 14 years.” (Ethical Trade Insentive, 2012)

“According to the United Nations, a “child” is any person under the age of 18. Specific labor laws may consider people under the age of 16 children for legal purposes, and in some countries the cut off may be even lower, around 12 or 14. Statistics on this type of labor usually focus on children between the ages of five and 14, because many nations in which child labor are a problem have laws which allow people to work full time after the age of 14.”(wise greek)

“Child labor was employed to varying extents through most of history. Before 1940, numerous children aged 5-14 worked in Europe, the United States and various colonies of European powers. These children worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, and mining and in services such as newsier. Some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labour laws, the incidence rates of child labor fell.”(encyclopedia)

The worst forms of child labor. In all over the world there are an expected 218 million child laborers, which a in between the ages 5 to 17. A number of 126 million of these children work in hazardous conditions such as: Working in mines, working with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture, working with dangerous machinery, Forced and bonded labor, Armed conflict, Sexual exploitation and child pornography, illegal activities.

Gender differences in child work activities:
Activity
Gender differences

House cleaning

Only girls

Collecting ¬?re wood/ dry cow dung to sell

Both boys and girls but more commonly girls

Cleaning

Both boys and girls

Cooking food

Only girls

Child care

Both boys and girls but mostly girls

Mini-bus conductors, household maids,

Mini-bus conductors are commonly boys, housemaids

Loading goods on pack animals for market

but commonly boys

construction child labour

commonly boys

Waiters, kitchen hands in restaurants

Both girls and boys engage in work in cuisine, cleaning dishes in restaurants

Apprentices in garages/ workshops

Only boys work as apprentices in garages

Working as a porter

Boys do more brokering, working as porters

Causes of Child Labor:
Poverty

Children work for a variety of reasons. The major reason is poverty. Poverty is the lack of food, shelter, money and clothing that occurs when people cannot satisfy their basic needs. Poverty can be understood only lack of money or most of them in terms of barriers in everyday life. At certain levels of poverty in developing countries, child labor could play a useful role in the economic survival, which increases national economic development.

The unequal attention of poverty between children compared to adults demands reason and attention. Child labor causes poverty because when a child is employed he takes a place of an adult job, so there is decrease in adult income in the industry. And when the child is without education and they do work so there is no possibility of escaping from poverty. Poverty in the country is the main cause of child labor which forces the parents to send their children to work. Poor Families which face the poverty force their children to work for extra income for their household’s. Poor families like to have more children and when the income of an individual one in not enough then they force their little children to go for work anywhere they have. A large number of members represent a financial need for families suffering from poverty; parents are forced to send their children to work to earn extra income.

Lack of education

Between the poorer parts of society is also most important cause for children to start working before time. Necessary education is not free in all countries and in many countries it is not available for all children, especially in rural areas. So if there are schools in some areas there is poor education or where education is expensive parents observe no value in education field then due to this situation parents send their children to work rather than schools. Children are mostly encouraged to work by their parents. Uneducated and unaware people never think about child labor and they are also unaware of the dangerous physical and mental pain of children. When parents agree to their children to go work, it affects their chances to go school. Schooling problems also contribute to child labor. Many times children search for employment just because there is no access to schools. Even as the parents cannot afford for their children to be educated nor do they understand the importance of primary education in children lives. Or Due to insufficient educational facilities many families think that school won’t help their children survive.

Gender inequity

Means gender differences which refer to inequality between persons due to gender. The encouragement of gender equality means give equal opportunities to boys and girls, and men and women. Social thoughts towards girls and women are most important cause of child labor effect on child to do work because women are not allowed to go outside from home for any work. The encouragement of equality between girls, boys, men and women. Child labor is work which subjects children to use and abuse.

Lack of unemployment

Lack of unemployment of adults and when the adults are not in position to do work like disable adults or ill adults or death member of the family.

Demand for child labor

Demand for child labor is increasing day by day for cheap labor which is also a cause of child labor. Market demand of child labor cause strong demand by many companies because they want to win large market share. So children are considered as a cheap source of labor which provides an opportunity to increase earnings. And Demand for cheap labor by contractor’s means that children are often offered in the workplace of their parents. With limited margins of this type, such as contractors and farmers make game owners know that children can be exploited and forced to work for less than minimum wage.

Escape from home

This may also factor or cause of child labor. When a child escapes from home he may have many reasons like

Bad temper of the parents, because generally the insufficient salary of fathers provides lack of basic human needs to their families which create a frustration and anger in the members of family after that it turn to the attitude of fathers or head of family in harsh or strict due to which a child prefer to leave from the home in search of his own comforts, it might be physical or mantel. And when a child leaves the home he faces different problems of necessities so that why he have to do any work to survive.

Company of other children plays an important role in child grooming because the company of friend makes a child manner able and social. It is psychological fact that surroundings affect individual’s behaviors and attitudes and the habits of child is also depend on the company of family and friends. Usually negative activities between the children create negative impact on child personality. Due to this sometime the passion of negative activities level become high and serious for a children future. In these situations the strictness from home and school enforce children to escape.

Behaviors of the teachers at schools also plays very important role in child life. Because teachers are the builders of nation. But in our society the way of teaching is quite harsh and the methods of teaching are also useless. Mostly children are punished physically for their minor mistakes which create unfriendly atmosphere then due to these type of behavior of teachers impact bad impression on children and force child to runaway. And after those majority children get negative feedback from home as well so they escape.

Attractions beyond the home also cause of child labor because it is the human nature that a person mostly tends toward those things which they don’t have. And these types of want are found in children. In some cases due to some reasons parents are unable to provide the needs of their children so this also lead to child to escape for necessities.

Political Crises

Political crises and political issues Sometimes have caused violence, rallies, strikes, civil wars, terrorism and armed conflicts due to which there is a political and economic instability in the country so adults are unable to do work or jobs or in some other situations children have to do work for their needs.

Overpopulation

Large family sizes and over population are main factors which cause child labor. The basic cause of child labor is high population growth-rate, particularly in Third World countries. According to Wikipedia.org, “Pakistan has increased its ranking from 7 to 6th in the list of most populous countries of the world. The figures are based on a July 1, 2007 estimate by the UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs, Population Division.

Industrial revolution

Revolution in industries plays role for child labor. Sometimes multinationals prefer to use child labor in developing countries due to industrial revolution and these which encourages multinationals to use child workers which cause a negative impact on children. Due to all these reasons child labor recruited for less pay, they take extra work from them and there is no problem of union in industry as well. This situation is also difficult for adults to find jobs and send their children for work.

Impact on Child Labor:

Immature and inexperienced child laborers might be totally unaware of the short and long term risks involved in their work. Children who work frequently face serious health problems due to continuous work in hazardous conditions. The employers also don’t care at all about child labor that are unhealthy and carry on working for long time with a tiny or no break. Child laborers are mostly without a basic education, regular social interaction, and emotional support from their family.

Lifetime physical and emotional hurt to the child. Their mental health also crushes. Mostly children face mental trauma when they reach to maturity.

Children that cannot find work to feed big families choice to begging on the streets and in many cases child labor also killed or become victim of prostitution. And in many cases children turn in to thieves only because they need rapid money on which their families are depended.

It also has a negative impact on the benefit of the country. Because these children do not get any education, and increasing literacy, and slow down the country’s economic growth in general, reflecting the weakness of human development.

Girls who work as home servants away from their homes, sometimes in different Middle Eastern countries, are common victims of mental, physical and sexual abuses which cause shocking consequences on their physical condition.

Some circumstances which are faced by the child are dangerous workplaces, full time work in early age, loss of education and future opportunities, too much working hours subjection to verbal, physical, psychological and sexual abuse, limited or no pay, no way to get education, powerless to run away from poverty cycle they do work in streets in bad conditions.

Illegal Activities

Now a day’s children have strong involvement in illegal activities like the production and trafficking of drugs. Trafficking is illegal activity of buying and selling of drugs in which a lot of children are involved. Mostly children may do these activities because they belief that this will give them money and status. Children who do this work take great risk of abuse and are addicted of drugs in early age. And then these children also doing other crimes like robbery, theft, mugging, hijacking, and the children may also do this for their gangs or for their family. These all activities by children are also done due to poverty. And also affect their mental and physical growth.

Hypothetical Model and Variables under Consideration
Literacy
Inflation
Unemployment
Poverty
Child Labor
LITERATURE REVIEW

(Dessy, 2003), “Shows the Harmful forms of child labor have an economic role: by maintaining wages for child labor high enough, they allow human capital accumulation in poor countries. Unless appropriate mechanisms are designed to mitigate the decline in child labor wages caused by reduced employment options for children, a ban on harmful forms of child labor will likely prove undesirable. Poverty alleviation techniques would eliminate that segment of the worst forms of child labor. A food-for-education program, however, might help boost support for a ban on harmful forms of child labor. Because it relaxes the liquidity constraint of the poor, this food-for-education program may induce more time spent at school, which may be sufficient to offset the negative effects of the sudden increase in the supply of child laborers We perform our analysis within a simple model of parental investment in children’s education.”

(Ebudhia) Wrote “Child labor is the worst from of child exploitation. It is widespread all over the world. About seventy-three million children belonging to the age group of ten to fourteen years are engaged in child labor all over the globe. Illiteracy of the parents, large families, need of additional income and poverty are the chief causes of the exploitation of child labor. Parents are indirectly responsible for this. Childhood is the foundation of one’s career. At this stage, children should be sent to schools, not to work. Child labor lowers the wage rates of adult laborers. Employers exploit children due to their docile nature and their willingness to do monotonous jobs. They face health problems. Several programmed have been undertaken both at the national and international level to check and stop this practice. The people should also help the government in its efforts to tackle this problem.”

(Sanjeeta) Wrote that, “Child labor is, no doubt, an evil that should be done away with at the earliest. The prevalence of child labor reflects very badly on society that is not able to stop this evil. But in a society where many households may have to suffer the pangs of hunger if the children are withdrawn from work, beggars can’t be choosers. These families have to send their children to work, even if the future of these innocents is ruined, as that is the only choice open for them to survive in this world. Therefore, unless the socio-economic status of the poor families is improved, India has to live with child labor.”

(Sparc, 2012) Said that, “Negligence on part of the government and parents, corporal punishment, poverty and poor law and order situation, especially in Fata, are the major factors behind child labor. After 18th constitutional amendment, child labor has become the legislative and administrative domain of the provincial governments,” “Children are being abused verbally, physical and sexually in factories, homes and streets, while many of them suffer from fatal ailments,” he said, adding that 85 per cent of child labor in the country worked in automobile sector. Working children were being used by militants in suicide attacks across the country. He complained that Child Protection Units in district levels were ineffective, and urged the government to conduct proper surveys to know facts and figures about child labor for necessary action by NGOs.”

According to (ILO, 2002), “Despite the increasing commitment by governments and their partners to tackle child labor worldwide, it remains a problem on a massive scale,” said Juan Somavia, Director-General of the ILO. “While there has been significant progress towards the effective abolition of child labor, the international community still faces a major uphill struggle against this stubbornly pervasive form of work that takes a tragic toll on millions of children around the world.” It also says a lack of law enforcement, and the desire on the part of some employers for a cheap and flexible workforce worsens the situation. “The effective abolition of child labor is one of the most urgent challenges of our time and should be a universal goal.”

(FASIH, 1998) The study has attempted to classify the supply side of determinants of child labor in Pakistan. The scholars have used the sample of 14,094 children from Punjab (Pakistan) in the age group of 5-14 years obtained from the child labor survey 1996. The study examines the supply side determinants of child labor by using the multinomial logit model. The study concluded that

The possibility of going to school increases at a decreasing rate

The children who join school with work remain in school for a longer period

The possibility of becoming full time child worker increase with age

The possibility of females children mostly in the labor force shows that females are 4.7 percent less likely to attend school

Children who have taken some technical or professional training are more likely to become child laborers and start work at an early age

Mother’s literacy plays a positive role in schooling decision for female children. The girls who have literate mothers are 18 percent more likely to get to school moreover female children of literate mothers are 14 percent less likely to become child laborer

The period in life cycle of the head of the family of expected to have a important effect in the case of schooling work choice. The older the head of family, the more likely it is that the child attend school

Siblings of less than 4 years have negative effect on schooling and part time work and siblings in between the age group of 5-9 years has negative effect on part tome work.”

According to (Tesfay, 2003), “Drawing upon the historical experience of advanced industrial countries, both legal restrictions and economic factors played a role in reducing child labour, although legislation appears to have been less significant. The process of industrialization may have initially increased the demand for and the scope of children’s work, however the long run economic impact of the industrial revolution resulted in its eventual elimination. Thus an increase in the aggregate number of child workers is expected to be transitory. The declining importance of children in industry combined with increasing female wage rates and the rising price of child rearing inputs, all contribute to the rising cost of child quantity and the decline in child demand. Moreover, a decline in the economic value of children in the home and in agriculture will increase the cost of children, in turn, reducing the demand for them. These factors also reduce the cost of quality and increase the demand for these commodities relative to quantity. Thus, it is the long-run economic forces of technological change, rising income, the higher price of raising children and the corresponding declining relative cost of child quality that explain the changing economic role of children over time.”

According to (Rena, 2006), “Education and child labor is the second Millennium Goal to achieve universal primary education before 2015. This is an objective based on the UNESCO Declaration on Education for All and is defined as ensuring that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling. The duration of primary education will vary from country to country with an absolute minimum of 5 years from the age of 7 to the age of 12. The definition of child labor foresees however that the education or vocational training should continue to at least the age of 14 or 15. In countries where primary education only includes 5 years, one will see a high number of economically active children in the age group of 12 to 14, many of whom will be child laborers. As stated earlier, education is seen a right for all children and as a way for individuals and societies to develop. Given economic development, the return to education is proven to be very high for individuals. However, many developing countries will not be able to meet this objective in the short time frame. Hence child labor will remain a serious challenge to the MDG. Child labor also affects school performance as children miss important lessons and fall behind academically. This creates a burden not only on the individual child but also on the entire education system.”

According to (Khan), “That child is the demand of employers. Alongside factors which push children into earning money are others which pull children into the world of work. Cheap and well-trained with reasonably low wages paid to children are often a reason why employers prefer them to adult workers. Some children work unpaid, particularly as domestic workers, in conditions that would be denounced as “slavery” if they involved adults. Employers find children more obedient and easier to control. Unlike older workers, they are unlikely to initiate protests or form trade unions. Poor infrastructure is another factor that shows the practical difficulty of establishing a child’s actual age in countries where the infrastructure may not be in place for e.g. systematic birth registration. This can disadvantage children in many ways. The role of education is also factor that children who receive little or no school education miss out on the knowledge that can create options for them later in life. Without it, they make less contribution as adults and are more exposed to exploitation and abuse. Not attending school is consequently both a cause and effect of child labor.”

According to (Udry, 2003), “Lessons for policies that can move children from work to school is also a cause of child labor. He wrote that Child labor should be understood as the consequence of people coping with extreme circumstances. It is a result of current poverty and a cause of continued poverty for the children who sacrifice their education in order to work. It is a particularly insidious problem because its primary costs are long-delayed and realized by the child, while the benefits a

Child labor is something where children of younger age start to earn in order to support their family. In other words, child labor is any kind of work children are made to do that harms or exploits them physically, mentally or morally. According to the World Labor Report, the child labor is considered as ‘forced labor’ because children are rarely in a position to give free consent to any activities performed by them as most aspect of their lives are determined by adults.

Child labor is a curse to our society and a crime against humanity. Children work when they are supposed to play or go to school. By making them work in this tender age we are not only destroying their future, but also playing with the destiny of the country. “The child is the father of man.” This famous line quoted by William Wordsworth specifies the importance of the child for the development of building a healthy nation and society. Childhood is the most innocent stage in human life. A child normally has to enjoy its childhood days with its parents, teachers, friends etc. It is that stage of life where fine and long lasting impressions gather in child’s mind. However, this simple rule of nature has been crippled by the ever-growing menace of child labor.

In this modern world, child labor still remains a serious problem in many parts of the world. Today, throughout the world, around 215 million children are child labors. The sad thing is that they work under hazardous circumstances. More than half of them are exposed to the worst form of child labor such as work in harmful environments, slavery, or other forms of forced labor, illicit activities including drug trafficking and prostitution, as well as involvement in armed conflict.

Child labor is a major problem in India. It is a great challenge that the country is facing. India accounts for the second highest number of child labors after Africa. In a country like India where over 40 percent of the population is living in conditions of extreme poverty, child labor is a complex issue. However, acute poverty is the main cause for child labor throughout the world, but everybody – society. Parents, government, individual, low wages, unemployment, poor standard of living, deep social prejudices and backwardness are directly responsible for child labor in India.

In Indian, despite, there is no enactment which genuinely contributed for eradication of child labor. The constitution in article – 25 states that no child below 14 years will be employed in any factories or mines or engaged in any hazardous occupation that is harmful for them. But, till now it is not remarked anywhere of ablution or elimination of child labor. Admitting that the Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act of 1986 have put forward some average working conditions for children who work in hazardous environment, yet the word hazardous has not been specified clearly anywhere in the constitution, or in any act asserted on child labor. Thus, the clarification of the term ‘hazardous’ is unclear and inadequate especially in the case of child labor.

Child labor can be factory work, mining, or quarrying, agriculture, helping in parents’ business, having one’s own small business, or doing odd jobs. Children work as waiters in restaurants and sometimes as tourist’s guides. Other children are forced to do draggy and uninteresting jobs such as polishing shoes of rich people or accumulating boxes. However, instead of working in factories and sweatshops, most child labor occurs in the informal sector, children are forced to sell products on the streets, work in agriculture fields or hidden away in houses- far from the reach of official labor inspectors and from media inspection.

There are many types of child labor but bonded child labor or slave labor is one of the worst types of labor for children. It is estimated that approximately 10 million bonded children laborers are working as domestic servants in India. Apart from this there are nearly 55 million bonded child laborers who are employed across several other industries. A recent International Labor Organization (ILO) report says that in India there are about 80 percent of child laborers who are hired in the agriculture sector. Generally, the children are sold to the rich moneylenders to whom borrowed money cannot be returned. In addition to this ‘Street children’ is another type of child labor where children work on the street as beggars, flower sellers, etc. Sometimes children are not being provided with food for long so that people feel sorry for them and give alms. The statistical information regarding child labor cannot be taken to be precise, as there are areas where no accounting has been done.

Child labor is in fact, a source of income for poor families. Poor parents give birth to children thinking they would earn more money. The children either increase their parent’s income or are the only wage earners in the family. Because of poverty families are forced to send their children into labor, the employers find it a source of cheap and trouble free labor. Children can be beaten and tormented into doing dirty jobs. Innocent children are employed by industries and individuals who put them to work under exhausting environments. They are made to work for long hours in dangerous factory units and sometimes made to carry load even heavier than their own body weight.

Millions of children are involved in work that is unacceptable for children, including the sale and trafficking of children into debt bondage, serfdom, and forced labor. It includes the forced employment of children for armed conflict, commercial sexual exploitation and illicit activities such as producing and trafficking drugs.

This is the story of child labor in all the poor developing and underdeveloped countries of world including India. Even after sixty-five years of independence India has not been able to give any liberation to the poor. Yet withdrawal of child labor is cureless task in the current socio-economic scenario, the Indian government is dedicated to the task of confirming that all the children should be literate and that no child remains illiterate, hungry and without medical care. When this ideal will be achieved is a million dollar question.

Child labor is, no doubt an evil that should be done away with at the earliest. The prevalence of child labor rebound and effects adversely on society that it is not able to stop this evil. But in a society where many households have to go through the discomfort of starvation if the children are withdrawn from work, beggars can’t be chooser. Unfortunately these families have to send their children to work, knowing that the future of the child will be ruined but they have to, as that is the only way open for them to survive in this world. Therefore unless the socio economic status of the poor families is improved, India has to live with child labor.

Child labor is considered as major problem of the economy and they work for survival of themselves and their family. Child labor is considered as significant hurdle in the development of nation. Mainly in Asian countries it is recognized as one of the biggest unethical practice that is common in the public as well as private enterprises. Instead of having various international and national regulatory authority regulating and monitoring child labor in the Asian countries, such curse on human practices are being continued in the society. Most of developing countries of Asia still facing problem of poverty and fighting against it, many of the parents send their children outside for working instead of schools so that they can earn money for fulfilling their needs. Thus the uneducated children do not get developed and the poverty problem always remains constant for such families and thus restricts the economic growth of the Asian countries.

Strategy to Combat Child Labor in Asia:

Child labor is deemed as the most complex problem of the Asia and thus one single strategy for combating with child labor is not sufficient for this purpose collective strategies can only be the efficient solution in order to eliminate such curse on humanity. Thus in order to combat such an unethical and wicked act of child labor following strategies should be implemented within the ground of Asia:

Workplace Monitoring to Combat Child Labor:

For opposing child labor, empowerment of children and parents against the child labor is not sufficient for combating against child labor for this community plays vital role in combating against it. This community consists of groups such as managers, employers, workers, community leaders, suppliers and agencies. The mentoring programs is also need to set up which make sure that those children who already withdrawn from the child labor should be facilitated with some effective educational programs so that they can learn related to the education. Some factors that are included in the ILO-IPEC prevention and mentoring programs are as follows:

For scheduled and unscheduled visits, classifying it in various different areas.

Maintaining whole records for observing effectiveness of monitoring programs.

Corporation from community group such as employers, workers, administration, and government department also.

Assuring that no children is being employed in any industries or other sectors of economy.

An international monitoring team that involves International Labor Organization project staff should be operated.

Encouraging the employers and manufactures in order to enhance their monitoring system against child labor.

Associating linkage to social protection components of the programs (Vahapassi, 2000).

Regional efforts against Child Labor:

This effort involves cooperation in order to combat against the problem of the child labor. The Child Workers in Asia (CWA) and Task Force on Child Work (TFCDW) acts as the significant driving force behind the contribution from regions. Some priority against the child labor for Task Force on Child Work includes following schedule:

Support of government and general public.

Support of legislative policies and procedures.

Capacity building.

Linking the issues of child domestic workers to the child trafficking.

Encouragement to child participation and involvement.

Mobilization of resources and intermediate research actions (Blagbrough).

Community Care:

Community care consists of developing and supporting the capacity of the community to fight against the problem of child labor. This community care consists of following programs:

Provisional Department for Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation.

Women Development association.

Vulnerable Children assistance Organization.

Strengthening Local Structures and Authorities.

Safety net program for village (Blagbrough).

Global March against Child Labor:

The central aim of this Global March against child labor is to protect rights of children as well as to promote child for education. It provides awareness among the children that to get free of cost education and also delivers that to work in any organization can affect the health of children in terms of physically, mentally or socially.

Stop Child Labor Movements:

Child labor emphasized on the following principles in order to raise awareness against the child labor:

It is not acceptable at any cost to employing child at work place.

Government, MNCs and other employment bodies should ensure that they are not employing child labors in their organizations. As a part of their social responsibility, all enterprises that are using children in their organization should incorporate plans in order to remove child labor from work place.

Some labor standards should be implemented in order to eliminate the evil practices of the child labors. This eradication of child labor is linked to the endorsement of other labor standards workplace.

Child labor should be eradicated against the right to education for the child. In the provision, it is mentioned that children have the right of education until their age are allowed to work. Necessary aids such as financial and infrastructural support are made by government for the provision of quality education (Stop Child Labour – School is the Best Place to Work).

Education as Preventive Strategy to Combat against Child Labor:

A quality education and training is an essential element in order to eradicate the child labor by the empowerment of children against the unethical elements. The current figures on the education enrollment expose that around 72 million children are having the age of primary school are not even enrolled although not attend the school regularly or they drop out their enrollment for the purpose of supporting their family. The education is the key element to solve the problem of poverty in the nation. If the education is not given to the current generation then it will be continue from one generation to the next upcoming generations. Better education and training helps to develop interpersonal skills and qualification that is required in todayaˆ™s labor market and with the aid of such education, a child can support their family after being young and exterminate poverty from current situation and encourage their upcoming generation (Mini Action Guide, 2008). The education related policy to combat against child labor includes following programs:

For poor families decreasing the cost of schooling so that they can easily take admission in schools.

Serving trained and professional teachers to the schools so that they can deliver right information to their students.

Providing quality and safe environment at training place.

Encouraging parents so that they send their children to school.

Eliminating barriers for the education of girl child through changing the thinking of parents and this can be accomplished by improving the environment of the school and making it girl friendly.

Enhancing the access of the free education system for the person who comes under below poverty line.

Connecting the economic policies as well as poverty reduction strategies with the education programs.

Through offering incentives to families encourage them for sending their children to schools.

Providing the extra education facility to those who missed out their classes in the schools (Mini Action Guide, 2008).

Conclusion:

Child Labor problem is the complex problem which leads to various other problems in the economy and that is need to be handled effectively so that it could be elimination from the society. Moreover, this child labor problem can not be solved with a strategy; the various collective strategies are required that can provide optimum solution for such problem. Thus to combat with such practices, several strategies are discussed in the report should be incorporated with the cooperation of community groups and government in order to make child labor and poverty free society.

Since many years, child labor has been a serious problem that a lot of organizations were trying to deal with. In fact Lebanon is one of the countries suffering from this issue, especially in poor surroundings of the main cities and in rural districts. According to Kofi Annan(1999), “Child labor has serious consequences that stay with the individual and the society for far longer than the years of childhood.” Young not only face dangerous work conditions. They face long term physical, intellectual and emotional stress. They face an adulthood of unemployment and illiteracy. Few human rights abuses are so widely condemned, yet so widely unnoticed…” For these purposes I’m against child labor, and I think it’s the responsibility of the government to help working children.

According to UNICEF response to child employment, “Child labor is reported as one of the social problems in Lebanon. There are about 3163 children aged 10-13 years that work in Lebanon, while the number of those looking for work in this age group is 1947. These represent respectively 1.2% and 0.7% of the total population in that age group. On the other hand, there are 28786 working children aged 14-17 years and 9525 of that same age group looking for work, representing 10.9% and 3.6% respectively of children in that age group. The region of North Lebanon has the highest proportion of working children with respect to the two age groups 10-13 years and 14-17 years. It is followed by the region of Mount Lebanon, then Beirut, Beqaa and the South. Overall, the districts of Tripoli, Minyeh, Akkar, Baabda, Baalbeck, Zahleh, Saida and Tyre have about 80% of working children aged 10-13 years. In the North, working children are found mostly in the districts of Tripoli, Akkar and Minyeh (91-97% of working children in this region). In the region of Mount Lebanon, the districts of Baabda and Metn have the highest proportion of working children. More specifically, the poor urban neighborhoods of Bab Tebbaneh in Tripoli, Bourj Barajneh in Baabda and Bourj Hammoud in Metn are the worst affected areas in these districts.”(UNICEF, 2008, p.1-2)

Many children are working 6 days a week and more than 10 hours a day in hard fields especially like agriculture. According to ILO(International Labor Organization office in Beirut): “Children are working hard for price of 7 dollars a week sometimes which is unfair”. Employer s are interested in hiring teenagers and children under eighteen because they are cheaper especially when their profit are less than expected. Employer does not care about the feelings of the young youths they, keep mistreating them by giving them choirs they cannot handle. Walid a young child living in Tarik al jdideh (Beirut), is a ten year old boy working in a garage. Walid works from 8 am till 6 pm fixing cars and get paid 10 dollars per week. Walid is always complaining of the hard work he is supposed to handle, and from the maltreatment of his boss. Walid is one proof that working children are suffering in Lebanon. Most of these kids are boys, maltreated in several cities and villages in Lebanon whereas they are forced to carry heavy loads, handle chemicals, marble cutting, selling items on roads under bad circumstances and in farms where they are exposed to pesticides. Children laboring in gardening may also be constrained to assemble tobacco, sugar cane, and other crops where they will be subjected to equally harmful conditions. Moreover, kids are obliged to use dangerous machinery, handle toxic chemicals without protective gear; they are also confronting sexual abuse or slavery, especially girls that are sold from their parents to earn extra money. Most of these kids are working in very bad conditions affecting their health, living differently from a normal kid and risking their future. Racha is a good example of a teenager who was forced to depart from her house in the village to work as a housemaid in the industrialized Aley district. Rasha had been raped by the man in the house after several temptations made by him. Sexual abuse of working boys and girls is a crime that will probably destroy the life of the young youths. (Alami, 2007, p.1-2)

Many children are dropping out from school and leaving their education in order to work and give money for their parents. The learning level of laboring kids is too small comparing to the learning level of the labor force in all areas in Lebanon. “The percentage of uneducated worker in the labor force in Lebanon is about 49%, this percentage is 95% concerning children working aged between 10 and 13 years and 84% of those age between 14 and 17 years”. (UNICEF, 2008). Yusuf a 12 years old guy who works now in agriculture, is a good example of many kids who left school early and started working. It is the right of the children to get education and go to school instead of that they are facing problems that pushes them to leave school and start working. Many young kids lose their ambitions in order to work and help their fathers. It is unfair for children to drop out from school as their future will be ruined, they will have to work the same work they are working today not having a bachelor degree they won’t be able to go further in their lives. It is also unfair for them to miss all the joy of the school days. School days are the best days of a child life as he meets friends in school, develop relations, and learn how to interact with others. School is a basic time needed by the children before getting to the large world of work. (Alami, 2007, p. 2-3)

Somehow child labor has a big influence on the society. When the number of working children increases the number of non educated adults will increase, children will be the future of the societies. A society of non educated society is a rural society where people have no respect for each other. You can see that these kinds of societies are the societies where more problems happen, where no one understand the other, and where the neighbor kill his neighbor. As we said before the number of working children is bigger in rural countries of Lebanon like Tripoli, and Bekaa, effectively these are two countries that are full of problems as we see on the news every day. Problems always happen in Tripoli between the people living there; in the Bekaa also car steeling and crimes are very often. Education pushes the society to a higher level, and since education is absent between young working kids their society will be on a lower level than others. Poor societies are societies where most kids start working early. Such societies will always be poor as no one will get educated enough to get a suitable job. So a main problem of the poor societies in Lebanon is child labor. (Schmitz & Traver & Larson, 2004)

The opposing point of view is the one of the parents of the children and the employers who hires children. Parents when in need oblige their kids to go and get a job in order to make money. Some parents think that their oldest son should leave everything and go to work to help his brothers and sisters. This is common in most Lebanese areas as we see in most families the older son suffers from lack of education. These parents also think that their children are born to serve them and to help them get money to live more comfortably. Some parents that they were also working in very early ages of their life would let their children work in purpose that they will be stronger and more experienced and might be able to easily go over hard situations they may face in the future. Other parents might sell their daughters by saying that they will get married sooner or later so why don’t they sell them and earn high revenue of money. Employers also say that they are hiring children who came freely to get work and they are not doing something wrong so they can profit of the low salary these children get which make the cost of the products less and they will be in fewer prices in the market so all the people will also profit. We can see that most restaurants in Lebanon hire young boys for the delivery choirs for example and for serving clients etcaˆ¦

Personally I think it’s very wrong for the parents to let their kids work at young age especially if they work under the supervision of abusing bosses. Kids are suffering in their work as they work in dangerous chemicals and pesticides. Kids have the rights to learn and live their childhood happily and safely. Some employers are criminals because they abuse children; such employers should be caught and arrested because of their actions against children who are so weak to say no or to protest against their parents and bosses.

Finally Child labor is a wide problem that should be regulated especially in Lebanon. Children are suffering in their work, dropping out from school early, and infecting the whole society. I think government should work on reducing the number of working children, and to control the hours of work and the salaries. By fixing these issues working children will have better work situation, better opportunities by going to school, having normal life like every teenager should get. It is their right to learn so they can become successful persons in their societies.