Child Labour PDF

Project-2: Elements of Business Environment Topic : A Study on Child Labour Lavws, its Implementation and Introduction Consequences Children are the greatest gift to humanit...

Project-2: Elements of Business Environment Topic : A Study on Child Labour Lavws, its Implementation and Introduction Consequences Children are the greatest gift to humanity and childhood is an important human development as it holds the potential to the future and impressionable development of any up in an environment,which is conducive to their intellectual, physical and social society. Children who stage d and productive members of society. Every nation links its future health, are with the present status of grow up toobe responsible brought work when they are too young for the task, children unduly reduce their its children. earning capabilities, either by shrinking theirfuture externall choice sets or present welfare or their fuBy futurefutuprieenridioirvnmciodinmeuag by productive capabilities. Under extreme economic distress. childrern are forced toreducing their own and take up jobs which are mostly exploitative as they are foreign educational Parents decide to send their child for engaging in ajob as ausually underpaid and engaged in hazardous is. therefore, no wonder that the poor households desperate measure due to poor economic predominantly send their Oopcondiortuntitoinses. life. One of the disconcerting aspects of child There is a strong effect of child labour on school labour is that children are sentchildren to work in to work at the early expense of ages t conditoftionsh.er It attendance associated with his or her capacity to attend benefits from education and denies the rates and the length of child's work day is school. Child labour restricts the right of children to access anA educat negativioeln,y children's education and adversely affects fundamental opportunity to attend school. Child labour, thus, prejudirps Achildshould not be their health and safety. of the opportunity to enjoy subjected to work at the expense of his or her their childhood, go to school and have a education and dreams. Child labour robs minors limited opportunities. It is, therefore, decent shot at success. It condermns them to a life of necessary to ensure that It isnotjust the responsibility of the parents to elimninates childevery child is protected and not labour but also that of the exploited for cheap labour. Meaning of Child Labour government and the society, The term "Child Labour" is often defined as work that harmful to physical and merntaldeprives children and their dignity, and that is of their childhood, their potential " is mentally. development. physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to It refers to work that : " interferes with a child's ability to attend and children; and/or participate in prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school school fully by obliging them to leave school Child labour can also refers to the practice attendance with excessively long and heavy work. of exploiting children for children in order to cut down on labour costs since financial gain. Some industries employ Work that places children in a their wage demand is low. is also defined as situation that is socially, mentally physically or chiia iabour because it morally harmful and dangerous When children are made to performignores the well being of such children. work that is also referred to as childlegally prohibited to be performed by children, of a certa age group, such type of work iis labour. Causes of Child Labour 1, Poverty: Children who come from poor families may be tosupport their sibling and parernts or forced towork expenses more than the parents' are supplement the household income when in developing earnings. It is a huge due to the lackcountries of like India where parents are unable toproblem especially generate employment opportunities Children can be found employed in or education. income The money that is used to provide mines or hawking in the family. Children may also be basic necessities streets to earn such as food and clothing for the Poverty hNsian instead of atternding employed in factories to generate school. Such a practice is a income for the family Gycle stricken region with large common phenomenon in poverty factories set up by international companies. Project Work in BUSINESS STUDIES/32  2. Low Aspiration:It is important for parents and children to work hard and make understand that they can something great of themselves. Low aspirations by parents and children is a major childlabour because in such asituation, being employed in alocalcause factory,of in the streets is the normal way of life. To these sellinggrocery children and parents, suCcess only belongs to a certain region or types group ofof become people. They do not aspire to professionals in the society or great entrepreneurs..It is a mind set that forms the very foundation of child labour. a Huge demand for unskilled labourers:The demand for unskilled labourerS is another cause of child labour. Children are mostly unskilled andprovide a cheap source of labour, making them an attractive option for many greedy employees. Child labour, by virtue of being cheap, increases be margin of profits for such entrepreneurs whose only objective is profit maximization even if it cornes at the ovnense of ethics and good business practices. These types of employers can also force children to work under nfavourable conditions through manipulation or biatant threats. 4. Iliteracy : A society with many educated People understands the importance of going to school and pursuing dreams. Children have the ability and une to become whatever they aspire to be. Iliteracy, Onthe other hand. makes it difficult for many people to understand the importance of education. Illiterate peaple view education as a preserve of the privileged e society.They willtherefore not provide support in and build so that they can go to school children solid foundations for future success. The same view of life is seen among illiterate parents who prioritize family over children contributing tothe upkeep of the going to school. Proiect Work in BUSINESS STUDIES/33  5. Early Marriages : Marrying at an carly age is a major contributing factor to overpopulation. Young parents are able to size a lot of children CHILDMARRIAGE because they remain fertile for a long time. Having many children with little or no resources to support IS THE Just them leads to child labour. Older children are forced to work in order to help their parents support the family. RAPE 6. High Cost of Education : Quality OF ACHILD! education is expensive. Tomany parents who live in object poverty. priority is given to providing food for the family because education too expensive to afford especially when there are many children to pay school fees STUDENT LOAN RE for. Instead of letting children stay at home because there is lack of money to sernd them to school, parents opt to have them working as unskilled labourers to help support the family. Some parents can also only afford basic education which means that children will be forced to look for work since they cannot pursue their education further. Consequences of Child Labour : 1. Loss of Quality Childhood :It is important for human beings to enjoy every stageof their development Achild should play with friends and make memories for a lifetime. Youths should explore life and form strong foundations that would define their adult lives. Child labour, therefore, leads to loss of quality childhood as children will be deprived of the opportunity to enjoy the amazing experiences that comes with being young. Children are often encouraged to play because it helps in their growth and development. A child forced to work will miss many of the good things associated with childhood. 2. Health Issues :Child labour can also lead to health complications due to undernourishment and por working conditions. It is highly unlikely that people who employ children also have the moral capacity to ensure that they have good working conditions. Working in places such as mines and badly conditioned factories may result in lifetime health issues for children employed to work in these places. Achild assigned physically demandlig duties may suffer physical trauma that may scar him or her for life. 3.Mental Trauma: It is not a pleasant experience to be kept working as a child while your age-mates are playing and going to school. Children also lack the ability to shield themselves from most of the challenges that o in the workplace. Issues such as bullying, sexual exploitation and unfavourable working hours may result in nd trauma in these children. They willfind it hard to forgot the past and may become societal misfits because o childhood experiences. Child labour may also result in the lack of emotional growth and thus insensitivity. timein 4. Illiteracy : Children that are employed do not have the time to go to school. They spend alot of with individual their workstations as the days and years go by. The lack of education and illiteracy makes them challenges several limited opportunities as far asemployment concerned. Education also prepares a person for problens. the society and without it, one may turn out to lack the basic skills required to overcome many of life's resorting An individual who has done to school may be aware of how to approach certain situations in life without allofthe to brute force. An illiterate person, on the other hand, carsictus forces to be the only answer to nearly challenges experienced. Project Work in BUSINESS STUDIES/34  STUDIES 35 / BUSINESS Work Project in years working S14 children Alook atthe In of statewise the details age ALONE KIDSTHEMLEAVE eroup 0 Souttecons201 RAHARASHTEA MAGNITUDE OF CHILD MRADESH MABAYA PAADESH AMOWRA LABOUR BIHAR. IN INDIA KANNATAKA AAJASTHAN BJARAT CHHATTISGARN B3,884 3051292,08490996 ASSAN BEROAL WEST 53,492) 90353 PUNDAB HARYANA HARKHAND O0ISHA 189.155OTHERS TAMIL RADU 1,51,437\ Magnitude of Child Labour in India In India, there are 10.1l million working children between the age of 5-14 (census 2011). As ner Census 2011, the total chlld population in India in the age group (5-14) years is 259,6 million 0c these. 10.1 million (3.9% of totalchild population) are working, either as'main worker' or as 'marginal worker' In addition, more than 42.7 million children in India are out of school. However. the good news is that he incidence of chlld labour has decreased in India by 2.6 milljon between 2001 and 2011. Howevcr, the decline was more visible in rural arcas, while the number of child workers has increased in urban areas, indicating he growing demand for child workers in menial jobs, Child labour has different ramifications in both iural and urban Jndia. Year Percenage of working children Total number of working children (5-14) (5-14) (in millions) Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total 2001 5.9 2.1 5.0 11.4 1.3 12.7 2011 4.3 2.9 3.9 8.1 2.0 10.1 *Sourcc-Census 2001 and 2011 Distribution of working children by type of work in 2011 Area of work Numbers (in millions) Percentage Cultivators 26.0 2.63 Agricultural labourers 32.9 3.33 Household industry workers 5.2 0.52 Other workers 35.8 3.62 *Source--Census 2011 Note: 'Other workers' : Workers other than cultivators, agricultural labourers or workers in household industries. Major sectors for working children in India (%) 120.0 100.0 22.0 23.93 80.0 35.8 60.0 83.4 40.0 20.0 315 0.0 Total Tutal Rural Urban 2001 2011 Cultivators Agricultural labourers HHI workers Other workers Project Work in BUSINESS STUDIES / 36  States with High Incidences of Child Labour Tocether, Uttar Pradesh, Bilhar. Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh constitute nearly 55% of India. total working children in States Percentage Numbers (in million) Uttar Pradesh 21.5 2.18 Bihar 10.7 1.09 Rajasthan 8.4 0.85 Maharashtra 7.2 0.73 Madhya Pradesh 6.9 0.70 *Source--Census 2011 Major Actions taken for the prohibition of Child Labour ActlonS taken tmpacti CompletE ban on Chnd tabour ug to 14y Adokscunts slo Jncduded under tha ambt o Legsaton, Erpands the lstof nccupatiansnd peoceesand tete airtiaity Datngostandard operatne PoCeiiresop Thls wili strengthen unfoteemana thedt, monitorlSAnd. Jmplemeation ofNCEP I aratnes ILD COventons Eradlate Ghld Labou at fnternatipmltoim AlmEradication of child Labour as per Sustainable Development Goal8.7 Government Initiatives Government Initiatives Natoral Policy on hild Labour was formulated in 1987 Prchibitian af chldren being employcd n hazardous cCtupations and processes Porerty being tlhe main cause goernient ar created omplcyment Supplernentury nutrition and rzular health check Hps so as to prepae them to joln regular mainstrearn schovds Project Work in BUSINESS STUDIES /37  Child Labour and Constitutional Provisions Theframers of the Constitution of India deemed it necessary to include special provisions in the conetit..t. for the protection of the rights of working children. Article Title 21A Right to Education Description The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years in such a manner as the State, by law, may determine. 24 Prohibition of Employ- No child below the age of ment of Childrens in shall be fourteen years Factories empioyed in work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. 39 The state shall in Parti-That the health and strength of cular direct its policy men and wonmen and the tenderworkers, age of towards securing children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength. Legislation for Child Labour in India The first protective legislation for child labour in India was seen in 1881 in the form of Indian which had the provisions prohibiting employment of children Factories Act, to 9 hours a day and providing 4 holidyas in a below 7 years limiting the working hours for children month and rest hours. This was actually made by the Government to decrease the production in Indian industries through ruling British some legal restrictions. Besides constitutional provisions, there are several children in various occupations. legislative enactments which provide legal protection to " The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933. " The Employment of Children Act, 1938. " The Minimumn Wages, Act 1948 and rules made thereunder by the " The Factories Act, 1948. government. " The Plantations Labour Act, 1951. " The Mines Act, 1952. The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. " The Motor Transport Workers' Act, 1961. " The Apprentices Act, 1961. " The Atomic Energy Act, 1962. The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966. The Shops and Establishment Act in Various States, and " Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986) was the from the deliberations and culmination of efforts and ideas that emerged recommendations the National Commission on Labour of various committees on child labour. Significant among them were (1966-1969), the Sanat Mehta Committee (1984) Act. The Act the Gurupadaswamy Committee on Child Labour (1979) and aims to prohibit the entry of children into hazardous non-hazardous occupations. In particular it is aimed at : occupations and to regulate the services of children in Project Work in BUSINESS STUDIES / 38  n The banning of the employment of children, i.e, those who have not completed their 14th year, in 18 specified occupations and 65 processes. an Laving down a procedure to make additions to the schedule of banned occupations or processes. working. (ii) Regulating the working conditions of children in occupations where they are not prohibited from other (B) Laving down penalties for employment of children in violations of the provisions of this Act and Acts which forbid the enmployment of children. (v) Bringing uniformity in the definition of the child in related laws. List of occupations and processes prohibited under this Act are given in (Annexure-I). in Rajya Sabha on 4 The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bil1. 2012 was introduced Regulation) Act, 1986. The amendment also December, 2012 further to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition and mining. oeks a blanket ban on employing children below 18 years in hazardous industries like Enforcement Figures on Child Labour inspections carried out, prosecutions launched, As per the data received from various states, the details of onnvictions made under the Child Labour Act during the given years : No. of No. of Year No. of Prosecutions Convictions Inspections 12705 617 2007 363927 355629 11318 763 2008 317083 11418 1312 2009 8998 1308 2010 239612 4590 774 2011 84935 589 167 2012* * 25040 States. **The information yet to be received from many of Child Labour Judicial Efforts towards the Problem verses State of Tamil Nadu, the 1996 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 465/1986 on MCMehta On 10th December The main features of certain directions on the issue of elimination of child labour. Supreme Court of India, gave judgement are as follow: of working children; " Survey for identification institutions; children working in hazardous industry and ensuring their education in appropriate Withdrawal of to a welfare fund to @ 20,000/- per child to be paid by the offending employers of children " Contribution be established for this purpose; withdrawn from work and it that is not member of the family of the childso " Employment to one adult by the State Government: a contribution of 5,000/- to the welfare fund to be made earnings possible withdrawn to be paid-out of the interest families of the children so " Financial assistance to the the welfare fund as long as the child is actually sent to the 20,000/25,000 deposited in on the corpus of working schools; children working in non-hazardous occupations so that their " Regulating hours of work for per day and education for at least two hours is ensured. The entire hÍurs do not exceed six hours the concerned employer. expenditure on education is to be borne by National Child Labour Policy been legislative provisions providing protection to children against employment has Constitutional and The policy addresses the complex issues of elaborated in the National Child Labour Policy announced in 1987. Project Work in BUSINESS STUDIES /39 child labour in acomprelhensive, holistic and integrated manner: The action plan under this policy is multioronost and mainly consists of: A legislative action plan; "Focuses on general development programmes for the benefit of the families of children; and Project-based action plan in areas of high concentration of child labour. National Child Labour Project Scheme For rehabilitation of child labour, Government had initiated the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) scheme in 1988 to rehabilitate working children in 12 child labour endemic districts of the country. Its coverage has increased progressively to cover 271districts in the country presently.As on date the scheme is in operation in 266 districts. Under the NCLP scheme, children are withdrawn from work and put into special school, where they are provided with bridging education, vocational training, mid-day meal, stipend, health-care facilities etc. and finally mainstreamed to the formal education system. At present, there are around 7000 NCLP schools being run in the country with an enrolment of three lakh children. Till date more than 9 lakh working children have already been mainstreamed to regular education under the NCLP scheme. The NCLP scheme is a central sector scheme. Under the scheme, project societies are set up at the district level under the chairpersonship of the CollectorDistrict Magistrate for overseeing the implementation of the project. Instructions to involve civil society and NGOs have also been issued. The number of child labourers rescued, rehabilitated and mainstreamed through National Child Labour Project Scheme during 2009 to 2012, state-wise is given in Annexure-II. Conciusion Government has accordingly been taking proactive steps to tackle this problem through strict enforcement of legislative provisions alongwith simultaneous rehabilitative measures. State Government, 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 rehabilitations of these children and an improving the economic conditions of their families. Project Work in BUSINESS STUDIES / 40  Annexure-1 PART-A List of Occupations Processes prohibited under the Act Transport ofpassengers, goods or mails by railways; (1) Cinder picking. clearing of an ash pit or building operation in the railway premises; other in a catering establishment at a railway station, involving the movenent of a vendor or any (3) Work a moving train; employee of the establishment from the one platform to another or in to or out of is done in close tothe construction of a railway station or with any other work where such work (4) Work relating proximityto or between the railway lines; within the limits of any port; (5) Aport authority Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks in shops with temporary licenses; (0 Abattoirs/slaughter house; (8 Automobile workshops and garages; (9) Foundries; 10) Handling of toxic or inflammable substances or explosives; (11) Handloom and power loom industry; (12) Mines (underground and under water) and collieries; (13) Plastic units and fibreglass workshops; (14) Domestic workers or servants; centers; and motels, tea shops. resorts., spas or other recreational (15) Dhabas (roadside eateries), restaurants, hotels, (16) Diving. (17) Caring of elephant. (18) Working in the circus. Project Work in BUSINESS STUDIES /41  PART-B Processes (Industrial Activity) (1)Beedi-making. (2) Carpet-weaving including preparatory and incldental process thereof; (3) Cement manufacture, including bagging of cement. (4) Cloth printing, dyeing and weaving including processes preparatory and incidental thereto : (5) Manufacture of matches, explosives and fire-works. (6) Mica-cutting and splitting. (7) Shellac manufacture. (8) Soap manufacture. (9) Tanning. (10) Wool-cleaning. (1) Building and construction industry including processing and polishing of granite stones. (12) Manufacture of slate pencils (including packing). (13) Manufacture of products from agate. (14) Manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances such as lead, mercury, manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene, pesticides and asbestos. (15) 87 Hazardous of the proceses' as defined in Sec. 2(cb) and 'dangerous operation' as notice in rules made under section Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948). (16) Printing as defined in Section 2(k) (iv) of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948). (17) Cashew and cashewnut descaling and processing. (18) Soldering prOcesses in electronic industries. (19) Aggarbatti manufacturing. (20) Automobile repairs and maintenance including processes incidental thereto namely, welding, lathe work, dent beating and painting. (21) Brick kilns and Roof tiles units. (22) Cotton ginning and processing and production of hosiery goods. (23) Detergent marnufacturing. (24) Fabrication workshops (ferrous and non ferrous). (25) Gem cutting and polishing. (26) Handling of chromites and manganese ores. (27) Jute textile manufacture and coir making. (28) Lime Kilns and Manufacture of Lime. (29) Lock Making. (30) Manufacturing processes having exposure to lead such as of lead-painted metal constructions, primary and secondary smelting, welding and cutting welding of galvanized or zinc silicate, polyvinyl chloride, mixing (by of crystal glass mass, sanding or scraping of lead paint, burning of lead in enamelling workshops, lead hand) plumbing, cable making, wiring patenting, lead casting, type mining assembling cars,shot making and lead glass blowing. of founding in printing shops. Store typesetung (31) Manufacture of cement pipes, cement products and other related work. (32) Manufacture of glass, glass ware including bangles, florescent tubes, bulbs and other (33) Manufacture of dyes and dye stuff. similar glass produets. (34) Manufacturing or handling of pesticides and insecticides. Project Work in BUSINESS STUDIES / 42 (35) Manulacturing or processing and handling of corroslve and toxic substances, metalcleaning and photo engraving and soldering processes in electronlc industry (36) Manufacturing of burning coal and coal briquettes. (37) Manufacturing of sports goods involving exposure to synthetic materials, chemicals and leather. (38) Moulding and processing of fiberglass and plastic. (39) Oil expelling and refinery. (40) Paper making. (41) Potteries and ceramic industry. (42) Polishing, moulding, cutting,welding and manufacturing of brass goods in allforms. (43) Processes in agriculture where tractors,threshing and harvesting machines are used and chaff cutting. (44) Saw mill-all processes. (45) Sericulture processing (46) Skinning, dyeing and processes for manufacturing of leather and leather products. (47) Stone breaking and stone crushing. (48) Tobacco processing including manufacturing of tobacco, tobacco paste and handling of tobacco in any form. (49) Tyre making, repairing, re-treading and graphite beneficiation. (50) Utensils making, polishing and metal buffing. (51) Zari' making (all processes). (52) Electroplating. (53) Graphite powdering and incidental processing. (54) Grinding or glazing of metals. (55) Diamond cutting and polishing. (56) Extraction of slate from mines; (57) Rag picking and scavenging. (58) Processes involving exposure to excessive heat (e.g., working near furnace) and cold. (59) Mechanised fishing. (60) Food Processing. (61) Beverage Industry. (62) Timber handling and loading. (63) Mechanical Lumbering. (64) Warehousing. (65) Processes involving exposure to free silica such as slate, pencil industry, stone grinding, slate stone mining, stone quarries, and agate industry. Project Work in BUSINESS STUDIES / 43