4. What is child labour?
As pe r UNICEF, if childre n be twe e n 5 to 1 1 ye ars
o f ag e , do ing at le ast o ne ho ur o f e co no m ic
activity o r at le ast 28 ho urs o f do m e stic wo rk in a
we e k, and in case o f childre n be twe e n 1 2 to 1 4
ye ars o f ag e , he o r she did at le ast 1 4 ho urs o f
e co no m ic activity o r at le ast 42 ho urs o f e co no m ic
activity and do m e stic wo rk pe r we e k, is te rm e d as
CHILD LABO UR.
Child Labo ur ham pe rs the no rm al, physical,
inte lle ctual, e m o tio nal and m o ral de ve lo pm e nt o f4
5. Some Disheartening
Facts
An estimated 218 million children aged 5-17 are engaged in child
labour, excluding child domestic labour
126 million of these children are believed to be engaged in hazardous
situations or conditions, such as working in mines, working with
chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or working with dangerous
machinery, which is otherwise described as the “worst forms of child
labour”
Mostly children are sent to work by compulsion and not by their choice
1 out of 3 children(5-14 years) don’t have access to primary education
Approximately fifteen million children work as bonded laborers in India
5
6. • The “unco nditio nal” wo rst fo rm s o f child labo ur and
re fe rs to any fo rm o f slave ry o r co e rcio n,
trafficking , pro stitutio n and m ilitary e nro lm e nt
• Millio ns o f g irls who wo rk as do m e stic se rvants are
e spe cially vulne rable to e xplo itatio n and abuse
• An e stim ate d 1 . 2 m illio n childre n are trafficke d,
fo rce d into de bt bo ndag e o r o the r fo rm s o f slave ry
(5. 7 m illio n), into pro stitutio n (The wo rst fo rm o f
e xplo itatio n o f g irls) and po rno g raphy (1 . 8 m illio n),
into participating in arm e d co nflict (0 . 3 m illio n) o r
o the r illicit activitie s (0 . 6 m illio n)
6
7. FACTORS BEHIND CHILD LABOUR
PO VERTY
PARENTAL ILLITERACY
O VERPO PULATIO N
UNEMPLO YMENT
URBANISATIO N
O RPHANS
THE MAJO R REASO NFO R EXPLO ITATIO NIS THE
FRAG ILE SITUATIO NO F CHILDRENININDIA– IF
THEY DO N’T WO RK THEY WILL STRAVE
7
8. Working conditions may not be safe and healthy for children
because of their physical differences.
Factors that may increase the health, safety, and developmental
risk factors for children include:
• Rapid skeletal growth
• Development of organs and tissues
• Greater risk of hearing loss
• Developing ability to assess risks
• Greater need for food and rest
• Higher chemical absorption rates
• Smaller size
• Lower heat tolerance
HEALTH ISSUES
8
9. • Injuries among young workers:
• Active children suffer injuries or illnesses while working.
• Industries have higher numbers of young workers in the India.
• Psychological effects of child labour:
Long hours of work on a regular basis can harm children’s social
and educational development
The unconditional worst forms of
child labour may have
traumatic effects.
9
10. CHILD ABUSE
Physical Abuse
• Out of 69% children physically abused 54.68% were boys
• The State of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Delhi have consistently
reported higher rates of abuse as compared to other states.
Sexual Abuse
• 53.22% children reported having faced one or more forms of sexual abuse.
Emotional Abuse and Girl Child Neglect
• 83% of the cases parents were the abusers.
• 48.4% of girls wished they were boys
10
12. CHILD LABOUR AND ECONOMIC
• Lower human capital accumulation
• Worse health conditions
• Slower investment and technical change
• Income inequality
• Bad standard of living
• Poverty, illiteracy and unemployment
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13. CHILDREN'S RIGHTS
In 1 9 8 9 , the UN Ge ne ral Asse m bly ado pte d the Co nve ntio n o n
the Rig hts o f the Child (CRC)
Article 32 asse rts the rig ht that childre n sho uld no t be e ng ag e d
in wo rk de e m e d to be “haz ardo us o r to inte rfe re with the child's
e ducatio n, o r to be harm fulto the child's he alth”
Inte rnatio nal Labo ur O rg aniz atio n (ILO ) has allie d its m issio n
with the cause
The ILO aim s to achie ve this o bje ctive by 20 1 6 with cle ar plans
in place by 20 0 8
Unive rsally re co g niz e d childre n's rig hts are ho we ve r insufficie nt
m e ans o f co m bating child labo ur
13
14. THE GOVERNMENT’S
STANCE
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.
In consonance with the above approach, a National Policy on Child
Labour NCLP 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 IMPLEMENTATION OF NCLP AND INDUS SCHEMES IS BEING CLOSELY MONITORED THROUGH
PERIODICAL REPORTS, FREQUENT VISITS AND MEETINGS WITH THE DISTRICT AND STATE
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. THE GOVERNMENT IS COMMITTED TO ELIMINATE CHILD LABOUR IN
ALL ITS FORMS AND IS MOVING IN THIS DIRECTION IN A TARGETED MANNER.
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15. CONCLUSION
Eve n tho ug h we have g ive n a co nting e ncy plan with
which we think this so cial issue co uld slo wly be
e radicate d, the ro ad ahe ad is sto rm y
Aware ne ss pro g ram s with chang e in g o ve rnm e nt po licie s
and fre e e ducatio n is a m ust to g e t rid o f this so cial e vil
that stille xists in o ur so cie ty to day
O rg aniz atio ns like CRY, ACTIO N AID INDIA,
BUTTERFLIES AND PRAYAS are wo rking 24/7 fo r the
rig hts o f the se childre n. It is o ur duty to suppo rt the se
cause s and raise o ur vo ice s ag ainst this injustice that is
happe ning aro und us
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16. WHAT ‘WE’ CAN DO TO STOP CHILD
LABOUR ?
To donate funds in NGOs working for the rehabilitation of
street children
To make the rural people aware about the benefits of
education
To provide free education for the orphans
To contact NGOs and make them aware about child
labour happening in our society
To start campaign against child labour.
To help the government to stop child labour
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20. NGO PROFILE
ACTION AID INDIA One area of focus of Action Aid India is education and 'left out'
children (including street and working children). The NGO has 12
regional offices (in Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata,
Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai and
Patna).
BUTTERFLIES Butterflies provides alternative education aswell as basic services to
street children and working children in the New Delhi area.
CRY CRY targets underprivileged Indian children, including child workers.
The NGO carries out child development initiatives all over India. It is
based in Maharashtra.
CREDA The NGO's work focuses on child labour related activities. It has
undertaken projects for the elimination and rehabilitation of child
labour around Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).
GLOBAL MARCH AGAINST
CHILD LABOUR
The Global March Against Child Labour is a global movement against
child labour. It has partners in over 150 countries and is based in New
Delhi.
PRAYAS Prayas works with destitute, street, and working children. It addresses
issues related to lack of sensitivity and infrastructure for their
rehabilitation, education, and reintegration. Prayas covers Delhi, Bihar
and the earthquake affected areas of Gujarat.
WORLD VISION INDIA World Vision conducts nine special initiative programmes, targeting in
particular street children, bonded child labourers and child victims of
sexual exploitation. 20
