With increased economic insecurity, lack of social protection and reduced household income, the Covid-19 pandemic is pushing the kids from poor households to contribute to the family income with the chance of exposure to exploitative work.
Subsequent lockdowns have worsened matters, posing a true risk of backtracking the gains made in eliminating child labour.
The true extent of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on child labour is yet to be measured but all indications show that it'd be significant as children are unable to attend school and oldsters are unable to search out work.
However, not all the factors that contribute to child labour were created by the pandemic; most of them were pre-existing and are exposed or amplified by it. Though the pandemic has amplified its contributing factors, policy and programmatic interventions can save children.
Status of Child Labour in India
Child labour refers to the utilization of youngsters in any work that deprives them of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, which is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful.
The Census of India 2011 reports 10.1 million working children within the age bracket of 5-14 years, out of whom 8.1 million are in rural areas mainly engaged as cultivators (26%) and agricultural labourers (32.9%).
The side-effects of engaging at a young age are:
Risks of contracting occupational diseases like skin diseases, diseases of the lungs, weak eyesight, TB etc.;
Vulnerability to sexual exploitation at the workplace;
Deprived of education. They age unable to avail development opportunities and find yourself as unskilled workers for the remainder of their lives.
Child Labour: Constitutional And Legal Provsions
According to Article 23 of the Indian Constitution any variety of forced labour is prohibited.
Article 24 states that a baby under 14 years can not be employed to perform any hazardous work.
Article 39 states that “the health and strength of workers, men and ladies, and therefore the tender age of youngsters aren't abused”.
In the same manner, Child Labour Act (Prohibition and Regulation) 1986 prohibits children under the age of 14 years to be working in hazardous industries and processes.
Policy interventions like MGNREGA 2005, the correct to Education Act 2009 and also the Mid Day Meal Scheme have paved the way for kids to be in schools together with guaranteed wage employment (unskilled) for rural families.
Further, with the ratification International Labour Organization Conventions Nos. 138 and 182 in 2017, the Indian government have demonstrated its commitment to the elimination of kid labour including those engaged in hazardous occupations.
Associated Issues With the Child Labour
Cause & Effect Relationship: Child labour and exploitation are the results of many factors, including poverty, social norms condoning them, lack of decent work opportunities for adults and adolescents, migration and emergencies.
These factors don't seem to be only the cause but also a consequence of social inequities reinforced by discrimination.
Threat to National Eonomy: The continuing persistence of kid labour and exploitation poses a threat to national economies and has severe negative short and long-term consequences for kids like denial of education and undermining physical and psychological state.
Child Labour in Informal Sector: Though child labour is banned the law, across India child labourers will be found during a form of informal industries like in brick kilns, carpet weaving, garment making, agriculture, fisheries, etc.
Disguised Child Labour: Despite rates of kid labour declining over the previous couple of years, children are still being employed in disguised type of child labour like retainer.
Work performed might not appear to be immediately dangerous, but it's going to produce long-term and devastating consequences for his or her education, their skills acquisition.
Hence their future possibilities to beat the vicious circle of poverty, incomplete education and poor quality jobs.
Linkage heavy Trafficking: Child trafficking is additionally linked to child labour and it always ends up in ill-treatment.
Trafficked children are subjected to prostitution, forced into marriage or illegally adopted; they supply cheap or unpaid labour, are forced to figure as house servants or beggars and should be recruited into armed groups.
Role of Panchayat: As nearly 80% of kid labour in India emanates from rural areas, the Panchayat can play a dominant role in mitigating child labour. during this context, panchayat should:
Generate awareness about the ill-effects of kid labour,
Encourage parents to send their children to highschool,
Create an environment where children close up and acquire enrolled in schools instead, make sure that children have sufficient facilities available in schools, Inform industry owners about the laws prohibiting child labour and also the penalties for violating these laws, Activate Balwadis and Aanganwadis within the village so working mothers don't leave the responsibility of younger children on their older siblings. Motivate Village Education Committees (VECs) to enhance the conditions of colleges.
Integrated Approach: Child labour and other kinds of exploitation are preventable through integrated approaches that strengthen child protection systems also as simultaneously addressing poverty and inequity, improve access to and quality of education and mobilize public support for respecting children’s rights.
Treating Children as Active Stakeholder: Children have the facility to play a major role in preventing and responding to child labour.
They are key actors in child protection and may give valuable insights into how they perceive their involvement and what they expect from the govt. and other stakeholders.
Children belong in schools not workplaces. Child labour deprives children of their right to travel to highschool and reinforces intergenerational cycles of poverty. Child labour acts as a serious barrier to education, affecting both attendance and performance at school.
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(With input from news agency language)
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