CHILD LABOUR

By Saurabh Sarraf 5063 MMR Prashant Batham 5056 MMR Gaurav Shukla 5084 MMR

CHILD LABOUR

Child labour is not only a social problem but also an economic one Watching a young child work for fourteen hours aday is what is termed as child labor. Child labour has a predominant feature in Indian society firecracker industry probably prefers kids to men because they are cost effective and more efficient Even household labor children last longer and are more honest than adults; is a claim made by most homemakers

Causes of Child Labour

OVER POPULATION: limited resources and more mouths to feed, Children are employed in various forms of work. ILLITERACY :Illiterate parents do not realize the need for a proper physical,emotional and cognitive development of a child. POVERTY: Many a time poverty forces parents to send their children to hazardous jobs. URBANIZATION: MNC's and export industries in the developing world employ child workers, particularly in the garment industry.

ORPHANS: Children born out of wedlock, children with no parents and relatives, often do not find anyone to support them. Thus they are forced to work for their own living. WILLINGNESS TO EXPLOIT CHILDREN: This is at the root of the problem Even if a family is very poor, the incidence of child labour will be very low unless there are people willing to exploit these children. UNEMPLOYMENT OF ELDERS: Elders often find it difficult to get jobs. The industrialists and factory owners find it profitable to employ children. This is so because they can pay less and extract more work. They will also not create union problem.

Consequences For Children..

Physical injuries and mutilations are caused by badly maintained machinery on farms and in factories, machete accidents in plantations, and any number of hazards encountered in industries such as mining, ceramics and fireworks manufacture Pesticide poisoning is one of the biggest killers of child laborers. In Sri Lanka, pesticides kill more children than diphtheria, malaria, polio and tetanus combined. The global death toll each year from pesticides is supposed to be approximately 40'000 Growth deficiency is prevalent among working children, who tend to be shorter and lighter than other children; these deficiencies also impact on their adult life

Long-term health problems, such as respiratory disease, asbestosis and a variety of cancers, are common in countries where children are forced to work with dangerous chemicals HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases are rife among the one million children forced into prostitution every year; pregnancy, drug addiction and mental illness are also common among child prostitutes Exhaustion and malnutrition are a result of underdeveloped children performing heavy manual labour, working long hours in unbearable conditions and not earning enough to feed themselves adequately

LAWS

National Policy on Child Labour was formulated in 1987. prohibition of children being employed in hazardous occupations and processes. Poverty being the main root cause the govt has decided to generate the employment supplementary nutrition and regular health check ups so as to prepare them to join regular mainstream schools

Initiatives towards Elimination of Child Labour

The government has made efforts to prohibit child labor by enacting Child labor laws in India including the 1986 Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) 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 Government has been laying a lot of emphasis on the rehabilitation of these children and on improving the economic conditions of their families

THE CHILD LABOUR (Prohibition and Regulation) ACT,1986

OBJECT:To prohibit the engagement of children in certain employments and to regulate the conditions of work or children in certain other employments DEFINITION:Child: Child means a person who has not completed his fourteen years of age. APPLICABILITY: In extends to the whole of India WEEKLY HOLIDAY:Every child shall be allowed in each week a holiday of one whole day. HOURS AND PERIOD OF WORK: The period of work on each day shall not exceed three hours and no child shall work for more than three hours before he has had an interval for rest for at least one hour. No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7 PM and 8 AM No child shall be required or permitted to work overtime.

PROHIBITION OF EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN IN CERTAIN OCCUPATIONS AND PROCESSES

No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the following occupations: Set forth in part of A of the schedule or in any workshop where in any of the process set forth in part B of the schedule to this Act -

PART-A
1. Transport of passengers, goods; or mails by railway. 2. Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or building operation in the railway premise. 3.Work in a catering establishment at a railway station, involving the movement of vendor or any other employee of the establishment from one platform to another or into or out of a moving train. 4. Work relating to the construction of railway station or with any other work where such work is done in close proximity to or between the railway lines. 5. The port authority within the limits of any port.

6. Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks in shops with temporary licenses

7. Abattoirs/slaughter Houses Automobile workshops and

garages. 8. Foundries

9. Handling of taxies or inflammable substance or explosives

10. Handloom and power loom industry 11. Mines (Under ground and under water) and

collieries
12. Plastic units and Fiber glass work ship

In any workshop wherein any of the following processes is carried on

(1) Bidi-making. (2) Carpet-weaving. (3) Cement manufacture, including bagging of cement. (4) Cloth printing, dyeing and weaving. (5) manufacture of matches, explosives and fire works. (6) Mica-cutting and splitting. (7) Shellac manufacture. (8) Soap manufacture. (9) Wool-cleaning. (10) Building and construction industry.

Hours and period of work

(1) No child shall be required or permitted to work in any establishment in excess of such number of hours as may be prescribed for such establishment or class of establishments. (2) The period of work on each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed three hours and that no child shall work for more than three hours before he has had an interval for rest for at least one hour. (3) The period of work of a child shall be so arranged that inclusive of his interval for rest, under sub-section (2), it shall not be spread over more than six hours, including the time spent in waiting for work on any day. (4) No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. (5) No child shall be required or permitted to work overtime.

Weekly holidays
Every child employed in an establishment shall be allowed in each week, a holiday of one whole day, which day shall be specified by the occupier in a notice permanently exhibited in a conspicuous place in the establishment and the day so specified shall not be altered by the occupier more than once in three months.

THE CHILD LABOUR (Prohibition and Regulation) ACT, 1986

PENALITIES: Section-3 shall be punishable with imprisonment which shall not be less than three months which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may Extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both. Any other violations under the Act shall be punishable with simple imprisonment, which may extend to one month or with fine, which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.

Children are remarkably imaginative and resilient - but also heartbreakingly fragile and vulnerable.

So let us share their dreams And shape their future