Child labour law: Govt should make skill building part of school curriculum

By Sreedhar Mether The Child Labour Prevention and Regulation Act (CLPRA) bill was first introduced in Rajya Sabha by the UPA government in 2012 but was referred back to the Ministry and it underwent another change under the NDA regime. The earlier bill, that proposed a blanket ban on child labour up to 14 years, now stands amended allowing children to work in family-based enterprises after school hours and during their vacation. [caption id=“attachment_2244774” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The new amendment also speaks about new classification of children as adolescents who are 14-18 years and regulates their employment in hazardous industries. File/AFP[/caption] The government thought it prudent to also keep in mind the country’s social fabric and socio-economic conditions while deliberating on this act. The reason for this shift is being attributed to the fact that in large number of families in India, children help their parents in their occupations like agriculture and artisanship, and while helping their parents, children also learn the basics of occupations. On the other hand, there is a mention of allowing child to work in the audio-visual entertainment industry. Television and entertainment industries do not typically come under family enterprise. Here, children as young as 4 or 5 years are exposed to working in a highly competitive environment by their parents who may have high aspirations for them. The hazards faced by children in these circumstances are of a different nature, including psychological trauma from ‘failure’. The current amendments are in contradiction to the spirit of RTE Act although the amendment says that children will be allowed to work after school hours. This will be an incredibly hard thing to track and implement. Moreover this will also violate the other rights that all children should have such as the right to play and leisure. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) estimates child labour (5-14 years) in India in 2011 to be 4.35 million (main workers), 3.87 million (marginal workers) to a total of 8.22 million. Over a decade, while there has been a slow decline in the numbers of children as main workers from 5.7 million to 4.35 million, there has been a significant increase in the numbers of children engaged as marginal workers. Many of these marginal workers work seasonally in agricultural farms, brick kiln industries, bangle making businesses and garment factories. They work for extended hours in non-hazardous but exploitative and harsh weather conditions. Education statistics mention about high dropout rate among girls from schools due to their role in sibling care. Many of the girl children especially from tribal communities work as domestic workers in metros, and the current provision makes it impossible for effective enforcement and compromises with their rights to education and protection. Given the challenges of retention and quality of education in the country, the government’s move to allow children to work after school hours will only increase the drop out rate and affect the quality of their learning. It would be difficult to contain the participation of children in family labour once they become part of the economics of the family enterprises. The new amendment also speaks about new classification of children as adolescents who are 14-18 years and regulates their employment in hazardous industries. The factories act defines 29 categories of industries as hazardous. While it classifies pesticide and fertilizer industries as hazardous, it remains silent on those sectors that employ children to use these products. Children working in agriculture sector constitute two third of all child labor force in India and are exposed to harmful fumes of pesticides. Noble Laureate Kailash Satyarthi states about the vicious circle between poverty, illiteracy and child labour. A child born in a poor family begins life in a disadvantaged position, most often missing school and grows up to be illiterate and economically vulnerable. As a duty bearer, the government should provide an enabling environment to all its children to grow and learn. Policy makers should make the skill building part of school curriculum so that the children can exercise their “choice” while choosing their career. Such a “choice” unlike family enterprise will also help in addressing the stigmas associated with castes in Indian society. Children constitute 39 percent of the current population of the country and have the potential to become a vital resource as adults in the “Make in India” initiative of the government provided they are nurtured well. Research on impact of education suggests that every extra year of schooling provided to the whole population can increase average annual GDP growth by 0.37 percent. Where the education is of good quality, the improvement of cognitive skills increases the impact to 1 pecent. India’s ranking among the fastest growing nations in the world will stand shaken if its children are continually marginalised. - Sreedhar Mether is advocacy manager at Save The Children India.