Child Labour applies to the practice of employing young children in factories, now used to denote the employment of minors generally, especially in work that may interfere with their education or endanger their health. Throughout the ages and in all cultures children joined with their parents to work in the fields, in the marketplace, and around the home as soon as they were old enough to perform simple tasks. Child labour is not a recent phenomenon and that too not confined to any particular state.
While child labour around the world has declined by more than a third in the last 15 years, it remains a serious challenge and barrier to the well-being of children. According to a 2017 report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the number of child labourers around the world fell from 246 million in 2000 to around 152 million in 2016. However, millions of children continue to be exploited for cheap labour, especially in countries such as India.
It is said that employers are obligating children by employing them. But the reality is different in which Employers are only concerned about profit, and child labor can be exploited at no cost to them. Many sectors rely heavily on child labor because children are willing to work for little or no wage and for long hours, without complaining. Industries such as bead making, glass making, carpets, gem and stone polishing, matches, and fireworks have thrived purely on the strength of child laborers. There is a selfish interest in the recruitment of child laborers, because of the fact that supports it. Low wages are the chief reason. Which employer prefer child against adult. Poverty is NOT These show that the overwhelming majority of children working in these industries come from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Castes.
Secondly, it is true that child laborers come from impoverished families, it should be noted that child labor also perpetuates poverty, since the child laborer who survives the harsh conditions becomes an unskilled, adult who is not employed even in the industry that exploited him or her earlier. Furthermore, child laborers receive a low, negligible income and often no wages at all. Child labor also depresses adult wages and keeps adults unemployed.
Thirdly, some people say if children work, they become equipped with skills for the future is wrong believing of people. if we see in light the reality is that The tasks given to child labourers, such as labeling, filling, and carrying, are simple and repetitive. By performing these tasks, children are not developing a skill so much as being subjected to exhausting, monotonous work. Moreover, the work done by child labourers actually endangers their futures. Exposure to the elements, dust, toxic fumes, and chemical solutions damages children’s health, shortening their life. Last but not least Some people is of view that children work faster and have nimble fingers needed in certain types of work, especially knotting carpets but in fact it is a myth that child labour is essential and the children are capable of weaving better carpets than adults, but children were supposedly employed in simple tasks for which they had a special aptitude lost to adults. In fact, not only were adults employed in all these operations, but they out-numbered children in the surveyed units. Also, their rate of physical production was more than that of the children. There is no reason, therefore, to accept the ‘nimble fingers’ argument either on the grounds of adults’ inability to work or due to their allegedly lower pace.
The Government enacted a law against child labour in 1993 prohibiting dangerous work or activities that could harm the mental, spiritual, moral or social development of girls and boys under the age of 18. However, child labour continues for a number of reasons, for example people exploit loopholes in the law which allows the employment of children if the work is part of a family business. Thus, having children sell cigarettes on the street could be considered legal if it is part of a family business. In addition, numerous business leaders, such as mine owners, hold political office and have considerable influence. Companies may not be interested in banishing the cheap labour from within their business operations.
In 2006 and again in 2016, the laws against child labour were tightened to ensure that children under the age of 14 were prohibited from working as domestic help or service staff in restaurants and hotels. However, child labour in family businesses remains acceptable. In addition, the law does not apply to 15 to 17 year-olds who are only prohibited from doing “dangerous” work. These laws also do not exclude activities such as field work where children are exposed to pesticides or physically exhausting work like carpet weaving.
To ensure the enforcement of these laws, the Indian government is currently developing another law which would increase the punishment for employers who use child labourers under the age of 14, changing the penalty from a fine to a prison sentence which would last several years.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act is an Act, which has been passed to adopt all the international principles as regards child labour, which have been approved by the United Nations. Further, the elucidation and analysis given by the Supreme Court as well as other courts have made the Act an important legislation, which has helped in restricting the evil of child labour to its minimal. Although number of laws are made to curb child labor but no law will help in uprooting the evil of child labor unless laws are not implemented properly and until an effort is not done by each and every individual do something by itself apart from implementation of law in eradicating this problem.
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
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