Top NGOs and Indian Government Eliminating Child Labour in India

20/12/24

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Child labour remains a significant challenge, depriving children of a happy childhood, education, and the chance to reach their full potential.

The lack of education that accompanies child labour further exacerbates the problem, creating a cycle of poverty and limiting opportunities for growth. Addressing this issue is essential, not just for the children but also for India’s economic and social progress. By investing in education and empowering children, we can pave the way for a brighter, more prosperous future.

 Understanding the Problem of Child Labour through Numbers

The 2001 Census of India figures pegged the number of children involved in child labour (age group of 5-14 years) at a staggering 1.26 crore! This was out of the total child population of 25.3 crore at that time. Out of this, approximately, 12 lakh children worked in hazardous occupations/processes

which are covered under the Schedule of the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act (the Schedule includes 18 occupations and 65 processes). In 2004-05, the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) conducted a survey and determined the number of working children to be 90.75 lakhs. But real good news emerged in the findings of 2011 Census which revealed that the number of working children in the age group of 5-14 years had plummeted significantly to 43.53 lakh. This was the result of several grass root level initiatives taken by the government (both Central and State) and NGOs like Bal Raksha Bharat to tackle the menace of child labour. Donate online to a children’s charity today if you want to contribute your bit in battling the problem of child labour.

Initiatives Taken by the Government to Prevent Child Labour

In 1979, the Central Government formed the first statutory committee to analyse and research on the issue of child labour in India – the Gurupadswamy Committe. The committee was also tasked with making certain recommendations to curb child labour. The Committee studied the problem in great detail and made some truly insightful recommendations. One of their major observations was that the problem of child labour is inextricably linked to poverty. Helping poor to come out from the shackles of poverty was important to curtail the level of child labour. The Committee stated that till the time poverty continues, it would be not be possible to fully eliminate child labour and therefore efforts to abolish it through legal means will not yield the desired results. The Committee felt that in these circumstances, the only alternative left was to ban child labour in hazardous areas and to regulate and improve the conditions of work in other areas.

Taking into the account the findings and recommendations of the Gurupadswamy Committee, the Union Government enacted the Child Labour (Prohibition and & Regulation) Act in 1986. The Act prohibited children from being employed in specified hazardous occupations and at the same time regulated their working condition in other non-hazardous occupations and processes. The Act had a ‘Schedule’ which would enlist the hazardous occupations and processes. This Schedule was progressively expanded during the next many years on the basis of the recommendations of the Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee constituted under the Act.

In May of last year (2015), a major amendment was made to this Act which stipulated that children between 5-14 years are not to be employed in any occupation (except in the entertainment industry). But much to the chagrin of child rights activists, who sought a blanket ban on child labour, the amendment also mandated that children may be allowed to work in non-hazardous family enterprises.

Numerous child rights activists and NGOs have been at the forefront of tackling the problem of child labour in India. Spreading awareness is the key to end child labour. Parents and the communities should be made to realize that a child belongs to school and not to fields and factories. Working in the remotest corners of the country, NGOs like Bal Raksha Bharat run programmes at the ground-level to eradicate child labour. Some prominent initiatives include:

Educating the communities about the ills attached to child labour and discouraging them from sending their children to work

Increasing enrolment rates and improving education quality so that more children reach school and stay there.

Mapping of child laborers, vulnerable children and out-of-school children and facilitating their movement to schools

Setting up of bridge schools for child labourers and grooming them to take the leap to formal schooling

Rehabilitation and counselling of former child labourers and sending them to school.

Thus we see that through a number of coordinated measures, the government and the civil society organisations can work collaboratively to battle this social ill and ensure that no child loses their childhood working in fields and factories.

Read Also: Causes of Girl Infanticide in India

Child labour destroys childhoods. It is detrimental to a child’s physical and psychological well-being. It is plain unacceptable. Will you help us battle this menace?

BRB Admin