Child labour
There is an old saying that goes 'The child is the father of the man' it simply translates that childhood is the formative period when a man's character is shaped, traits are built and values inculcated. Quality of life at this stage assumes great importance in the light that today's children are tomorrow's adults and would soon be key players or movers and shakers as we call them in the great new world all of us dream of. Unfortunately children as a segment remain a rather neglected and deprived lot in a fast and adult centric world which views everything from its own misconceived perception. Deprivation takes the form of lack of quality time with family, absence of personalized love and a sympathetic ear in the affluent countries while in the third world it is symbolized more starkly in terms of being denied basics like food, clothing, shelter, medical care and education. What is worse is that in the under developed countries children are not just neglected but actively exploited as a means of cheap labour.
Child labour is a crime against humanity, it is an inhuman practice that stunts the physical and mental growth and stifles the free roaming spirit of the child and simply goes against nature. Worse still the victims are too young to even comprehend that they are being exploited. It is among the most serious social issues facing the world today and also among the most complicated. As a practice child labour has existed since time immemorial, in a typical agricultural economy like India a man's worth in the olden days was measured in terms of the number of children he had as more children meant more hands to work in the farm and more produce to be reaped. While this was not certainly desirable, one should also consider that the children could have done little else if they were not working in their father's farm as there were no schools to attend during these times, besides they were not overly burdened with work and fairly well cared for in terms of basic necessities like nutrition and security. The industrial revolution and the resultant exodus to the urban areas in search of jobs and a livelihood marked the beginning of child labour assuming startling proportions and becoming a major social issue. Children on account of their innate innocence and helplessness became hapless victims in the new industrial era of increased production, competition and an unlimited opportunity to make money and businesses looking for a cheap and unquestioning labour force.
Most of us would recall the little boy with a twinkle in his eye cleaning the dinner table in our weekend eat out, a fiver pressed into his palm and a pat on his back being our two great gestures to assuage our guilt before we walk out uneasily groaning under the weight of a sumptuous filling. He is among the millions of this nation's underprivileged and exploited children running the looms in the zari embroidery works toiling in the dark and dinghy rooms, cutting his fingers and the silkworms infecting his wounds to keep our womenfolk fashionable and the merchants wealthy, he inhales the fumes and toxic chemicals in the marble quarries of Kota and match/fireworks industries of Sivakasi so we could have well polished floors and make merry during Diwali, he languishes in the wayside dhaba, polishes your shoes as you rush to work, accompanies the truck driver as a cleaner boy and engages in an endless list of adult activity to earn a square meal for himself and his family. Children are also employed in slaughter houses, pubs and cabaret halls in utter disregard to their sensibilities and the fact that they are in a stage where absorption of peer groups is fast and being exposed to such activity could leave a serious and permanent scar on their psyche. In the economically backward areas child labour takes the more exploitative and oppressive form of 'bonded labour', here they are sold like cattle to their benign owners who treat them no better than that. In a broad sense however all child labour is bonded, they may not be in chains and may be free to leave, but they are nevertheless under bondage, so long as they are in a place against their wish and will and discharging duties quite beyond their age and toiling for their survival.
Child Labour is a complex issue, it raises questions that are difficult to answer, it has no simplistic solutions and needs to be tackled at different levels. India is a signatory to the
both the UN Convention and the ILO (Intl Labour Organization) that strictly ban employing children below the age of 14, closer home we have the Child Labour Act of 1986. As in many other cases the law breakers do so with impunity with a corrupt and insensitive official machinery looking the other way and making a mockery of the legal process. The fact that the exploited have no other choice and are willing to readily give themselves up to the exploiters than starve makes it difficult to liberate them. Non Government bodies like the Centre of Concern for child labour, social awareness organizations and pressure from organizations from abroad in the form of banning import of products made with child labour have had a better impact in curbing the menace of child labour or improving their working condition than the child labour laws which exist only on paper or their enforcers.
In conclusion we could say that the solution to child labour could come only with a genuine change of heart and concern to fellow human beings until then we need to constantly educate the people on how unfair and unjust it is to employ child labour.Real liberation is possible only when the economic divide between the rich and the poor is narrowed and parents are not compelled to send their children to work as the only means to survive. While you may be able to deter employers from hiring children through strict implementation of child laws, policing and imposing high penalties on defaulters, how are we going to tackle the larger issue of making good the loss in revenue to the family whose only sustenance was the income the child was bringing in? Saving the child from an exploiting employer and leaving the family with no other option could be like a shift from the boiling water to the fire. While the exploiter would go on with his business with adult employers after paying the penalty it is the rescued child and his/her family that needs to face the uncertainty of loosing their source of income.
The least we could do as individuals when we come across a child in harness of any kind is to be considerate to him/her as we would be to our own young ones, we may not be able to save him or support him but a little kindness, forgiveness and generosity could make a world of difference to the unfortunate child and make his world a shade better.
