According to government estimates, an astounding 42.02% of the Indian workforce is children between the ages of 5 and 14. This is in direct contravention of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. This figure of 42.02% does not include those who fall outside the purview of the Act – children between 15 and 18 years. In spite of child labour being banned in hazardous industries, 17 million children are engaged in child labour, according to officialsources. Unofficially, the numbers are much higher.
So why does India continue to register some of the highest numbers of child labourers in the world? About 77% of Indians live on less than Rs20 a day; lives of utter destitution such that families are forced to send their children to work. Underpaid, overworked, starving, and with little or no access to healthcare, sending a child to work is not a choice for any family. It is a basic step for survival.
When his father died in a mine accident, 14-year-old Sambhu from the coal-rich Giridih district of Jharkhand had to provide for his mother and three younger siblings. The only job available was illegal mining. Sambhu would descend into a wet, dark pit and mine coal. Every day he risked breaking his neck while descending into the 10-foot pit, of being buried alive, or being hauled into prison for illegally mining coal. The price of survival for Sambhu was Rs20 a day.
About 93% of India’s workforce is unorganised, a situation expected to worsen. CRY’s work in over 5,000 villages has proven that children from families who have access to a livelihood – whether through self-sustainable means or through accessible employment – are less likely to be ensnared in child labour. It has also proven that communities that are aware of their rights and entitlements are less likely to accept exploitation.
Take Sambhu’s village for example. Through the initiatives of CRY’s on-ground partner, community workers mobilised children and women into self-help groups and collectives. Together, they went door-to-door, convincing people to stand up for their entitlements, and organise demonstrations in front of government officials to demand just wages.
The local children’s group has appointed its own ‘ministers’ in order to understand and imbibe the values of public governance. Teenage girls have formed groups to keep an eye on cases of child marriage, and women’s groups have taken on the battle against alcoholism among the men. The villagers are developing safer livelihood options that keep people away from the open coal pits. Children are now in school and not in labour.
But micro-successes like these will not impact India’s staggering poverty statistics unless backed by a holistic policy. Despite impressiveGDP growth in recent years, the benefits are limited to a small section of the population. Those left out are socially discriminated, educationally deprived, and economically destitute.
The implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) has been uneven. There have also been delays in payments in recent months, causing hardship to NREGS workers. The programme promises childcare facilities at sites where more than five children under the age of six are present. However, there are very few such on-site childcare facilities. The limit of 100 days of work per household leaves workers unemployed for 2/3rd of the year and restricts employment for other eligible family members, who may consequently be forced to find work elsewhere. It leaves children vulnerable to exploitative industries, which end up being the only employment options available.
However, these initiatives are in the right direction. Anecdotal evidence from Rajasthan suggests that NREGS has led to a 20% reduction in the incidence of migration amongst children, and a corresponding increase in school enrolment and retention by 25%.
India needs more such programmes. The NREGS should be expanded to all rural areas and also to urban areas. Another requirement is a social security bill, which that could provide social security for the vast unorganised sector.
The benefits of such inclusive policies would span generations. This is something we at CRY have seen happening in village after village: when the rights of the parents are guaranteed, the rights and dignity of the child are taken care of.