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Introduction
Child Labor 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 labor is not a recent phenomenon and that too not confined to any particular state.
Facts and myth about child labour
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
Child
labour is an International Problem
In the early 21st century, child labor remains a serious problem in many parts of the world. Studies carried out in 1979, the International Year of the Child, show that more than 50 million children below the age of
15 were working in various jobs often under hazardous conditions. Many of these children live in underdeveloped countries their living
conditions are miserable and their chances for education minimal. Frequently, these families lack the basic necessities of lifeadequate
food, clothing and shelter, and even water for bathing. In India, for example, some 20,000 children work 16-hour days in match factories.
Child-labor problems are not, limited to developing nations. They occur wherever poverty exists in Europe and the United States the most
important efforts to eliminate child-labor abuses throughout the world come from INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION (ILO), founded in 1919 and
now a special agency of the United Nations. The organization has introduced several child-labor conventions among its members, including
a minimum age of 16 years for admission to all work, a higher minimum age for specific types of employment, compulsory medical examinations,
and regulation of night work. In the late 20th century the ILO added to this list the worst forms of child labor, including slavery,
prostitution, debt bondage (the practice of requiring children to work off loans made to their parents), and forced military service. The ILO,
however, does not have the power to enforce these conventions; it depends on voluntary compliance of member nations.
Conclusion
It can be concluded by saying that 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.
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The
author can be reached at: sambhar@legalserviceindia.com /
