SDA-RF-CH-4.5.pdf
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SDA-RF-CH-4.5
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t'-'p-r pi\ su u by ort. incur" r.co .--t the workshop hell by the
Knrnrt'k" St-tc Council for Chilo Welirrc on 25.9.1979
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I" i..-.in~ ••bc.-ir-c children ■ s the future citizens --/id wealth of
the r.- eicn. .B...
is exactly t' .. pictur e of th ••• child that is before
us, vihcth r .Lc ' _• in L'i- urb-n slums or rur-.-.i arens or in the Tribal areas?
M jority c ’ th children lln in utter po/.rty with hardly a square meal
a day, with not enough clothing to cover their bodies, with bulging
stomaches, with wea ; hands and legs, half naked and playing in the dust.
This is the cour try's status of children.
It is perhaps more accurate
than a thousand statistics.
It is said numerically that the child population in the a?e group of
0 to 14 years is aroui d 230 millions. Out of the 21 million babies
born annually, 9% will die in the first year of life and 65% of deaths
will occur in children under 5 years.
Several mal-nutrition remains
the single biggest killer of all and over 60% of our children suffer the
retarding effects of nutritional anaemial Only 1 in 3 will receive some
sort of education and 4% will take up jobs, giving India the biggest child
labour force in the World. So, we can only say that India's children are
her most neglected assets.
No doubt, constitutional provisions have been made to safeguard the- rights
of the child. Articles 15 (3) of the fundamental rights says "The state
may make any special provision for (Women and)children in regard to
prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex
or place of birth.
. •
Article 24 under the fundamental rights, again says "Prohibition of the
employment of children in factories, Mines and hazardous employment
below the age of 14 years’.'
Under the Directive principles again Article 39 (e) and (f) says "The State
must direct its policy towards securing interalia that the children are not
forced by economic necessity to enter vocations unsuited to their age and
strength and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation
and against moral punishment.
Article 45 says, "The State must endeavour to provide free and compulsory
education for all children until they complete 14 years of age"b No doubt,
these are provisions made in the Cons_t.it.ution for the protection_o.£-th.e .
children, but, unfortunately, most of these provisions still remain as a
written work in the Constitution. *
idj•
Primarily, this is due to the fact, because of t'h'euhelples'sness of children
who have no lobby of their own and are inherently unequal to the r est of the
society, and therefore, are open to easy exploitation. Everything that can
be done to prevent abuse, vi61ation~and""cruelty"against children needs to be
actively and widely pursued through appropriate legislation, through educati
creation of awareness in the status and life ©f the child and by promoting
schemes which will facilitate normal, healthy, happy child.
More than 10 million of our children work for a living, some because they ar
orphans some to supplement their parents' meagre earnings. Many are
exploited by unso.rupulou2__ad.ults and forc_e.d. to beg or .take...part in criminal
activities like bootlegging, pick-pocketing, smuggling and pimping. Their
happy carefree childhood has been nipped in the bud by the cruel circumstanc
Though there are several laws to protect these child workers, there is no
adequate machinery to enforce them.
In the field of employment, we are not lacking in the number of legislations
that have been enacted.
The main lacuna is in the enforcement machinery
and also in creating nub lie'’awareness and a lobby for__the children.
The various employment legislations like the Mysore Shops and Commercial Est
Act 1961, The Mysore Children's and Act 1964, The Factories Act 1948,The
Motor Transport Workers Act 1961, the last hut not least, the K-rnataka
Prohibition and Beggary Act 1975 are all there with exclusive provisions to
safeguard the interest of children?
The first and foremost thing that one confronts with these various
legislations is the vcry definition of the child.
The Mysor.l Children’s
Act 1964 says that “"Child means a boy who has not attained the age of
16 years or a girl who has not attained the age of 18 years". The Mysore
- 2 shops and Commercial Establishments Act 1961 says "Child means a person
who has not completed his 12th year". The Motor Transport Workers Act
1961 says that "Child means a person who has not completed 15th year"
and the Factories Act 1948 also says the same thing. The Karnataka
Prohibition of Beggery Act 1975 says "Child means a boy who has not
attained the age of 18 years".
The second point I would like to high-light in respect of the various
legislations mentioned above, is wi;h regard to the provisions made for
children in these Acts. Rule 24 of the Mysore Shops and Commercial Esta
blishment Act 1961 says "Prohibition of employment* of children - No
child shall be required or. allowed to work in any establishment". Rule
25 sa^s "Prohibition of employment of Women and young persons during
night - No Woman or any person between' the age 12 and 15 years shall be
required fcor allowed to work whether as an employee or otherwise in any
establishment during night". The Factories Act 1948, Ryle 67,: says
"Prohibition of employment of young children - No Child who has. not comple
ted his 14th year ^hall be required or allowed to work in any factory"
and prescribes a 42 hour day. Rule 68 of the same act also says that
"A child who has not completed his 14th year or an adolescent shall not be
required or allowed to work in any factory unless
:-
a) certificate -f fitness granted with reference to him under
section 56 is in the custody of the Manager of the Factory
and,
b) such child or adolescent carries while he is at work a legal
certificate giving reference to such a certificate"
Again Article 73 of the above Factories Act says "The Manager of every
Factory in which children are employed shall and make a register of
child workers, to be available to the Inspector at all time during
working hours, or when any work is being carried'on in a factory, showing:
1)
2)
3)
4)
the name of each child worker in the factory
the nature of his work
the group id any, in which he is included
where his group works ofi shifts, the relay to which he is
alloted and the number of certificate of fitness granted
under Section 69.
The Motor Transport Workers Act 1961, under rule 21 says "Prohibition
of empoyment of children - No children shall be required or allowed to
work in any capacity under any Motor Transport undertaking" . The
Karnataka Prohibition of Beggery Act 1975 under Rule (3) says "Begging
prohibited - No person shall beg in the areas in which this act is
enforced".
A
The Employment of children Act, first passed in 1938 (1938) and
amended subsequently, lays down a minimum age of 15 in the Railways and
in ports, and 14 in workshops connected with Bidi-»making and carpet
weaving etc:
Having mentioned the various provisions made in the various legislations,
pertaining to employment of children, I would like to bring to the kind
notice of the delegates regarding the various notifications of the Govt.
fixing wages, for the various type of employment■in the Beedi Industry,
Agarbathi Industry, Tobacco Industry, Plantation Industry and in the
construction works, maintanence of roads, building operations etc., and
also for the various operations in Agriculture.
As could be seen from these varius notifications issued by Govt, in tho
Labour Department from time to time, except in the plantation are.a,
-io specific wages have been fixed-_for children in any other field of
employment. Only in the Notification No.SEL 95/LBW/75 dated 20/11776, a
specific mention had been made for the wages to be paid to the children
in coffee, tc , cardamon and rubber estates.
This again shows how children are neglected by not enacting the
minimum wages to be paid to tho children who are particularly employed in
the rural areas and in the various agricultural operations. So it would
be in the fitness of things for the workshop t" d: scuci th:: rrass vFioro
- 3 tne cai.l.r.«..ploy.!-? end -.leu for insisting upon the minimum
wages to be paid to the children as in the case fixed for adults ~(men
a nd"w omen H
This apart, fric-nds, I would like to emphasise the^ working conditions .
of the chiic’r?-: ■ ■no are employed in the various establishments particularly
the Hotel Tnd’^try, the various Mechanical Shops, Petrol Bunks, the Beedi
and Agarbethi
r'->9tries, the various factories like Silk Industry, the
Textile Incurt.
-tc., In the urben areas and in the various agricultural
opera _i '.; 5n rui ? I areas. One important factor that I would like-to
higlight is also the use of children as domestic help in the urben
areas, and the total exploitation of these children by the so called
educated, sophisticate- society ladies.
It is a sad factor that though we have a large number of research
organisations, management institutions, and Social Welfare organisations,
very little has been clone in this area of child labour, "he Big
Industries where large number" <"Irn urnave net "nly
their rirntr. Unfi.jiirir*.,-ly fils ?..?!?
child labour, which covers
nearly 4% of the total work force'jj our country has not received any
consideration or attemption from tTTe'"aBove mentioned organisations and
institutions. We road from papers that the sc called research oroa^ir
tions and management institutions conduct surveys regarding traffic, '
autorickshaws, and so on and so forth. But, it is a matter of regret to
note that this important sector of child labour has not made any
dent into these research institutions. So, friends, it is for you to
rise up to the occasion and see that this neglected field of child
labour receives the top priority in this International Year of child and
a beginning is made to organise them and redress their expoitation.
The fact remains that the total eradication of child labour is neither
possible nor desirable, in vieM_Ql_tbe_pre.sent ^levol ofecbrTomic
condition 6f the.oonnt-ry-. so, the only other alternative which sounds
more sensible and pragmatic is to eliminate, minimise the impact of
adverse and undesirable conditions attendant to child labour and t'o
promote healthy working conditions-. So within this perspective,'the
following are the suggestions made for the consideration of the
delegate.
1* A separate cell should be set _in_tho Labour Department primarily for
the effective encorcement of the various legislations. "In other word§
legal enactments and statutory provisions safeguarding the interest of the
child labour should bo matched by adequate enforcement and inspecting
machinery. It can bo re-inforced by crabbing-a .cadre of voluntary
inspect who can assist the enforcement staff in visiting work spots,
bring cases of violation to their notices and take all such steps
as are needed to ameliorto the lot of child labour. The implementation
lapses on the part of employers of children should be '>roperly investi
gated, reported, detorrontly penalised and widely publicised so as to
build strong public opinion against the defaulters.
2. Multiplicity of acts and lack of uniformity in legal provisions
also hinder the "process ot enforcement. Hence, efforts should bo made
for evolving a National Children's bode incorporating provisions of
the children's act with model rules, uniform standards and norms
governing employment of children in various sectors of avocations.
3. The ago of child which has been defined uniformity in different
legislations, as pointed out earlier should be overcome if possible
by having a uniformity of age in particular fields and for specific
purposes sucTT'as" plantation, shops and commercial establishments etc.
4. What is essentially required is that children who need towork are
guided by Special Employment Bureau and vocational centres to go into
part-time jobs. Tnus one of the "First step to help the working child
should be the identification and classification of jobs as desirable.
hazardous and criminal and a channelling of child workers into the
desirable jobs earmarked for him.
5. In the rural areas, particularly, children from the Lower I-’.oome group
are deprived of schooling because the fact that they have to work in the
- 4
fields during agricultural seasons. So, it is very essential that
schoolshould be adjusted to suit—the local conditions of such
chile're n ,so_ .that they can.att ond._sc.hool and also work^
6. The child workers should be < as^uro-d—of _s.afo_,„ healthy, working
c_grd.iti-?.ns and it should bo made obligatory on al? employees to” provide
them certain amenities like medical benefits, housing, insurance,
recreational ancrb~duc->tional f acilities . The existing enactments and
statutory provisions should be amended to incorporate the above mentioned
items.
Perhaps, there is also a great need to g ducats the employers) as well
as ths public about the legal provisions made to protect the interest
of the children. However, it is the parents who must .be, motivated through
education, propaganda, and publicity to bee education as a postponement
of their child's earning today in order to earn more tomorrow. Employers
too have to be educated and' pressured to avoid recruiting very young
children for the sake of cheap labour and to provide for their education
if they do employ them. Here the voluntary socialwelfare agencies
can do a lot of useful work.
One good way to begin would be have a seminal,' not of th_e_Lntelloctuals
dealing with child welfare, but the people concerned, themselves •» namely
the employers of child labour, the parents of working children and
perhaps some intelligent, articulate working children themselves.
W
Such a session may throw more light on the practical aspects of the
problem and the difficulties likely to bo encountered in the implementation
of any programme of reform.
The bulk of the Child Labour is in the un-organised. sector in both
rural and urban areas. Hence, it is for the voluntary organisations
like Mahila Mandals, Mohalla Committees and Welfares Organisations to rise
up to the occasion and organise this child labour before a Trade Union
Loader comes to the field and starts exploiting the children who are
already exploited by the employers. So, Friends, let us rise up to the
occasion, atleast during this International Year of the Child and make a
sincere attempt to organise the child labour and give them all the
assistance and help that is required so that they can be real asset to
the Nation.
Thank you,
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