Child Labour : A Social Evil

India is sadly the home to the largest number of child labourers in the world. The census found an increase in the number of child labourers from 11 million in 1991 to 12.59 million in 2001.We canfind nearly 400,000 child labours all over the state.

Poverty and lack of social security are the main causes of child labour. The increasing gap between the rich and the poor, privatization of basic services and the neo-liberal economic policies are causing major sections of the population out of employment and without basic needs. This adversely affects children more than any other group. Entry of multi-national corporations into an industry without proper mechanisms to hold them accountable has lead to the use of child labour. Lack of quality universal education has also contributed to children dropping out of school and entering the labour force. A major concern is that the actual number of child labourers goes undetected. Laws that are meant to protect children from hazardous labour are ineffective and not implemented correctly.

Bonded child labour is a hidden phenomenon as a majority of them are found in the informal sector. Bonded labour means the employment of a person against a loan or debt or social obligation by the family of the child or the family as a whole. It is a form of slavery. Children who are bonded with their family or inherit debt from their parents are often found in the agricultural sector or assisting their families in brick kilns, and stone quarries. Individual pledging of children is a growing occurrence that usually leads to trafficking of children to urban areas for employment and has children working in small production houses versus factories. Bonded labourers in India are mostly migrant workers, which opens them up to more exploitation. Also, they mostly come from low caste groups such as Dalits or marginalized tribal groups. Bonded child labourers are at very high risk for physical and sexual abuse and neglect sometimes leading to death. They often are psychologically and mentally disturbed and have not learnt many social skills or survival skills.

In order to eliminate the social issue of child labour, there is a need to follow some effective solutions on a urgent basis to save the future of the little citizens.

Firstly , children should be given importance by their parents. Parents should make sure that their children must get a proper education. I know that this would be a little tough for the people who is holding the BPL category. But there is a lot of government school which provides education in free of cost . So if they worry about the expenses of their children's education, then it would be easier to them if they get their children into the education system for free. It will be a helpful idea to prevent child employment.

Secondly, family control will also help in controlling child labor. Because if they have less children they can look after them easily, which will reduce the concentration of child employment.

Again there are millions of adults who are unemployed. They can be replaced by adults . Also there should be strict and effective laws from the government in order to prevent child employment. Then, more employment of the adults also can be helpful in preventing the same.

These might not be followed respectively but still, it can have a good ending if all of us try our best to reduce the issue of child employment. It will help the little ones to have a blessed childhood under the love and affection of their parents.