World Day Against Child Labour
In developing countries child labour is a real problem. In most cases the parents or relatives of the children from socially backward families push them into child labour. Consequently, children are forced to quit school and work to earn and support their families.
In the Constitution of India, and Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986, a ‘child’ is a person below 14 years of age. The recently amended Juvenile Justice Act 2015 states that children (16–18 years) may be treated as adults if they commit heinous crimes like rape, acid attack, murder, etc. According to India’s Census 2011, the number of child labourers in the country is 10.1 million — 5.6 million boys and 4.5 million girls.
In India, any person who employs a child below 14, or a child between 14 and 18 in a hazardous occupation or process, can be punished with jail time of between six months and two years and/or fine between Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 50,000.
Keeping in mind the increasing unemployment and loss of income to families due to the Coronavirus outbreak, ILO had asked India to take guard against more children falling into child labour. “Covid-19 has resulted in stress for children and a potential income loss to families, forcing children to help them earn livelihood. Consequently, children engaged in work may not return to schools when they open up,” Dagmar Walter, a director at ILO had said.
There are many organisations doing their bit to alleviate child labour. One can check the names of organisations on the net, verify their authenticity, and make contributions towards alleviating Child Labour.
