Child labor rights have begun to be a primary source of concern in India. Since 2007 when the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights was set up to protect, promote, and defend child rights in India, it formed its main goal to enforce that India uphold its constitutional statement in article 23 that “traffic in human beings, begging and other similar forms of forced labor are prohibited and any contravention of this provision shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law” (NCPCR). The NCPCR developed the belief that child labor in India was a violation of basic human rights of children and a drastically increasing problem from the 1980s through the late 1990s. Working children, ages 0 – 18, were denied the right to development, education, play, and an adequate standard of living. Though there were governmental attempts to address child labor laws, little was done to enforce or regulate these laws as was evident by the census in 2001 that showed an increase of one million, which resulted in roughly 12 million children being subjected to child labor[1]. Recently, there has been an increase of media attention on the NCPCR which has brought a lot of attention to their cause. In October 2007, The New York Times ran an article that described the alternate side to India that is “off the beaten path” of the typical American tourist. Behind the façade of the magnificent Taj Mahal, there are buildings upon buildings with kids as young as nine years old, who can be seen through the windows, slaving away at elaborate designs on high end fabric for India’s wealthy. The article continues to describe the horrible conditions these children are living and working in and the clear violation of human rights that are present. A representative from the NCPCR, Shantha Sinha is quoted stating that "there is not enough outrage in society that these children are working and not at school. This will come only when the government begins to take serious action."[2] A couple of weeks later, The Observer came out with a report that Indian children were found making clothing designed for Gap Kids that was to be sold on American and British shelves for the upcoming Christmas holiday. The article describes the textile factory conditions that these children are being forced to work in, and criticizes the Gap for outsourcing large contracts to developing countries such as India and not taking into to consideration how their clothing is being made. After a social audit, Gap found that forced child labor, wages below minimum wage, and physical punishment were all taking place in their factories and quickly terminated contracts with these suppliers[3]. Articles such as these were a wakeup call for India’s government in 2007. It is apparent that with the development of the NCPCR and global media attention being focused on India’s child labor issues, India’s government must turn their focus onto the enforcement of child labor laws.
The 1950 Constitution of India states “no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment”[4]. Then in 2009, an act was instated under the name of The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, which called for free education to all children 6 to 14 years and that 25% of seats in every private school must be reserved for disadvantaged children.[5] From pressures in the media the government saw a need for change and acted upon it. The more that the world sees that child labor laws are not being upheld in India, the more the government will be pressured to enforce and come up with new legislation for children rights. This was a positive step in the right direction for the Indian government. They responded directly to pressures from the media on an issue that brought about global concern for the future on India’s children and made a change for the better.
However, the battle is not over yet. Below is a picture taken at the 2010 Commonwealth games in Delhi, India. There were multiple reports of children as young as 3 years old, working on building the stadiums for the event. With over 70 dead from the rushed construction work at the commonwealth games, this was no place for children to be forced into labor. In fact, a human rights investigator for the UN said that Delhi should call off the games because of the widespread displacement and violations of child labor laws[6].
http://www.newsmild.com/child-labor-reported-at-commonwealth-games/update-news.html
[1] NCPCR. Magnitude of Child Labour in India: An Analysis of Official Sources of Data (Draft). http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:dcf4naIW8dIJ:ncpcr.gov.in/Reports/Magnitude_of_Child_Labour_in_India_An_Analysis_of_Official_Sources_of_Data_Draft.pdf+NCPCR+reports+child+labor&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESice-GGqEhbPRal68E_YTsw6Cd8NPV2xi96cMWM7XQxGmi3matb3AuUipst3Pb9r6H34HjMeM8SF9bVIkdabIp_6qphaDUXn5yEcBpcpgQARZETKnnvBPD4mJbuJSQy1uEI8zKt&sig=AHIEtbSfIxxgK70FPAYNhWcEEp6I6YYIpQ. 1- 36.
[2] Amelia Gentleman, “Letter from India: A dismal side of India, where child labor persists,” The New York Time, October 10, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/world/asia/10iht-letter.1.7832563.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=National%20Commission%20for%20Protection%20of%20Child%20Rights%20&st=cse.
[3] Dan McDougall, “Indian ‘slave’ children found making low-cost clothes destined for Gap,” The Observer, October 28, 2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/oct/28/ethicalbusiness.retail.
[4] “National Legislation and Policies Against Child Labour in India,” International Labour Organization. September 16, 2009, http://www.ilo.org/legacy/english/regions/asro/newdelhi/ipec/responses/india/national.htm
[5] “National Legislation and Policies Against Child Labour in India,” International Labour Organization. September 16, 2009, http://www.ilo.org/legacy/english/regions/asro/newdelhi/ipec/responses/india/national.htm
[6] “Child labor reported at Commonwealth games,” News Mild, September 24, 2010, http://www.newsmild.com/child-labor-reported-at-commonwealth-games
No comments:
Post a Comment