Child Labour

The most innocent phase in human life is the childhood. It is that stage of life when the human foundations are laid for a successful adult life. It is the phase when we are carefree, fun-loving, learning, playing Go back into your childhood and for most of us, there are beautiful memories. And how wonderful to have grown up with such carefree abandonment while we had parents, grandparents and others looking after us. But, this is the story of not too many children. Yes, there are far more children scarred and tormented. They hate they childhood. They would do anything to get out of the dungeons of being children and controlled and tortured by others. They want to break-free from this world. Some manage to get out and get a better life, but many continue to be where they are, not out of choice, but force. This is the true story of child labour. There are industries and individuals, who employee young innocent children. They put them to work under grueling circumstances. They make them work for long hours weaving delicate threads to make the worlds most expensive carpets. They make them work in dangerous factory units manufacturing fireworks. They make children carry load even heavier than their own body weight. There are individual households that have their own young children growing up in a cozy family environment, but they hire children as domestic help. They beat them and physically torture when they make a mistake. They starve them and give them their childrens worn out clothes. Such is the story of millions of children in India. It is painful and yet true. The future of this nation is the children. And instead of nourishing them and nurturing them with a healthy childhood, they are letting be tortured in dungeon-like work places. And a large number of employed children do not even live to see their teenage years. Poverty and lack of education are the two primary reasons for the every-growing social malice of child labour. Parents in the poverty zone of society give birth to money-making machines, and not children. They carry infants to earn more on the streets from begging. Then as they grow they make them beggars, and eventually sell them to employers. Can this crime against children be eradicated from society? The answer is yes, as long as we take measures to first bring it under control. Once the malady is under control then we can slowly, steadily and surely eradicate this problem and give every child a well-deserved healthy and normal childhood.
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What is Child Labour

Is it really all that difficult to define the term child labour?

Do we need any increased intelligence quotient to understand it? If the answer is no to both these questions, then why is child labour a rampant problem across the length and breadth of India? Why is it one of the prime focus problems where UNICEF is concerned? And this is not a problem with under developed or developing nations, but exists in the so-called developed nations. Lets halt for a bit here and get into the technical understanding of the term child labour According to the United Nations and the International Labor Organization, child labor is to be considered if: ...States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. (UN stipulation in article 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child) So, in laymans terms, what is child labour? It is any kind of work children are made to do that harms or exploits them physically, mentally, morally, or by preventing access to education. However, one must also understand that all work is not bad or exploitive for children. In fact, certain jobs help in enhancing the overall personality of the child. For instance, children delivering newspapers prior to going to school. Or then children taking up light summer jobs that

do not interfere with their school timings. When they are given pocket money earning oriented tasks, they understand the value of money, as well as respect it even more. While this are the positive aspects of tasks and working, the actual universal problem of child labour is the exploitive and dangerous work and working conditions children are put through. For instance, in north India young children, below the age of 14 are made to work in the carpet industry. Their delicate fingers create the worlds finest and most expensive carpets. The children are working twelve to fourteen hours a day. Many lose their fingers. Some are starved. And a number die each year because of the torturous circumstances under which they are made to work. This is a crime. There have been instances of so-called decent middle class, as well as upperclass people employing young children as domestic helpers. But, they are not working as helpers, but bonded labour. They are made slaves. Frightening stories of how they have been physically tortured are printed in the daily newspapers. And in spite of stringent action being taken against such employers, the problem continues.

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Causes of Child Labour

Today one of the greatest maladies that has spread across the world is that of child labor, coupled with child abuse. It is a very scary thought when each year statistics show increasing numbers. And this is not a problem afflicting under-developed or developing nations, but also developed countries, though the numbers are comparatively less. There are a number of experts around the world who are working towards controlling the numbers, and eventually eradicating the problem. Seems like a difficult and nearly impossible

task, but then all the same immense efforts are being made in this direction. The first step to solve any problem is to be aware of it. And the prime focus is to be aware of the causes of child labour. The following causes listed, though from the Indian prospective, are also the contributing factor to child exploitation in other nations The leading reason is poverty. Families need additional sources of income. And unfortunately their poverty-stricken way of life makes them so ruthless that they sell their children as commodities to exploitive employers. Most such employers pay a lump sum for the child and then keep him or her imprisoned within the factory unit till the child cannot work due to deteriorating health as a result of harsh living and working conditions. A hard and terrifying truth about child labor in India! Most traditional families believe that a child is born to them to earn more money for the family. The child is just another source of income. And traditional business families in fact put the child into the business rather than sending them to school. Under the pretext of training them, they make them work long hours, sometimes resorting to physical torture in case the child makes mistakes. Child abuse is another cause for child labor. This is more so in the case of the girl child, who has probably been abused by someone at home, and to hide this fact she is sold to an employer from a city as domestic help, or then as a bride to an old man. Lack of proper educational facilities force parents to send their children to work, rather than keeping them at home and giving them a home-based education, along with a happy and innocent childhood playing amongst other children. According to the Roots of Child Labor, curing UNICEFs 1997 State of the Worlds Children Report, "The parents of child labourers are often unemployed or underemployed, desperate for secure employment and income. Yet it is their children - more powerless and paid less who are offered the jobs. In other words, says UNICEF, children are employed because they are easier to exploit."

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Child Labour in India

India accounts for the second highest number where child labour in the world is concerned. Africa accounts for the highest number of children employed and exploited. The fact is that across the length and breadth of the nation, children are in a pathetic condition. While experts blame the system, poverty, illiteracy, adult unemployment; yet the fact is that the entire nation is responsible for every crime against a child. Instead of nipping the problem at the bud, child labour in India was allowed to increase with each passing year. And today, young ones below the age of 14 have become an important part of various industries; at the cost of their innocence, childhood, health and for that matter their lives. Here is a look at the various labour activities involving children, across the length and breadth of India Bonded Child Labour : This is also known as slave labour and is one of the worst types of labour for children and adults, alike. In fact, in 1976 the Indian Parliament enacted the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act; herein declaring bonded illegal. However, the fact remains is that this system of working still continues. According to certain experts approximately 10 million bonded children labourers are working as domestic servants in India. Beyond this there are almost 55 million bonded child labourers hired across various other industries. Child Labour in The Agricultural Sector : According to a recent ILO report about 80% child labourers in India are employed in the agriculture sector. The children are generally sold to the rich moneylenders to whom borrowed money cannot be returned. Street Children : Children on the streets work as beggars, they sell flowers and other items, instead of being sent to school. They go hungry for days to gather. In fact, they are starved so that people feel sorry for them and give them alms. Children Employed At Glass Factories : According to recent estimates almost 60,000 children are employed in the glass and bangle industry and are made to work under extreme conditions of excessive heat.

Child Labour in Matchbox Factories : Of the 2,00,000 labour force in the matchbox industry, experts claim that 35% are children below the age of 14. They are made to work over twelve hours a day, beginning work at around 4 am, everyday. Carpet Industry Child Labour : According to a recent report by the ILO almost 4,20,000 children are employed in the carpet industry of India. The Other Industries : According to researchers there are about 50,000 children employed in the brass industry of India and around the same amount in the lock industry.

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Child Labour Laws

Recognizing the increasing problem of child labour in India, the Parliament passed The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. The purpose of this Act was to declare child labour as illegal and make it a punishable act by any citizen of India. The Act is to bring to the notice of the people of this nation that there are child labour laws to protect the child. However, in spite of this the situation has not improved, nor has it been brought under control. For that matter it has worsened. Given here are sections of the The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, to make readers aware of the laws with regards to the malice of child abuse and labour

Preamble to the Act : [61 of 1986] lna-1 An Act to prohibit the engagement of children in certain employments and to regulate the conditions of work of children in certain other employments Be it enacted by Parliament in the Thirty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows : (1) This Act may be called the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) The provisions of this Act, other than Part III, shall come into force at once, and Part III shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different States and for different classes of establishments. Definitions : In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (i) "Appropriate Government" means, in relation to an establishment under the control of the Central Government or a railway administration or a major port or a mine or oilfield, the Central Government, and in all other cases, the State Government; (ii) "Child" means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age; (iii) "Day" means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at midnight; (iv) "Establishment" includes a shop, commercial establishment, workshop, farm, residential hotel, restaurant, eating-house, theatre or other place of public amusement or entertainment; (v) "Family", in relation to an occupier, means the individual, the wife or husband, as the case may be, of such individual, and their children, brother or sister of such individual; (vi) "Occupier", in relation to an establishment or a workshop, means the person who has the ultimate control over the affairs of the establishment or workshop; (vii) "Port authority" means any authority administering a port; (viii) "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under Sec. 18; (ix) "Week" means a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night or such other night as may be approved in writing for a particular area by the Inspector; (x) "Workshop" means any premises (including the precincts thereof) wherein any industrial

process is carried on, but does not include any premises to which the provisions of Sec. 67 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), for the time being, apply. Prohibition of Employment of Children in Certain Occupations and Processes : No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the occupations set forth in Part A of the Schedule or in any workshop wherein any of the processes set forth in Part B of the Schedule is carried on: Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any workshop wherein any process is carried on by the occupier with the aid of his family or to any school established by, or receiving assistance or recognition from, Government. Hours and Period of Work: (1) No child shall be required or permitted to work in any establishment in excess of such number of hours, as may be prescribed for such establishment or class of establishments. (2) The period of work on each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed three hours and that no child shall work for more than three hours before he has had an interval for rest for at least one hour. (3) The period of work of a child shall be so arranged that inclusive of his interval for rest, under sub-section (2), it shall not be spread over more than six hours, including the time spent in waiting for work on any day. (4) No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. (5) No child shall be required or permitted to work overtime. (6) No child shall be required or permitted to work in, any establishment on any day on which he has already been working in another establishment. Weekly Holidays : Every child employed in an establishment shall be allowed in each week, a holiday of one whole day, which day shall be specified by the occupier in a notice permanently exhibited in a conspicuous place in the establishment and the day so specified shall not be altered by the occupier more than once in three months. Health and Safety : (1) The appropriate Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for the health and safety of the children employed or permitted to work in any establishment or class of establishments. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions, the said rules may provide for

all or any of the following matters, namely: (a) cleanliness in the place of work and its freedom from nuisance; (b) disposal of wastes and effluents; (c) ventilation and temperature; (d) dust and fume; (e) artificial humidification; (f) lighting; (g) drinking water; (h) latrine and urinals; (i) spittoons; (j) fencing of machinery; (k) work at or near machinery in motion; (l) employment of children on dangerous machines; (m) instructions, training and supervision in relation to employment of children on dangerous machines; (n) device for cutting off power; (o) self-acting machines; (p) easing of new machinery; (q) floor, stairs and means of access; (r) pits, sumps, openings in floors, etc.; (s) excessive weights; (t) protection of eyes; (u) explosive or inflammable dust, gas, etc.; (v) precautions in case of fire; (w) maintenance of buildings; and (x) safety of buildings and machinery. Penalties : (1) Whoever employs any child or permits any child to work in contravention of the provisions of Sec. 3 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than, three months but which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both. (2) Whoever, having been convicted of an offence under Sec. 3, commits a like offence afterwards, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to two years. (3) Whoever - (a) fails to give notice as required by Sec. 9, or (b) fails to maintain a register as required by Sec. 11 or makes any false entry in any such register; or

(c) fails to display a notice containing an abstract of Sec. 3 and this section as required by Sec. 12; or (d) fails to comply with or contravenes any other provisions of this Act or the rules made there under, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both. Children will not be employed in the following according to the Schedules of the Act... Part A Occupations : Any occupation connected with: (1) Transport of passengers, goods or mails by railway; (2) Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or building operation in the railway premises; (3) Work in a catering establishment at a railway station, involving the movement of a vendor or any other employee of the establishment from one platform to another or into or out of a moving train; (4) Work relating to the construction of a railway station or with any other work where such work is done in close proximity to or between the railway lines; (5) A port authority within the limits of any port. (6) Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks in shops with temporary licences. (7) Abattoirs/slaughter Houses. Part B Processes : (1) Bidi-making. (2) Carpet-weaving. (3) Cement manufacture, including bagging of cement. (4) Cloth printing, dyeing and weaving. (5) Manufacture of matches, explosives and fire-works. (6) Mica-cutting and splitting. (7) Shellac manufacture. (8) Soap manufacture.

(9) Tanning. (10) Wool-cleaning. (11) Building and construction industry. (12) Manufacture of slate pencils (including packing). (13) Manufacture of products from agate. (14) Manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances, such as, lead, mercury, manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene, pesticides and asbestos. (15) "Hazardous processes" as defined in Sec. 2 (CB) and dangerous operations as defined in rules made under Sec. 87 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948). (16) Printing as defined in Sec. 2(k) (iv) of the Factories Act 1948 (63 of 1948). (17) Cashew and cashew nut decaling and processing. (18) Soldering processes in electronic industries.

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Child Labour Laws

Recognizing the increasing problem of child labour in India, the Parliament passed The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. The purpose of this Act was to declare child labour as illegal and make it a punishable act by any citizen of India. The Act is to bring to the notice of the people of this nation that there are child labour laws to protect the child. However, in spite of this the situation has not improved, nor has it been brought under control. For that matter it has worsened. Given here are sections of the The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, to make readers aware of the laws with regards to the malice of child abuse and labour Preamble to the Act : [61 of 1986] lna-1 An Act to prohibit the engagement of children in certain employments and to regulate the

conditions of work of children in certain other employments Be it enacted by Parliament in the Thirty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows : (1) This Act may be called the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) The provisions of this Act, other than Part III, shall come into force at once, and Part III shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different States and for different classes of establishments. Definitions : In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (i) "Appropriate Government" means, in relation to an establishment under the control of the Central Government or a railway administration or a major port or a mine or oilfield, the Central Government, and in all other cases, the State Government; (ii) "Child" means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age; (iii) "Day" means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at midnight; (iv) "Establishment" includes a shop, commercial establishment, workshop, farm, residential hotel, restaurant, eating-house, theatre or other place of public amusement or entertainment; (v) "Family", in relation to an occupier, means the individual, the wife or husband, as the case may be, of such individual, and their children, brother or sister of such individual; (vi) "Occupier", in relation to an establishment or a workshop, means the person who has the ultimate control over the affairs of the establishment or workshop; (vii) "Port authority" means any authority administering a port; (viii) "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under Sec. 18; (ix) "Week" means a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night or such other night as may be approved in writing for a particular area by the Inspector; (x) "Workshop" means any premises (including the precincts thereof) wherein any industrial process is carried on, but does not include any premises to which the provisions of Sec. 67 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), for the time being, apply.

Prohibition of Employment of Children in Certain Occupations and Processes : No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the occupations set forth in Part A of the Schedule or in any workshop wherein any of the processes set forth in Part B of the Schedule is carried on: Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any workshop wherein any process is carried on by the occupier with the aid of his family or to any school established by, or receiving assistance or recognition from, Government. Hours and Period of Work: (1) No child shall be required or permitted to work in any establishment in excess of such number of hours, as may be prescribed for such establishment or class of establishments. (2) The period of work on each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed three hours and that no child shall work for more than three hours before he has had an interval for rest for at least one hour. (3) The period of work of a child shall be so arranged that inclusive of his interval for rest, under sub-section (2), it shall not be spread over more than six hours, including the time spent in waiting for work on any day. (4) No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. (5) No child shall be required or permitted to work overtime. (6) No child shall be required or permitted to work in, any establishment on any day on which he has already been working in another establishment. Weekly Holidays : Every child employed in an establishment shall be allowed in each week, a holiday of one whole day, which day shall be specified by the occupier in a notice permanently exhibited in a conspicuous place in the establishment and the day so specified shall not be altered by the occupier more than once in three months. Health and Safety : (1) The appropriate Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for the health and safety of the children employed or permitted to work in any establishment or class of establishments. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions, the said rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely: (a) cleanliness in the place of work and its freedom from nuisance;

(b) disposal of wastes and effluents; (c) ventilation and temperature; (d) dust and fume; (e) artificial humidification; (f) lighting; (g) drinking water; (h) latrine and urinals; (i) spittoons; (j) fencing of machinery; (k) work at or near machinery in motion; (l) employment of children on dangerous machines; (m) instructions, training and supervision in relation to employment of children on dangerous machines; (n) device for cutting off power; (o) self-acting machines; (p) easing of new machinery; (q) floor, stairs and means of access; (r) pits, sumps, openings in floors, etc.; (s) excessive weights; (t) protection of eyes; (u) explosive or inflammable dust, gas, etc.; (v) precautions in case of fire; (w) maintenance of buildings; and (x) safety of buildings and machinery. Penalties : (1) Whoever employs any child or permits any child to work in contravention of the provisions of Sec. 3 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than, three months but which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both. (2) Whoever, having been convicted of an offence under Sec. 3, commits a like offence afterwards, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to two years. (3) Whoever - (a) fails to give notice as required by Sec. 9, or (b) fails to maintain a register as required by Sec. 11 or makes any false entry in any such register; or (c) fails to display a notice containing an abstract of Sec. 3 and this section as required by Sec.

12; or (d) fails to comply with or contravenes any other provisions of this Act or the rules made there under, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month or with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both. Children will not be employed in the following according to the Schedules of the Act... Part A Occupations : Any occupation connected with: (1) Transport of passengers, goods or mails by railway; (2) Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or building operation in the railway premises; (3) Work in a catering establishment at a railway station, involving the movement of a vendor or any other employee of the establishment from one platform to another or into or out of a moving train; (4) Work relating to the construction of a railway station or with any other work where such work is done in close proximity to or between the railway lines; (5) A port authority within the limits of any port. (6) Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks in shops with temporary licences. (7) Abattoirs/slaughter Houses. Part B Processes : (1) Bidi-making. (2) Carpet-weaving. (3) Cement manufacture, including bagging of cement. (4) Cloth printing, dyeing and weaving. (5) Manufacture of matches, explosives and fire-works. (6) Mica-cutting and splitting. (7) Shellac manufacture. (8) Soap manufacture. (9) Tanning. (10) Wool-cleaning.

(11) Building and construction industry. (12) Manufacture of slate pencils (including packing). (13) Manufacture of products from agate. (14) Manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances, such as, lead, mercury, manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene, pesticides and asbestos. (15) "Hazardous processes" as defined in Sec. 2 (CB) and dangerous operations as defined in rules made under Sec. 87 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948). (16) Printing as defined in Sec. 2(k) (iv) of the Factories Act 1948 (63 of 1948). (17) Cashew and cashew nut decaling and processing. (18) Soldering processes in electronic industries.

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Child Labour in China

China accounts for the third largest number where child labour is concerned. In fact, many think it to be a phenomenon that has just begun to surface. However, the fact is that child labour in China has been there for years. This is so despite that there have been strict official regulations that ban employment of minors. And according to the laws of China, a minor is an individual below the age of sixteen-years. Due to poverty, teenagers and younger children have been migrating to the southern and coastal regions of China. This is because these regions have been developing and provide a lot of opportunities to earn. There are juvenile labourers employed in the workshops and factories. According to a recent People's Daily Report the use of children is maximum in the following industries: Toy manufacturing Production Textiles

Construction Food production Light mechanical work The reasons for increasing child labour in this country include the following :

The number reason, as for any nation is poverty. The high school fees even in the rural regions. Less education opportunities in the rural regions. The income children bring helps improve to certain extent the financial situation of the family. Most parents are not aware of the grueling circumstance under which their children work. Most children do not tell their parents, as they realize the value of their own income for their family. In spite of all this the fact is that children are put to major risk. Each year a number of children lose their lives because of the varied dangers they are exposed to. Earlier this year five teenage girls apparently died due to being poisoned by carbon monoxide smoke. The smoke was from the coal brazier that was lit in the sleeping quarters of the small and cramped factory. While this incident came to light, there are innumerable families that have lost their children. They have no idea how their children have died. This is because employers fear the strict hands of the law and do away with all evidence, claiming that the child just went away one morning. And the other children remain silent spectators due to fear of either meeting the same fate or then losing their means of supporting their poverty-stricken family.
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Child Labour in Africa

The world considers the issue of child labour to be a rather serious one in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, there are a set of experts in Africa who do not consider it to be serious and prefer to sweep it under their carpet in order to look into more 'serious' issues. There are still others who prefer to wear a blindfold and believe that child labour issues are far more serious in other nations, whereas it is as good as non-existent in their own nation. However, ILO statistics provide a more serious picture. It states that over 40% of the children of Africa are working. They are mainly working as slaves in private households, apart from other industries. And because they are working in households, African experts would like to believe it is not really a serious issue. While the picture, as we see is grim, yet nothing can really be done as there is no consistent or factual empirical evidence where child labour in Africa is concerned. According to the present research papers, the following points have been enumerated with regards to the state of child labour in Africa: There is no consensus where the maximum number of working hours for children is concerned. There is a lack of inclusion, as well as exclusion of the non-market activities and domestic chores, which affects the extent of the female children labour force, as against the male child. There is shortfall in the count of working children as some researchers have accounted for school-going children who do not attend school and are therefore assumed to be working. This ignores those under-employed and those idle. Then there are researchers who have counted those children who do not attend school, without taking into account those who attend school and also work. However, the child labourers of Africa are classified into the following categories: Domestic child labour Farm workers Commercial plantation workers Begging Petty sales Family business child-workers

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Child Labour Statistics

The statistical information regarding child labour in the world, as well as in the individual countries can never be taken to be precise, as there are areas where no accounting has been done. There are innumerable workshops and factories that have cramped up rooms where children work, eat and sleep. No one from the outside world would even know that they are working there. However, a number of people working towards the welfare of child labourers have, with the tip of from insiders, have been rescue a number of children from such units. However, there are far too many such employers and they keep increasing. Yet, even if we look at the existing child labour statistics, the fact is that almost 55% of the children of the world are working under trying and torturous circumstances. They are suffering. Their health is failing and a large number do not live to even see their adolescences, while still more do not live beyond their thirtieth birthday. This is a grave and true situation. In India innumerable children through the length and breadth of the nation are into some kind of bonded labour. And unfortunately it is their greedy parents and guardians who sell them for measly amounts of money; or simply to get out of debt. There is ruthlessness amongst such parents. It is as though they make children to relieve them from their financial burdens. Such is the story! While the number of children employed and exploited increases with each passing year, considering the rampant population increase the nation faces, we must applaud the efforts made by sections of the government, social workers, non-government organizations and others to rescue and rehabilitate the children. These numbers are also rather encouraging in the pages of statistical information.

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Reporting Child Labour

The social malady of child labour can be brought under control, if each individual takes responsibility of reporting about anyone employing a child below the age of fourteen-years. Many people avoid reporting about such incidents in their neighborhood, as they fear the number of times they would have to visit to make statements against the culprits. Or then, people just prefer to turn a blind eye towards such employers, as they do not wish to spoil relations with people. The fact is that one who is aware of something wrong happening and lets it continue to happen is as responsible for the wrong as the culprit himself/herself. Thus, instead of ignoring on should find out about reporting child labour and how such children can actually be saved. The government has a special cell to help children in exploitive circumstances. These cells comprise of social inspectors, as well as other administrative personnel, employed specifically to deal with child labour issues. Apart from that even the media is known to help in such circumstances. In the past journalists have gone undercover in order to unravel what is happening in certain industrial units. In fact, such journalists work along with the police or other governing bodies working towards rescuing children working. The journalist visits such places with a hidden camera and then with such proof have the cops or others raid the unit. Each individual must rest assured and have faith in the system that no harm would be done to them if they report about child labour, whether it is agricultural, domestic household help, industrial or bonded labour. As a matter of fact, as an informer one will be doing a great duty to a child and would be responsible for giving that child a comfortable life.

Yet, if one fears the system then they should ideally take a social worker into confidence and report about the child exploiter and leave it to this person to deal with the entire issue. Thus, beyond reporting such incidences, one need not get further involved. It is not true that one would be harassed if reporting any case of child labour. Instead they would be giving a child his/her childhood back to him/her.
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