Essay About Child Labor And State Policy

Child Labor as an Institution in India
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Child Labor as an Institution in India
By: Shruti Tripathi
Child Labor as an Institution in India
Child labor is one of the demonstrated social problem attracting international agencies,
governments, activist and NGOs. India with its population explosion is experiencing the
outcomes associated with the consequences of child labor. In India child labor contributes
to 20 percent of the National Product (GNP), further India cannot find jobs for 60 million
adults but can find space for 111 million(estimated by ILO, 2005) child labor. These facts
have to be realized and considered while addressing the problem of child labor. Having
child labor, in one way or the other effects the healthy growth of human capital. This in
turn will have its own influence on potential human resources development within the
country
According to the International Labor Organization, “Child labor
includes children permanently leading adult lives, working long hours for low wages
under conditions damaging to their health and to their mental and physical development,
some times separated from their families, frequently deprived of meaningful educational
and training opportunities that could open up for them a better future.”
The child labor problem may be looked at either from the
supply side or from the demand side. The supply is determined by the income of the
family at the given point of time and the cultural background of the parents. Even if the
present income does not warrant the necessity of sending children in labor market, the
children may still be sent because of the tradition in the family. The problem is
aggravated in the environment which does not offer a trade off between the present cost
of educating the child and the future benefit to be derived.
The demand for child labor may derive from the nature of the labor process which may
not require any knowledge based skill and which implies total substitutability between
adult labor and child labor. Given this child labor proves to be better for industrialist as it
turns out to be cheaper and much more pliable and controllable and moreover it cannot be
unionized.
Other factors that can be put forward as the major cause behind child labor are, illiteracy
and ignorance, high fertility rate and larger family size, unemployment, lack of
productive assets, inaccessible and unaffordable basic services, urbanization, lack of food
security, migration and caste and culture.
Magnitude and Dimensions
The problem of child labor continues it exist despite the provisions contained in Article
24 of the constitution of India that no child below the age of 14years shall be employed to
work in any factory or employed in any hazardous employment and the Directive
Principles of State Policy contained in article 39(e) along with the commitment of the
state to provide free and compulsory education to the children till the age of 14 years.
Estimated Number of Child Labor in India
If we look at the census data, the estimates of total child workers are seen to be
increasing over the recent years while it was 13.6 million in 1981 it increased to 23.16
million in 1991. However in case of National Sample Survey data though the estimates of
child workers are seen to be increasing till 1991 when it became 24.5 million, it has
declined in 2000 to 20.25 million.
Estimates of Child Labour in India , 1972-73 to