|
Where do Children work?
Selections Condensed from Lakshmidhar Mishra's book Child Labour in
India, Oxford University Press India, 2000. Note: Mishra was former
Secretary, Ministry of Labour, Government of India)
Each occupation has its own set of contactable diseases and every
child, irrespective of which industry he works in, faces innumerable
risks. The degree of hazard varies from industry to industry, but
clearly, there is no escaping it. The children are vulnerable and
helpless in the face of their owners and the situation is only getting
worse. The inhuman way in which the children are being exploited must be
brought to the notice of the concerned authorities, such that an
official stand is taken against the wrong-doers. Proper legislation and
precautionary measures are the need of the hour.
Street Children
Usually found in semi-urban and urban metropolitan cities, street
children work for wages at places such as inns, restaurants, stations,
or as newspaper-delivery boys, vendors, rag-pickers, domestic servants,
coolies and the like. It has been found out that 1,00,000 out of the
4,00,000 child labourers in Delhi are street workers. The number falls
to 30,000 in Hyderabad.
The reasons they find themselves on the street stem from the poverty
and consequent bad environment at home. With little or no money for
their upkeep, they run away and live on the streets, platforms and bus
stations. They are extremely vulnerable to anti-social elements due to
their sense of aloneness and therefore require special and effective
legislation in their favour.
What is to be noted here is that all children working on the street are
not essentially street children as some of them may be working children
who go back to their homes at the end of the day. The distinction is
called for due to the importance and urgency of appropriate legislation
for the street children due to their heightened susceptibility.
Child labour in India has assumed alarming proportions and children are
employed in a variety of industries. Some of the better known industries
that extract child labour are discussed below:
|
