Extracting child laborers from enslavement in South Asia as difficult as ever
In a historic first, a factory owner was sentenced to life imprisonment in India’s Rajasthan province last August for child labor offences. It is extremely significant that the offender has been legally penalized and not just let off after paying a customary fine, as is the norm in India where even schools have indulged in child labor and the country’s constitutional poll body, shockingly, employed adolescent boys to ferry electronic voting machines during the last general election. With a child population of 448 million approximately, India is home to the largest number of minors in the world, and consequently every fifth kid on earth is Indian. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Global Child Forum promoting Children’s Rights and Business Atlas, India alone has the highest number of child laborers in the world. And the country’s 2011 census data reveals, approximately, 10.2 million children, in the age group of 5 to 14, and 12.9 million children, aged 7 to 17, are enslaved by child labor in India today, though many social workers believe the real figure will be much higher, considering data obscurity in the gigantic informal economy.
Though last August’s landmark legal verdict has set a precedent in child labor cases and will, no doubt, act as a deterrent, activists fear that banishing child labor from India completely may still remain a distant dream.
Seema Sengupta
Alwyn Didar Singh, ex-Secretary General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, conceded to me that this largely unregulated segment is guilty of legitimizing child slavery, but clarified that the government’s effort to move towards formalization will eventually lead to better compliance. Singh assured me that the Indian industry diligently abides by the child labor employment related regulations, and is leaving no stone unturned in eliminating enslavement from supply chain. This indeed will go a long way in bolstering the crusade against child labor as it is often invisible, with responsible business entities likely ending up promoting enslavement of children in economic activities unknowingly through their supplier or subcontractors, who may be breaking the norms for enhanced profit.
Though last August’s landmark legal verdict has set a precedent in child labor cases and will, no doubt, act as a deterrent, especially after India’s ratification of ILO’s child labor conventions, activists fear that banishing child labor from India completely may still remain a distant dream. There is valid reason for such despair, because the law in place prohibiting child labor in India makes an exception to allow children under 14 years of age as “helping hands” in family enterprises. Legitimizing child labor in family businesses without defining the parameters in clear terms, and not quantifying the acceptable amount of delegated work will effectively encourage unregulated servitude. In a country like India where menial work has been historically distributed on the basis of caste and societal status, inter-generational debt bondage actually compels low-income families to nudge their children into assisting the family elders, even at the cost of health and education. And India’s newly amended child labor law is a blow to the subaltern class children, as it has a hidden facet to ensure that child labor – the worst form of modern day slavery – remains a status quo. Besides, the law’s health impact on child workers will be devastating, as it has not only slashed the number of hazardous occupations, including those associated with mining and explosives manufacturing, but also gives discretion to the authorities for future adjustment of the list without parliamentary approval.
Unfortunately, India is not the only country in South Asia to have failed its children. Millions of minors are still engaged as child labor across the region – the UNICEF pegs it at 41 million. Somehow, the realization of child labor begetting and perpetuating poverty is yet to creep in, as policymakers have dithered to implement an unambiguous legislative ban on child labor despite the ILO warning of a substantial majority being engaged in hazardous work, jeopardizing physical, mental and moral well-being. True, the prevailing socio-economic condition often forces the government’s hand. For instance, In India and the whole of South Asia, comprising 25 per cent of the world’s total child laborers, there are many poor families with diseased elders where adolescents are the principal bread earners. The big question is, if these kids are withdrawn from work, what happens to the impoverished families and how do they survive? So, there has to be some form of an institutional social protection mechanism before embarking on the mission of eliminating the scourge lock stock and barrel within the UN mandated deadline of 2025. This is essentially a structural problem and criminal law and harsh punishments are not viable as methods to bring a permanent end to it, as eminent child labor, slavery and human rights expert Michael Dottridge conveyed to me. “Such enslavement persists because of inadequate government policies to protect poor families and marginalized communities from discrimination” rightly says Dottridge.
