Role of organizations/individuals towards tackling Child Labour

Chhotu, a 12-year old boy, works as a domestic servant with the Chhabras, a middle-class family in West Delhi. Chhotu started working as a domestic help with the Chhabras, ever since he was 9. Thanks to the generosity and concern of the Chhabras, Chhotu attends school for 4 hours, every weekend, in the nearby Govt School, where a group of volunteers from corporate houses teach kids who cannot afford to go to school.

“We consider Chhotu a member of our family and not a servant in the house,” says Harshad Chhabra, head of the Chhabra family in whose house Chhotu works. “Since this boy’s father – who works as a driver for me – cannot afford his education and other expenses, we have decided to bear all his expenses and also see to that he gets his primary education.”

Harshad continues, “Chhotu is paid a monthly salary of Rs.800/- for helping us out in our domestic work. In this process, he will become self-reliant and independent.”

Is this process of becoming self-reliant for Chhotu also not making him a bonded child labour?

“Indian households are dependent on domestic servants and in most cases such servants are either live-in young boys or girls. The usual Indian mentality is that you are doing a big favour by making these poor kids work and thereby letting them earn a livelihood, needs to change”, says a senior official at Salaam Baalak Trust, a NGO in Delhi that works towards providing basic education for underprivileged children.

“As a result, such kids continue doing menial jobs and never get an opportunity to go to school and end up being slaves all their lives to their masters. As an organization, we try to ensure that such children receive basic education to stand up on their own feet.”

Many organizations such as Action Aid India, Butterflies, Prayas and World Vision India are working towards providing alternative education and basic services to street children and working children. With the voluntary support of working individuals and donors who help such NGOs with their time and resources, such NGOs support underprivileged children with primary education facilities.

In the corporate sector, Genpact, is a leading company in India that has an active employee volunteer base that spearheads various developmental initiatives to engage street children in mainstream education and thereby save children from being exploited to work at an early age.

As mentioned in Save the Children (India) website, India has about 12.6 million children engaged in economic activity according to the Population Census 2001.

A brighter note on the global front: In its Global Report on child labour, the International Labour Organisation has said that the global number of child labourers had declined from 222 million to 215 million, or 3 per cent, over the period 2004 to 2008. (Source: www.ilo.org/ipec)

 The above statistics are eye-openers and strong discussion points in their own ways, but the ground situation remains very dismal.

Salim, is a 10-year old boy who begs for a living, along with Salma, his sister of the same age. Apart from begging at traffic signals on busy South-Delhi roads, the brother-sister duo also engages in acrobatic stunts to earn a living. “Our parents, who sell flowers on the roads watch us from a distance so that we are safe”, says Salim.

Like Salma and Salim, there are tens of thousands of children who roam around the streets of India trying to earn a living in different roles and not living their childhood. The list of roles is endless: restaurant workers, beggars, construction workers, agriculture labourers, carpet makers and so on.

It is June 12 and yet another year to observe World Day Against Child Labour. Even though funds keep pouring in to engage children in developmental activities with active volunteer support, there’s still a long way to go in terms of tackling child labour. A concerted effort needs to be put in by media, civil society, NGOs and the Government to address this issue with tangible plans and timelines. It is imperative on the Government’s part to adopt stricter methods to punish those found encouraging child labour. In order to abolish child labour, both central and state governments should put in more efforts to send every child to school, thanks to The Right to Education Act that guarantees every child between the ages of 6 to 14 years to the right of free and compulsory education.

- Suniet Bezbaroowa (views expressed in the article are that of the author)