This article is written by Malaika Farhat, LLB 2nd year, student of IME college CCS University during her internship with LeDroit India.
Introduction:-
The education of a child ta young age is essential for his better future. Education doesn’t only help to learn new skills but also gives a chance to have a decent life ahead. The Indian government has made different efforts for children to get quality education and make them free from child Labor. The government has made various laws and policies to achieve its goal of a child-Labor-free state. Labor by a child is bad for his development.
In today’s time, almost every child assists their family at work but there is a slight difference between work and Labor, work comes under the category of permissible work while Labor comes under the category of exploitation. Labor is evil if it’s done by an innocent child because it’s required to work beyond the physical abilities of the child. So Labor can be best described as employment that robs children of their youthfulness. It hurts the mental and physical condition of that child. If we talk about the factors that force a child to Labor we’ll find that Poverty is the key factor for child Labor. Many other factors work in the enhancement of child Labor like- illiteracy of parents, overpopulation, debts of parents, unprincipled Labor, etc.
Poverty :- Poverty is a situation in which a person is unable to get a minimum standard of life. It has an absence of necessity and financial resources. Whenever any family goes into the trap of poverty the children of that family are supposed to earn some money to get out of the situation of poverty and support the family financially.
Illiteracy of parents :- Most of the families in the rural areas are illiterate they don’t have the value of education and the rate of education is very low in rural areas no one is there to courage the education of children. That is why the rate of child Labor is very high in rural areas.
Overpopulation :- Indian population is the second-highest population in the world. It has an approx. 138 crore population. According to the report of world meter out of 138 crores 43 million people are unemployed. The unemployment population of the country is much more than the job opportunities available in India. We have the greatest number of young people out of which 28% are unemployed. Due to the unemployment the adults are in a debt trap and they also can’t manage to give basic education to their children which ultimately leads to child Labor.
Debts of parents :- whenever a family gets stuck in a trap of debts it contributes to child Labor. Debts forced the child to work and make earnings for the family to get out of the trap of debts the child starts working at a very tender age to make their family financially sound.
Unprincipled Labor :- India has very cheap work Labor available this is the mass reason that India is one of the largest markets for outsourcing as Indians can work at very minimal wages and any kind of conditions just to earn some money therefore families force their children to work and earn
The above noted are the main reasons that a child is forced to work rather than get Education, the Indian government has passed many legislatures to prevent child Labor and strength the educational programs for that children so they can study and get a decent life ahead.
Legislation passed by the government to prevent child Labor:-
- Article 21A of the Indian Constitution:- Art.21A says The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.
This article is inserted into the Constitution by the 86th Amendment Act of 2002 by which the government has made early education a fundamental right of a child which is itself enforceable by law. This is one of the best steps that is taken by the government the prevention of child Labor and encourage education. and make every child educated.
- The child Labor prohibition and regulation act 1986 :- To prevent children from working the government has passed this legislation. Under this legislation, the lawmaker marks some hazardous works from which a child below 14 is prohibited from work. The act says:-
- No child shall be permitted to work in any occupation or process
Nothing in sub-section(1) of the act shall apply where the child :-
Helps his family or family enterprise, which is other than any hazardous occupations or processes outlined in the schedule, after his school hours or during vacations etc.
- The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009 :- For children aged from 6 to 14 years, education was made mandatory and free. It also mandated that in every private school 25% of seats should be allocated for children who come from physically disabled groups or disadvantaged groups.
- Importance of education to prevent child Labor :- Education plays a very important role in the elimination of Labor at a young age because early education is very important to get a child out of the Labor market. Education doesn’t help only in learning some new skills but also it leads to a decent and better life for children. Education is a fundamental right of a child which no one can deny education helps a child to think in new ways and this also helps for the betterment of society education work as a new mindset that drags a child out of poverty.
Conclusion :– education can be proved as a weapon to deal with child Labor in the country. Our lawmakers are trying to solve the problem but it’s high time that we as a citizen of India help the government to solve the problem. Problems like poverty, Illiteracy leads to child Labor, with a collective effort by all of us, will for sure help children to drag them out of the Labor world and lead a better life ahead. Eradicating child Labor is still a distant dream for India. But India is trying to fight this problem and make itself a child-Labor-free state.
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