Exploitation of child labor in India

Yet again India Inc. is in news. Each and every corner of all news channels and newspapers is filled with India’s major corporate houses going global and making India feel proud. Every now and then we read astonishing growth rate of our economy. We are the leading democracies of tomorrow. We are on the verge of becoming the world power. Amidst all these ‘Big’ talks, there are certain so called ‘Small’ issues, which do not get the required attention. One of those is ‘Child labor’ or in better words, ‘Exploitation’ of child labor.
Child labor in India is an old and very serious problem. Children under the age of 14 work in various labor intensive activities like glass-blowing, fire-works, and carpet-making factories. While the Government reports about 2 crores children laborers, other non-governmental organizations estimate the number to be closer to 5 crores. Most prevalent in the northern part of India, the exploitation of child labor has become an accepted practice, and is viewed by the local population as necessary to overcome the extreme poverty in the region.
In general small and mid-sized factories pay children extremely low wages, for which adults refuse to work, while forcing the youngsters to slave under quite difficult and unhygienic labor conditions both mentally and physically. Many of these children are migrant workers, the majority coming from northern India, who are sent away by their families to earn an income. Thus, children are forced to endure the un-human conditions of the plants and factories, as their families depend on their wages.
The situation of the children at the factories is desperate. Most work for minimum 12 hours a day and the upper bound is not defined. They get small breaks for meals. Ill-nourished, the children are very often fed only minimal staples. The vast majority of migrant child workers, who cannot return home at night, sleep alongside footpath which further invites sickness and poor health.
Taking aggressive action to eliminate this problem is difficult in a nation where more than 60 percent of the population lives in rural areas, most often stricken by poverty. Children are viewed as a form of economic security in this gloomy setting, necessary to help supplement their families' income. Parents often sacrifice their children's education, as offspring are often expected to uphold their roles as wage-earning members.
The Indian Government has taken some steps to alleviate this monumental problem. In 1989, India invoked a law that made the employment of children under age 14 illegal, except in family-owned factories. However, this law is rarely followed, and does not apply to the employment of family members. Thus, factories often circumvent the law through claims of hiring distant family. Also, in rural areas, there are few enforcement mechanisms, and punishment for factories violating the mandate is minimal, if not nonexistent.
Thus, an extensive reform process is necessary to eliminate the proliferation of child labor in India which strives to end the desperate poverty in the nation. Changing the structure of the workforce and hiring the high number of currently unemployed adults in greatly improved work conditions is only the first step in this lengthy process. New labor standards and wages must be adopted and medical examinations and minimum nutrition requirements must be established in India. Establishing schools and eliminating the rampant illiteracy that plagues the country would work to preserve structural changes. However, these changes cannot be accomplished immediately and therefore we must work collectively towards implementation of these steps so that we can see a uniform development of our nation.
Written By: Dhavish Jain, IIM Indore