Informe con novedades o accidentes reportados
SECRETARÍA DEL INTERIOR II PROPÓSITO PRINCIPAL
CHILD LABOUR IN AGRICULTURE: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECT Navghan K. Divraniya
Assistant Professor, R.V. Patel College of Commerce, Amroli – Surat (Gujarat) 394107
Introduction: Children are the future of any society and in turn they shape the worlds future. That is why the issue of child labour is an area of concern for all the policymakers, social scientists, researchers and judiciary. The problem of child labour has been one of the major issues to be tackled in any economy as it is a developmental issue considering the ill effect of its prevalence. The problem of child labour is not national but international. All the countries whether developed, developing or underdeveloped are facing one or other kind of issue related to child labour. But, the issue of child labour is seen in worst form in some of the developing countries. As per an estimate of ILO, 40 million in modern slavery and 152 million in child labour around the world. By employing children we are denying their right to education, which is crucial for their development.1 Child labour is a complex global problem; it is a hidden bitter truth. Whenever one thinks about this problem, the class that attracts ones utmost attention is that of the children who are found to be working in the fields, factories, mines, hotels, motor repairing shops, Dhabas etc. The root cause of this problem is multi-dimensional comprising economic, social, educational and cultural. This is one social evil that deprives a very large number of children of children of their basic fundamental rights. Every child born in this world has some fundamental birth right which includes the right to a healthy mental and physical development. However, children of a very few countries in the world automatically get these right, while the millions of children especially in the third world nation are deprived of these right. Their situation is so bad that inspite of the efforts international agencies like ILO, UN, UNICEF, WHO, IMF and government, organization, voluntary agencies etc. Of various nations, millions of children suffer from poverty, deprivation, physical and mental torture violence, malnutrition, addiction, diseases etc. And many of them die at young age. Eradication of this global problem is a big challenge before the governments, because if there is no sufficient physical, mental and educational development of these minor workers, how will they contribute to the development of the nation? In fact, child labour hinders the national development, so it is necessary to completely eradicate this problem. Considering the seriousness of the problem of labour world over, it has been decided to observe 12th June each as International Anti- Child Labour Day.
Definition of child labour: What is child labour? There is no universally accepted definition of Child Labour the definitions change according to various view point and under various laws. But generally speaking when children work for wages awes from their homes and families. And if their workplace is unfriendly and unfavorable for their well-being, they are called Child Labour.
Various definitions have been advanced to define child Labour. According to ILO, ―child labour includes children prematurely leading adult live, working long hours for low wages under conditions damaging to their health and to their physical and mental development sometimes separated from their families, frequently deprived of meaningful educational and training opportunities that could open up for them a better future‖. Though another project of ILO defines that ―Child Labour refers to the work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity and that is harmful to their physical and mental development‖.2
In other words, it refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children and interfere with their schooling (1) by depriving them of the opportunity to attend the school (2) by obligating them to leave school permanently or (3) by requiring
1 www.ilo.org 2
SCHOLARLY RESEARCH JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES ISSN: 2349-4766
OCT-DEC, 2017, VOL-6/34 Page 50
them to attempt to combine school attendance with exclusively long or heavy work. According to UNICEF3 children in the age group of 5-11 who perform at least one hour of economic work or twenty eight hours of domestic work per week come under child labour. Similarly, children in the age group of 12-14, 15-17 who perform, fourteen and forty three hours of economic work respectively, are defined as child labour. In the case of the former group the domestic working hours are limited 28 hours. After analyzing the above definition, it can be said that all the work done by the children should not be classified as child labour. Where the participation of children in work is not affecting their health and personal development or interferes with their schooling is generally regarded as sometime positive. Activities such as helping parents around home, assisting family business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays, should not be treated as child labour .Such activities contribute to childrens development and to the welfare of their families, they provide them with skill and experience and help in preparing them to be productive members of their society during their adult life. With this brief background, the following section shall be devoted to review of literature, followed by the status of child labour, strategies and conclusions.
Review of Literature
Basu and Van (1998) In this interesting paper child labour in general equilibrium setting in which parents dislike child labour and withdraw their children from the labour force once the adult minimum wage reaches a critical level. This model establishes the possibility of two stable equilibrium, a low wage equilibrium characterized by child labour and a high wage equilibrium in which children are all attending the school.
Jain D. and Chand M. (1991) their study examined that girls between 9 and 19 years worked much harder in agriculture fields and animal husbandry than boys of the same age, but they work less than boys in non-agricultural labour. They were of the view that work participation rate depend on the type of the work and facility available. Another interesting finding was that the age structure of the female child worker is lower than that of males. This picture is reinforced by the higher rate of non-enrollment in schools and school dropout among girls than boys.
India committee of the Netherland(Oct., 2004) In Andhra Pradesh, a large proportion of the workforce in cotton farms are children. Over two thirds of the labour force (67.2 percent) is children in the age group of 7 to 14 years. Among children, girls account for nearly 88 percent. Women (girls and adult women) account for nearly 80 percent of the total labour force. 15 to 18 year‘s age group of workers account for nearly 21 percent of the total labour force.
Venkateswarlu D. (2007) During 2006-07 an estimated total number of 4,14,390 children (2,23,940 below 14 years and 1,90,450 are 15-18 age group) were employed in cotton farms in India. Children constitute about 77 percent in AP, 84.5 percent in Karnataka, 79 percent in Tamilnadu and 66 percent in Gujarat of the total workforce. No other industry in India has such a high proportion child labour in its workforce.
World Vision Australia (2012) The study explained that what children receive is often well below the minimum wage. In Gujarat, India, a child working on a cotton seed farm receives less than $1 per day. Children may work up to 12 hours in extreme temperatures. In Uzbekistan, children are made to work from early in the morning to evening, without sufficient food. Exhaustion, heat stroke and malnutrition are common amongst child labourers. Children are forced to work in unbearable conditions and in some cases stay in crops store area or farm machinery. Physical and sexual abuse of child cotton labourers has also been widely reported. School children can be given harvest quotas as large as 50 kg of cotton per day and are beaten or threatened if they fail to meet their quota or pick low quality cotton.
3
SCHOLARLY RESEARCH JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES ISSN: 2349-4766
OCT-DEC, 2017, VOL-6/34 Page 51
Global Trends in Child labour
Any Nation in the world – be it a developed, developing or underdeveloped- face several problems regarding children in their various manifestation.
Worldwide 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment. Among them, 152 million are victims of child labour; almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labour.
In absolute terms, almost half of child labour (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.
In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labour, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%: 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3%in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).
Almost half of all 152 million children victims of child labour are aged 5-11 years. 42 million (28%) are 12-14 years old; and 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old.
Hazardous child labour is most prevalent among the 15-17 years old. Nevertheless up to a fourth of all hazardous child labour (19 million) is done by children less than 12 years old.
Among 152 million children in child labour, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.
58% of all children in child labour and 62% of all children in hazardous work are boys. Boys appear to face a greater risk of child labour than girls, but this may also be a reflection of an under-reporting of girls‘ work, particularly in domestic child labour.
Child labour is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the Industrial sector, including mining.4
Sector wise Child Labour in the world
Sector Number of child labour (‗000) Percentage (%)
Agriculture 107543 70.9
Industry 18007 11.9
Services 26072 17.2
Source:global estimate and trend of Child labour ILO, 2016. Sector wise Child Labour in the world
4
Global Estimates of Child Labour: Results and trends, 2012-2016, Geneva, September 2017. 70.9
11.9
17.2
Sector wise child labour (%)
Agriculture Industry Services
SCHOLARLY RESEARCH JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES ISSN: 2349-4766
OCT-DEC, 2017, VOL-6/34 Page 52
It can be seen from the above table and chart that highest number of child labour found in Agriculture sector in the world followed by service sector and industrial sector respectively. In agriculture sector around 71 percent of total child labourers are employed while service sector and industrial sector consist 17.2 and 11.9 percent of child labour respectively.
Status of Child labour in India: As per Census 2011, the total child population in India in the age group (5-14) years is 259.6 million. Of these, 10.1 million (3.9% of total child population) are working, either as ‗main worker‘ or as ‗marginal worker‘. In addition, more than 42.7 million children in India are out of school. However, the good news is that the incidence of child labour has decreased in India by 2.6 million between 2001 and 2011. However, the decline was more visible in rural areas, while the number of child workers has increased in urban areas, indicating the growing demand for child workers in menial jobs. Child labour has different ramifications in both rural and urban India.
Incidence of child labour in India
Year Percentage of working children (5-14) Total number of working children (5-
14) (in millions)
Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total
2001 5.9 2.1 5.0 11.4 1.3 12.7
2011 4.3 2.9 3.9 8.1 2.0 10.1
Source: Census of India 2001, 2011.
Sector wise child labour in India 2014 (5 to 14)
Sector Percentage of child labour
Agriculture 57
Industry 33
Service sector 10
Source: US Department of Labour‘s Bureau of International Labour Affairs (2014) ―India Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labour‖, p. 1.
Sector wise child labour in India 2014 (5 to 14)
It can be understood from the above information that in India Agriculture sector employs highest number children. In 2014 around 57 percent of total child labours were employed in agriculture sector; 33 percentage of total child labour were employed in industrial sector while 10 percentage of total child labour were engaged in service sector.
National Legislations and ILO conventions
57 33
10
Sector wise child labour in India (%)
Agriculture Industry Service sector
SCHOLARLY RESEARCH JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES ISSN: 2349-4766
OCT-DEC, 2017, VOL-6/34 Page 53
The enactment of the Child Labour Amendment (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 2016 and The Right to Education Act 2009 have paved the way for ratification of ILO‘s two core conventions;
1. Convention No 138 stipulates that the minimum age at which children can start work should not be below the age of compulsory schooling and in any case not less than 15 years; with a possible exception for developing countries.
2. Convention No. 182 prohibits hazardous work which is likely to jeopardize children‘s physical, mental or moral health. It aims at immediate elimination of the worst forms of child labour for children below 18 years.
Status of Child Labour in Gujarat: According to NSSO Report published in 2009-10, the total number of child labour in Gujarat was 3,90,687 out of which 86,130 in urban areas and 30,4,557 in rural areas. The NSSO Report on ―Employment and Unemployment situation in India‖ published in January 2014 shows that around 4.2 lakh child labour in Gujarat. Out of which 3.18 lakh child labour in rural area and 1.2 lakhs are in urban area. As per this report out of total number of child labour 2.2 percent in urban area and 4.3 percent in rural area in the age group of 5 to 14 years. In consideration of above figures Gujarat state was ranked among top five states in which there is highest child labour. In Gujarat the number of child labour is highest among the large 20 states of the country accept zarkhand. In India, while considering urban areas, Gujarat ranked fourth in the country. Child labour in West Bengal 12.6 percent, in UP 4.4 percent and in Orrisa 4.1 percent.5 According to census 2001 the numbers of child labour in Gujarat was about 4,85,530, decrease to 2,50,318 in 2011. Thus, within ten years child labour in Gujarat decrease by 50 percent. This is mainly due to initiatives taken by the government regarding various child labour Acts and child welfare schemes.
District wise child labour in Gujarat
District Number of Child Labour (2001) Number of child Labour (2011)
Dahod 46085 36493 Surat 36824 34066 Vadodara 35731 32607 Ahmedabad 26291 51552 Rajkot 24586 25102 Porbandar 4086 3752
Source: Census 2001 and 2011. District wise child labour in Gujarat
0 20000 40000 60000 Nu mb er o f ch ild la b o u r Districts of Gujarat
District wise child labour in Gujarat
Number of Child Labour (2001)
Number of child Labour (2011)
SCHOLARLY RESEARCH JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES ISSN: 2349-4766
OCT-DEC, 2017, VOL-6/34 Page 54
By above data we can understand that as per census 2001 highest number of child labour in Dahod District. While as per census 2011 Ahmedabad district has highest number of child labour. Though, proportion of child labour has been reduced during the decade but still the incidence of child labour in rural Gujarat is too high. The problem of child labour is more acute in rural areas than that of urban areas in the state. These are mainly in fields and farms.
Conclusion: Finally we can conclude that there are number of legislative measures, laws and constitutional provisions, government, educationists, unions, non-government institutions are existing in India. Apart from these international organizations such as UN, ILO, UNICEF, UNESCO, CRY etc. are actively working to stop child labour but the problem is still not to be solved. Though the proportion of child labour in urban areas has come down, but in rural areas, it is more serious and complex problem. The child labour failed to experience normal physical and mental growth due to work pressure, day in extreme temperature during winter. They also sacrifice their basic human rights such as, nutrition, health, and education, recreation, sufficientopportunities for their physical and mental development. Unfortunately, reality is that there are not any proper, suitable, effective and universally acceptable measures that can be taken to improve the condition of them, and curb the child labour. The socio- economic scenario and the availability of recourses, a sequential, progressive, integrated, multidimensional and multilateral approaches are needed to achieve the gradual elimination of child labour.
References
Akpokavie, C. K., 2011, Employers and Workers, Handbook on Hazardous Child Labour. Switzerland: ILO. Anon., 2012, Child Labour in Agriculture, New York (USA): National Center for Farm worker health.
B. Srinivasa Reddy, K. R., 2002, Girl Child Labour: A World of Endless Exploitation, New Delhi, Dominant Publishers.
Baisakh, P., 2010, Child Labour in Gujarat's Cottonseed Farms: Rajasthan, DRMU Burra, N., 1995, Born To Work- Child Labour in India: Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
Children in India: A Statistical Appraisal, 2012, Social Statistics Division, Delhi, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Government of India.
Deshingkar, P., 2009, Extending Labour Inspections to the Informal Sector and Agriculture, London: Chronic Poverty Research Centre.
Foundation, M.V., 2005, Elimination of Child Labour in Cottonseed Farms through Social Mobilization: Secunderabad, ILRF.
Hilowitz, J., 2004, Child Labour, A Textbook For University Students. Geneva: ILO.
ILO, 2010, Global Child Labour Developments: Measuring Trends From 2004 - 2008. Geneva, ILO. ILO, 2012, what is child labour? International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor. Geneva.
ILO, 2012, Child labour in Agriculture, Sectors and Topics: International Programme on The Elimination of Child Labour, Geneva, ILO.
Khandelwal, A., 2008, Child Labour in Cottonseed Production: Rajasthan, DRMU.
Sinha, S., 2004. Combating Child Labour in Cottonseed Production: A Statement on the Present Role of Multinational Companies in Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, M. Venkatarangaiya Foundation.
Venkateswarlu, D., 2004, Child Labour and MNCs in Cottonseed Production in India: Hyderabad, Global Research Foundation.
Venkateswarlu, D., 2004. Child Labour in Hybrid Cottonseed Production in Gujarat and Karnataka, Calcutta: India Committee of the Netherlands.
Venkateswarlu, D., 2004, Child Labour in Hybrid cottonseed production in Andhra Pradesh: Recent Developments, India Committee of the Netherlands (ICN).
Venkateswarlu, D., 2007, Child Bondage Continues in Indian Cotton Supply Chain: Hyderabad, Global Research and Consultancy Services, Hyderabad.
Venkateswarlu D., 2015, Cotton for Gotten Children: Child Labour and Below Minimum Wages in Hybrid Cottonseed Production in India.
Zankharia K. 2009, child labour: Problems and Remedies. VNSGU Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Vol: 1 Issue: 1 P.29.
SCHOLARLY RESEARCH JOURNAL FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES ISSN: 2349-4766
OCT-DEC, 2017, VOL-6/34 Page 55
Sanjit Mondal (55-58)
GREEN JOBS: A STRATEGY FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE