Evangelicals observe Anti-child Labor Day with prayers

June 13, 2008
NEW DELHI (ICNS): As the world is observed Anti-child Labor Day on June 12, Evangelical Fellowship of India Children At Risk (EFICAR) remembered the day seeking prayers for child labors.
The Evangelical group requested prayers for the “stringent implementation” of laws that ban child labor in India। It said such prayers are need so that people become aware of the legal provisions “so that our nation will become a better and safe place for children to live in.” In a message it said child labor is “the biggest” issue in India as the nation has 12.7 million child labors aged 5-14, which is “the highest in the world.” “Most of them work 10-13 hours a day. The number of child labors is increasing in the states like Sikkim, Nagaland and Himachal Pradesh where there was no trace of child labour some years back.”Indian Constitution says that no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. India also enacted a law called child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, in 1986, which prohibits the employment of children below 14 years of age in hazardous industries, it noted. A notification issued in 2006 under the act prohibits the employment of children below 14 as domestic servants, in roadside stalls, restaurants, tea stalls, hotels, recreation centers. It also made provisions for punishing the violators. Yet the act remains ineffective effective in eradicating child labor from our society, the Evangelical Fellowship of India note said seeking prayers to create awareness in society.

Source: Indian Catholic

http://www.theindiancatholic.com/report.asp?nid=10470

World Day Against Child Labour for working child

The ILO has declared June 12 as the World Day Against Child Labour that is observed across the world. We should create awareness among parents that children need quality education and proper training for acquiring skills necessary to succeed in life..
CJ: Md Mudassir Alam , 18 hours ago Views:261 Comments:0
FAMOUS ENGLISH poet William Wordsworth once said, “The Child is the father of the Man.” With the time, the quote lost its significance and now hardly anyone cares about the saying of Wordsworth. Gruesome fact is that today the wealth of parents decide the fortune of the children whether they will enjoy the luxurious amenities or work from the childhood to earn bread. Nowadays children have been used for domestic work, mining, agriculture and other hard works. Besides, millions of children work for long hours in factories, mostly in dangerous conditions. These children are unaware about the liberty of childhood and suffer from the cruel trend generated by civilised society.
For those unlucky children living in misery, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has declared June 12 as World Day Against Child Labour, which is observed across the world. Sadly the day is not popular as Valentine Day, Friendship Day or other celebrated day, but the concerned people across the world give importance to this day and observe with great enthusiasm. Non-government organisations, human right activists and other social welfare organisations work at their best to spread awareness among common people related to child labour.
According the ILO estimate, about 165 million children between the ages of five and 14 are involved in child labour across the world. Usually each year on World Day Against Child Labour, the ILO focusses on one of the ’Worst Forms of Child labour’ listed in Convention No 182. Like many countries in the world, child labour condition is also very bad in India. World’s second largest most populated country, India has the highest number of child labour of the world. Despite the strict laws, the child labour is increasing day-by-day in India. A number of reasons are behind the huge number of child labour in India. Poverty and illiteracy are the main reasons behind the increasing number of child labours in India. Generally poor parents encourage their children to earn money by working instead of sending them to school. Traditionally, girls suffer more from boys, as parents prefer the boys to send school and send girls to work for household works. At the same time, rich people and owners of factories never think about the health and freedom of the children.
Seeing the continuous growth in the number of child labour across the world the United Nations (UN) and the broader international community have set up the Millennium Development Goals. The community has set the target that by the year 2015, all boys and girls will complete a full course of primary education with gender parity. However, these targets cannot be fulfilled unless the factors that generate
child labour and prevent poor families from sending their children to school are addressed.
On this important day, we should at least think about the possible ways to stop the child labour and save the children who are future of nation। We should create awareness among the parents that children need a good quality education and proper training for acquiring the skills necessary to succeed in the labour market. Last but not the least, those who hire children for work should think whether they will allow their children to do the same work. If such thinking will develop in the society then the evil of child labour can be removed from the world.
Source : World Meri News
http://world.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=135615

Missing, A Strong Legal Framework To Combat Child Labour

Wednesday 11th of June 2008The numbers tell the sorry story - an estimated 60 million child labourers in India but only 670,000 violations of the law detected in eight years and just 22,588 convictions!Behind the bland government numbers are the millions of young children working in roadside eateries, slaving away in glass factories, hunched up over carpet looms or sweeping and cooking in homes in blatant violation of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act।The children are a visible proof of the failure to implement the law, the inbuilt lacunae in the legislation itself and the poor rehabilitation policies.Although government figures put the number of child labourers in the country at 1.5 million, child rights activists say the number is closer to 60 million.The low conviction rate in the eight years during 1997-98 to 2005-06, as indicated by the annual report of the ministry of labour 2007-08, gives a clear signal that the law has failed to act as a deterrent to stop child labour, say experts.'The number of people convicted because of flouting the law and hiring children as labourers is very low. According to a study by the V.V. Giri National Labour Institute (a body of the ministry of labour and employment) in 2003, for instance, 14,163 inspections were done with respect to enforcement of the Child Labour Act. However, the number of convictions was only 99,' Pradeep Narayanan of CRY India told IANS.Kailash Satyarthi of the Bachpan Bachao Aandolan (Save Childhood Movement) added that judgements against those flouting the law on child labour were rare; hardly anyone has been jailed for two years for an offence under the law prohibiting child labour.For first convictions, the act prescribes imprisonment of three to 12 months or a fine of Rs.10,000-20,000 ($250-500). Second offences are to be punished with a mandatory six months to two years in prison.While implementation of the law is one problem, the legal framework is also not strong enough.According to Narayanan, the law, which bans the employment of children under 14, itself has many limitations.'According to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, children below the age of 14 should not be employed in factories and hazardous occupations. Nowhere does it mention the agriculture sector, where 70-80 percent of the child labourers are employed for cheap labour,' Narayanan told IANS.Another reason why there seems to be no end to the vicious cycle of child labour is the poor rehabilitation policies of the rescued child labourers.The economic context that forces the children to work or face starvation is vital, say experts. What is needed is holistic rehabilitation.In a conference earlier this year, Dipa Dixit, member of the National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), pointed to the deplorable condition of juvenile homes where rescued child labourers are taken to. Instead of helping matters, they just drive the children back to the roads, she said.Mahmun, a 15-year-old rescued child labourer, said: 'The juvenile homes are like jails. I was picked up from a railway station and put into a juvenile home in Lajpat Nagar (in south Delhi) where I used to be beaten up almost every day along with other children.'Forget about love and care, the caretakers used to take back the clothes that we used to get and purchased things like cigarettes and tobacco. Frustrated, I used to escape from all these homes and go back to the roads.'The National Child Labour Project (NCLP), which acts a bridge school for rescued child labourers and is run by the ministry of labour, has been functioning for the past 20 years but without much gain.As a possible solution, Satyarthi suggests that all programmes such the NCLP, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the midday meal scheme be clubbed together and the responsibility of their implementation be given to one officer in every district -- to begin with in 100 districts.Experts also suggest the implementation of more officials and labour inspectors and not looking at the issue of child labour in isolation.'Poverty is the main reason which drives parents into pushing their children to work instead of sending them to schools. Addressing that is one of the main challenges to resolving this mammoth problem,' Satyarthi told IANS.As India stares at another global day against child labour, perhaps it is time to finally take up the challenge.(Azera Rahman can be contacted at azera.p@ians.in)
Source: News Post India
http://newspostindia.com/report-59956

ठेकेदारी समाज के लिए कुष्ठ रोग
आज ठेकेदारी एक बहूत बड़ी समस्या बन गई है । ये एक कुष्ठ रोग के जैसे समाज पर असर कर रही है। नासूर बन गई है लोगों के लिए ठेकेदारी एक ऐसी कार्य पधती है जो की केवल पूंजीपतियों का ही लाभ कराती और गरीबों का खून चुस्तीहै। जिसके कारन गरीब लोगका समाज और भी गरीब होता जा रहा है क्योंकि उनकी सुनाने बाला कोई नहीं है न ही सरकारें सुनती है न और कोई इसकी जिम्मेदारी लेने वाला कोई नही है ठेकेदार थोड़े से पैसे देकर उनकी झमता और उस पैसे की कीमत से भी जायदा काम कराने के लिए प्रयासरत रहते है उन्हें सिर्फ़ अपने लाभ के आगे किसी की भी गरीब की परवाह नही होती है ।
और न ही ठेकेदारी से मज्दोरों का भविष्य सुरझित है जब तक उनके शरीर में शक्ति है तब तक वो थोड़ा सा पैसा पाकर अपना जीवन जीत हैं । वो भी जानवरों की तरह उनका कोई भी रिकोर्ड भी नहीं होता और रिकोर्ड होता भी है तो ठेकेदारों के पास उससे वो अपनी मर्जी का कम करते हैं
अब तो मज्दुओं के पास साबुत नम की कोई चीज भी छोड़ते जैसे की वेतन की पर्ची इ एस आई सी , पी ऍफ़ , परिचय पत्र इत्यादी । इन सब चीजों के बिना कोई भी कम्पनी या ठेकेदार उनको आसानी से कभी नौकरी से निकल सकते हैं और वो बिना साबुत के अदालत में भी नहीं जा सकते क्योंकि अदालत में भी उनकी बिना साबुत के कोई सुनाने बाला कोई नही है । ऐसे वो मजदुर लोग अपनी बेकार से नौकरी छोड़ कर भी काफी परशानी में आजाते हैं क्योंकि वो कर्ज में तो उसी समय से दुबे होते हैं जबकि बो नौकरी कर रहे थे। अब उनके पास कोई भी चारा नहीं है ।
ऐसी दसा में वो लोग भी परेशां करते हैं जिनका पैसा लेकर मजदूर अपना कम चलाते थे । कभी-२ ऐसी परीस्थितियों में काफी मजदुर आत्म हत्या कर लेते हैं । या दूसरे ग़लत लोगो के बहेकाबे में आकर वो किसी ग़लत कार्य को अंजाम देते है जैसे की चोरी, डकैती , अपहरण , हत्या और भी कई प्रकार के अपराधों को बढ़ाबा मिलता है इस ठेकेदारी कारण और अंत में मजदूरों का जीवन नरक हो जाता है और उनके बच्चों की शिक्षा, पालन पोषण और उनसे सम्भंधित सभी चीजों में बढ़ा आती है
काफी कंपनिओं में तो ऐसा होता है की मजदुर अपना पुरा जीवन उस कम्पनी में कार्य करते हुए व्यतीत कर देते हैं जब उनका अन्तिम समय है ब्रधावस्था होती तब कम्पनी से निकल देते है ।