The cruel nexus of child labour and intergenerational poverty in India – Hindustan Times

The sight of many other children like Aastha and Habib — working on the streets, at dhabas, mechanic shops, motor garages, garment manufacturing units and so on — seems to have been normalised and accepted in the country. Even pop culture is strewn with casual references to child labour to build a story. Many times, we look away, ignoring an imploring child begging.

The Covid-19 pandemic has likely pushed more children into child labour — in its worst forms. There are 160 million child labourers globally, 10.1 million in India alone, out of which 4.5 million are girls.

These children have perhaps never envisaged a better future for themselves. This raises a pertinent question: Bogged down by intergenerational poverty, how will children ever be able to dream big?

As per the (latest) Census 2011, 10.1 million children (3.9% of the total child population) are working, either as “main workers” or “marginal workers”, and more than 42.7 million children in India are out of school. The latest report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) presents a monumental challenge: 149,404 cases of crimes against children last year, a whopping 16% rise, of which 982 cases were registered as formal complaints under the Child Labour Act. However, the 982 are only the reported number of cases. Thousands of children are still working silently in the hazardous processes due to poverty and the acceptance of child labour practices in the community.

These numbers are not narrating the story of unprecedented loss brought in by the Covid-19 crisis that disproportionately affected children in India, making them vulnerable to harmful labour and violence only because no one is complaining about a child being employed, and hence, does not reflect in the NCRB reports. According to the International Labour Organisation report, the number has decreased in rural areas and increased in urban areas because of the growing demand for child workers doing menial jobs. Even the strictest child labour laws don't create adequate impediments to stopping child labour because of unmitigated threats and the acceptance of the masses that child labour is a result of poverty.

Tackling the problem in its entirety

Child labour is inherently complex in India. Interlinked factors of poverty and a lack of educational opportunities coupled with inequalities and deprivation impede a child's development. Intersectional gender, ethnicity, and caste discrimination make marginalised children even more vulnerable. The subject cannot be tackled in isolation because child rights are indivisible, interrelated, and interdependent. There needs to be a convergence of government resources, business principles, activism, and community engagement to stop children from being victims of harmful labour and exploitation.

From the government side, policy and implementation gaps in education, livelihood generation, food security, and gender equality need to be tackled concurrently, along with providing high priority and adequate resources for the child labour elimination programmes/schemes, only then can we think of eliminating child labour.

Similarly, a profitable business supply chain free of child labour is the goal to aspire for. The ministry of labour and employment, along with relevant ministries and various industry bodies, associations, and the chamber of commerce, need to work in tandem and exhibit policy commitment that supports and champions child rights.

Civil society organisations play a critical role in liaisoning with the government and law enforcement agencies and helping build capacity and strengthen the existing protection systems. Organisations must engage with the government and support evidence-gathering, research and policy analysis. Work needs to be done at the grassroots to raise mass awareness against child labour practice, to make it unacceptable, generate consciousness among civil society, and citizens to report and seek help to report child labour cases. A watchdog mechanism must be established at the school, village, panchayat, and community levels to prevent child labour.

And finally, civil societies have to bolster the mental health of children affected by stress and trauma and create access to psychosocial support through a multi-sectoral response because, more often than not, it is the children who feel that they are the ones who have committed a crime by being in the workforce. After all, children are not the source of problems. Children are equal stakeholders in a growth-driven sustainable world, and their protection and safety are non-negotiable.

The good news is that for the first time a Parliamentary panel is engaged in a detailed examination of the National Policy on Child Labour. However, any change in the policy will only be meaningful when coordinated with other policies on education, health & family support to break from the shackles of this intergenerational hardship and has the complete support of industry associations and civil society organisations.

A defining characteristic of India's poor is that they remain in poverty over a long period. This can mean that poverty is transmitted from one generation to another, with poor parents having poor children, who are more likely to become poor adults. Unfortunately, while on one hand, our country has made commendable headway in reducing child labour, on the other hand, its social acceptance has quietened our conscience.

Anindit Roy Chowdhury is the chief programmes officer, Save the Children, India

The views expressed are personal