child labour

CHILD MARRIAGE IN INDIA:
Definition: Child marriage means that two children are forced to marry each other with the consent of the two families. The children are forced into the institution of marriage without knowing about its significance in the long run. Though parents are of the opinion that they involve their children in such rituals because it is an age old custom and it will also secure the future of their children but the reality is not so. Though in some cases parents believe in such superstitions and dogmas in other cases greed is the most significant factor. Child marriages are prevalent in India. Estimates vary widely between sources as to the extent and scale of child marriages. The International Center for Research on Women-UNICEF publications have estimated India's child marriage rate to be 47% from small sample surveys of 1998,[3] while the United Nations reports it to be 30% in 2005. Jharkhand is the state with highest child marriage rates in India (14.1%), while Kerala is the only state where child marriage rates have increased in recent years, particularly in its Muslim community.[6][7] Rural rates of child marriages were three times higher than urban India rates in 2009.
CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD MARRIAGE:
1. Early maternal deaths
2. Infant health
3. Fertility Outcome
4. Violence
Prevention Programs in India: India is still not a signatory toThe Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration for Marriages, which came into force in December 1964. It obligates States Parties to –
(a) specify a minimum age for marriage
(b) prohibit legal acceptance of any marriage without the full and free consent of both parties
(c) register all marriages

The national goals set out by India its various policy and plan documents are still far from being met. The analysis as presented in the chart that followsis also a reflection on the poor implementation of international Child marriage is still not seen as a crime. It is also not a child protection issue in as much as the concerned department responsible for implementation of the child marriage law and related programmes and schemes fall in the women’s welfare section of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. A close look at the national laws, policies and schemes in this section explains how the focus of the government interventions on elimination of child marriages has been more in terms of addressing it within the realm of reproductive health, nutrition and education programmes for adolescent girls than as part of child protection.

1. National Policy For children,2013: Within its objective to strengthen the overall child protection framework, the policy provides for tracking, rescuing and rehabilitating out of school children, including married childrenand ensuring them access to their right to education.

2. The Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls(SABLA): Sabla include nutrition provision @ INR 5/per day for 300 days in a year; iron and folic acid supplementation (52 tablets annually); health check up and referral services; nutrition & health education; counseling/guidance on family welfare, child care practices, and home management; life skills education and accessing public services; and, vocational training for girls aged 16 and above under the National Skill Development Programme.

3. Kishori Shakti Yojana (Adolescent Girls Scheme): focus on improving the nutritional and health status of adolescen girls between 11-18 years of age, and promoting school attendance

4. Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG):

5. Dhanalakshmi: a conditional cash transfer scheme providing cash to the family of the girl child (preferably the mother) on fulfilling certain conditionalities for the girl child, such as birth registration; immunisation; enrolment retention in school; and delaying the marriage age beyond 18 years.
6. Poorna Shakti Kendras (PSKs): September 2011 in Pali district of Rajasthan,it set up150 village level PSKs to demonstrate convergence of programmes and schemes for the purpose of empowering women.

7. Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS): to strengthen families of children at risk as a measure to prevent children from falling out of the social security and protective net and also to strengthen structures and institutional and non institutional mechanisms to protect children who come in contact with the law as victims of crimes or as children in conflict with the law.

CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA:
Definition: Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. Child labour can also be defined as the full-time employment of children who are under a minimum legal age.
In developing countries, with high poverty and poor schooling opportunities, child labour is still prevalent. In 2010, sub-saharan Africa had the highest incidence rates of child labour, with several African nations witnessing over 50 percent of children aged 5–17 working. Worldwide agriculture is the largest employer of child labour.
History: Although children had been servants and apprentices throughout most of human history, child labor reached new extremes during the Industrial Revolution. (The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes that occurred in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840). Children were useful as laborers because their size allowed them to move in small spaces in factories or mines where adults couldn't fit, children were easier to manage and control and perhaps most importantly, children could be paid less than adults.
CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR:

•Poverty
•Parental illiteracy
•Tradition of making children learn the family skills
•Absence of universal compulsory Primary education
•Social apathy and tolerance of child labour
•Ignorance of the parents about the adverse consequences of Child labour
•Ineffective enforcement of the legal provisions pertaining to child labour
•Non-availability of and non-accessibility to schools
•Irrelevant and non-attractive school curriculum
•Employers prefer children as they constitute cheap labour and they are not able to organize themselves
CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD LABOUR:

•Stunted growth of future generation
•Inability to harness human resources
•Inability to contribute to development
•Adult unemployment
•Depreciation in wages
•Perpetuation of poverty
•Perpetuation of economic inequality
•Increased abuse of children
•Increased illiteracy
•Ignorant populace
•Citizens with inferiority complex
•Malnourished citizens
•Sick citizens
•Political instability
•Wasted human resources
•Wasted human talents and skills
Initiatives against child labour:
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in 16 occupations and 65 processes that are hazardous to the children's lives and health. It includes diving as well as process involving excessive heat and cold; mechanical fishing; food processing; beverage industry; timber handling and loading; mechanical lumbering; warehousing; and processes involving exposure to free silica such as slate, pencil industry, stone grinding, slate stone mining also.
The Factories Act, 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years. An adolescent aged between 15 and 18 years can be employed in a factory only if he obtains a certificate of fitness from an authorized medical doctor.
The Mines Act, 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18 years of age in a mine. Further, it states that apprentices above 16 may be allowed to work under proper supervision in a mine.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act, 2000: This Act was last amended in 2002 in conformity with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child covers young person below 18 years of age.
The Minimum Wages Act, 1948: Prescribes minimum wages for all employees in all establishments or to those working at home in certain sectors specified in the schedule of the Act. Central and State Governments can revise minimum wages specified in the schedule.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009: Provides for free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years. This legislation also envisages that 25 per cent of seats in every private school should be allocated for children from disadvantaged groups including differently abled children.