posted October 10, 2006 03:54 PM              

Child workers put on street by law to get them in school

The Times October 10, 2006

From Jeremy Page in Delhi



NAZIM MOHAMMED does not know what he should do today. Neither, it seems, does the Indian Government. For the past two years the 12-year-old has worked at the Imran Khan Food Corner in Delhi, cleaning dishes and chopping meat to help to pay for the education of his five siblings back home in Bengal.

But under a new ban that came into force at midnight, children under 14 can no longer be employed in private households, hotels, restaurants, cafes and tea-shops.

“What can I do? I will just have to find another job somewhere illegally,” Nazim said. “Things are not so good at home, so I have to work to support myself and my family.”

The Government hopes that Nazim will return to school and that the widespread exploitation of child workers in India will be curtailed. Some 12 million children are employed in this country of 1.1 billion people, according to the latest census figures, and activists say that the real number could be as much as five times that. The last census also showed that about 65 million Indian children aged between 6 and 14 did not attend school.

The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act 1986 forbids employing children under 14 in “hazardous” jobs such as making fireworks or working in mines and slaughterhouses. Employers face a prison term of up to two years and/or a fine of up to 20,000 rupees (£235) if found guilty.

In August the Government announced that it was broadening the definition of “hazardous” to include most places employing children. Most controversially, the ban covers private homes, millions of which have child servants known simply as chothu (little boy) or chothi (little girl).

Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, urged the country yesterday to comply with the amendment to the law. “Let us create a moral force to build our country free of child labour, paving the way for children enjoying the right to education,” he said.

Critics say that the original 1986 law is poorly enforced and that the new ban will be equally ineffective unless it is accompanied by strict policing and a government programme to rehabilitate child workers.

The Government insists that it will use existing infrastructure to accommodate child workers and has ordered its 29 states to prepare to house them. It has also launched a nationwide multi-media campaign to raise awareness of the ban and the potential penalties. “Don’t deny them their childhood!” national newspaper advertisements warn.

Unicef and most labour activists have welcomed the ban, which they hope will curb the widespread violent, and often sexual, abuse of child labourers. Many activists doubt, however, that it will take effect for years because of the widely held belief that child labourers would starve without work.

“These children don’t work for pleasure, but because they have to,” said Imran Khan, the owner of the café where Nazim works for about 1,500 rupees a month — half of what an adult would earn. “If the Government is going to clamp down on child labour, it must offer them an alternative.” And Nazim, who loses his only source of shelter and income today, seems to agree.

Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2396077,00.html

posted October 10, 2006 06:46 PM            

In US right now our laws are as follows:

Minimum Age for Employment:
The minimum age for employment is 14 years old. There are some exceptions such as newspaper delivery; performing in radio, television, movie, or theatrical productions; and work for parents in their solely-owned nonfarm business (except in manufacturing or in hazardous jobs).

Hours of Employment:
14- and 15-year-olds may be employed outside of school hours for a maximum of 3 hours per day and 18 hours per week when school is in session and a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week when school is not in session. This age group is prohibited from working before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m., except during summers when they may work until 9 p.m. (from June 1 through Labor Day).
16- and 17-year olds may be employed for unlimited hours. There are no federal laws restricting the number of hours of work per day or per week.

There are seventeen prohibited jobs for youth under the age of 18.

Manufacturing or storing explosives
Driving a motor vehicle and being an outside helper on a motor vehicle
Coal mining
Logging and sawmilling
Power-driven wood-working machines
Exposure to radioactive substances and to ionizing radiations
Power-driven hoisting equipment
Power-driven metal-forming, punching, and shearing machines
Mining, other than coal mining
Meat packing or processing (including power-driven meat slicing machines)
Power-driven bakery machines
Power-driven paper-products machines
Manufacturing brick, tile, and related products
Power-driven circular saws, band saws, and guillotine shears
Wrecking, demolition, and ship-breaking operations
Roofing operations
Excavation operations

The hours and age limit depends on the type of position - depending on if it is farm related or not.
http://www.stopchildlabor.org/USchildlabor/fact1.htm

I guess the biggest issue would be how does the government ensure the children will still have a roof over their head, food and an education? Can the economy in India support such an endeaver?

The only way to do it is through subsidizing and raising the wage of the average worker in India. Once that happens and Unions forms (thus forcing a payscale, benefits etc) India will no longer be the Country where Foreign countries will run to get lower cost products. Instead, they will realize that the same thing that ran them out of the US will run them out of India.

posted October 11, 2006 10:21 AM              

child labour , i believe is more of a social evil , ofcourse govt. needs to do its part .
our social system has had a lot of problems and as i know and understand only laws can't help .

at the same time , child labour doesn't really benefit the economy in such major ways that it would attract foreign investments nor its abolishment would mar the attarctiveness of the economy .

posted October 11, 2006 01:36 PM            

They now have the same number of mouths to feed, but without that extra money coming in to compensate. That usually causes people to coalece to form Unions- Unions work to increase wages. Wage increase, companies pay out more money. If company x used to get it's wigets made in the USA for $5 a widget, but because the wage is so much lower in India the now pay only $2.00 a wiget, what do you think will happen when they increase the wage and now wigets cost $5.00 again?

We ran companies out of this country because people demanded higher wages, more benefits and to work less hours with more breaks / vacation time. The profit margin dwindled so the companies moved.

The same will hold true with any country - unless you have a different theory.

The story begins with a similar example of what I posted but with a real person;

"NAZIM MOHAMMED does not know what he should do today. Neither, it seems, does the Indian Government. For the past two years the 12-year-old has worked at the Imran Khan Food Corner in Delhi, cleaning dishes and chopping meat to help to pay for the education of his five siblings back home in Bengal."