Events & Issues

New Delhi, 13 October 2014                                             

‘Nobel’ Satyarthi 

MEANING OF PEACE WIDENED

By Dr S Saraswathi

(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)

The nation is legitimately proud of the achievement of Kailash Satyarthi, relentless child rights activist, who has rescued around 80,000 children stuck in child labour – a selfless task that has received the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014. Among various kinds of children’s problems – malnutrition, child mortality,  sexual  abuse, child labour, child marriage, school drop-out and so on – child labour is seen in many instances occurring not alone but along with one or more other forms of ill-treatment of children. It amounts to violence against children.

The country has reason to celebrate this extraordinary achievement of Satyarthi and his team as India has earned notoriety for child labour in the highly competitive international market. Some of India’s products have been turned down for its alleged child labour component in the manufacturing process.

Besides being an evil by itself, child labour creates an atmosphere conducive to crimes against children. A child worker for wages is an easy target for child abuse; he/she belongs mostly to a poor family; and education is beyond his/her reach. All the evils associated with poverty and lack of schooling like child marriages become his lot in life.

Child labour intersects with every one of the Millennium Development Goals set to be reached by 2015. Its eradication is not mentioned specifically in the MDGs. But the goals of universal basic education, gender equality and empowerment of women, maternal health and reduction of child mortality cannot be attained without the elimination of child labour.  

The award confirms global recognition of the importance of ensuring child rights for peace and well-being in the world. It has also widened the concept of peace that is no longer restricted to absence of war. Peace is freedom from disturbance and conflict – a state of mind and not just freedom from armed warfare.   

The ILO and the UNO has identified employment of children below the age of 14 years as child labour. The International Child Labour Rights Movement, 1989 has put the age limit as 18 years. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child also defines “child” as “any human being under the age of 18”. But, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 in India has defined child as one below the age of 14 years. The discrepancy is taken advantage by employers hiring and exploiting child labour. The phenomenon is common across India.

The ILO defines child labour as “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and work harmful to their physical and mental development”. Satyarthi’s movement is aptly named as “Bachpan Bachao Andolan” meaning a movement to save childhood. It concentrates on relief and rehabilitation of children who have lost all their rights.

The UNICEF has given a more detailed description of child labour differentiating age-groups within child population. Economic work for at least one hour or 28 hours of domestic work per week of children in the age-group 5-11 years is regarded as child labour. In the case of children between 12 and 14 years, the duration varied as at least 14 hours of economic work or 28 hours of domestic work per week.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which has been ratified by India in 1992 guarantees protection against all forms of neglect, cruelty, and exploitation. It enjoins States to provide education to all children to become useful members of society.  

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, however, does not ban child labour altogether, but prohibits only employment in hazardous occupations and processes and regulates work in other jobs. Prohibited work includes beedi making, carpet weaving, cloth printing, dying and weaving, mica cutting, tanning, wool cleaning, building construction, and manufacturing cement, matches, explosives and fireworks, and shellac. 

This Act does not apply to employment of children in family enterprises thus providing a big loophole for escape. The exception betrays the traditional mindset of the parents to claim overarching right over their children overlooking the contention that child rights are part of human rights.

Domestic labour is one of the biggest fields for child employment. But, it defies policies and rules and continues to absorb children as part-time workers.  

There is no reliable data on the size of child labour in India or in any part of the world. For, much of this shameful phenomenon is hidden and suppressed. The number varies from an estimate of 60 million by some NGOs to about 5 million by the National Sample Survey. The UNICEF put the figure as 28 million in the age-group 5-11 years. Whatever be the size,   India has earned the reputation of having the highest number of child workers. The satisfying factor is that the employers and the families of child workers seem to be aware that employing children in paid economic work is an unlawful act and cannot be done openly.

It is not ignorance of law, but inability on the part of children and willful refusal to adhere to the law on the part of employers that are behind child labour. The argument about the suitability of children’s numb fingers and soft touch in certain industries like carpet weaving are unacceptable considering the arduous nature of the work and its repercussions on the future of the children deployed.

Today, the Children’s Rights movement has gone global. There are many international children’s organizations like Save the Children, Free the Child, and Children’s Defence Fund. A Children’s Rights Information Network (CRIN) has been organized in 1983 which comprises a group of over 2000 NGOs around the world.

In many western countries there are Children’s Ombudsmen to protect the rights of children. It was first established in Norway in 1981 followed by Sweden, Finland, and Ukraine. It is even reported that Ukraine appointed a child to that post.

The accusation that parents themselves are the tormentors of their children may be unpalatable to Indian parents, but it is not unbelievable given the social-economic privations and deprivations of a vast child population. It cannot be denied that the traditional child-adult interaction in India has to change a lot to make children’s rights a reality.

South Africa offers an experiment to organize children’s movement. The Children’s Resource Centre has been established for children in 7-14 age group. Its mission is to help children organize themselves into a children’s movement with the object of building a better world for children. Several children’s groups are formed and they carry on cultural, health, food security, and media programmes.

The concept of a children’s movement sounds attractive. It is needed in India, but its feasibility is rather bleak. Initially, in the light of Nobel award for child rights activists, we can confidently hope for stronger and wider network of NGOs taking up the cause of children. The work apparently has to start with adult education in child care and protection, and child rights.

Given the atmosphere of protest and direct action sweeping across the country engulfing all spheres of life from private life to high politics, the day may not be far when we may witness a movement of children, for children, and by children for their own protection and welfare against exploitation. A crusader like Satyarthi may provide the spirit required for such a movement and guide this as a peaceful transformation of the young world for those deprived of their childhood. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and  Feature Alliance)