October 09, 2006

Child Labor in India

Link: BBC NEWS | South Asia | Child workers face uncertain future.

Dhiraj Kumar is staring at an uncertain future. Until two days ago, he worked at a tea stall at the Indian capital, Delhi's, biggest bus station, ISBT.

His 12-hour shift began at nine in the night. He made tea, washed pots and pans and glasses, and served the customers.

For his work, he was paid 50 rupees (a little more than $1) a day. On the days business was bad, he was paid less, with the promise that the balance would come tomorrow. And, says Dhiraj, tomorrow seldom comes.

An Indian government ban on children working as domestic servants or in roadside food stalls comes into effect on 10 October.

...A senior official in the Labour Ministry, SK Srivastava, says, "Children under 14 are vulnerable to physical, mental and even sexual abuse. Their exploitation goes unreported and unnoticed inside the closed confines of homes and food stalls....Most of the working children come from five Indian states - Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and eastern Uttar Pradesh. Their parents say crippling poverty forces them to send their children, sometimes as young as five, to work in other people's homes and factories.

... Factories employing children around the country are raided regularly and children are "rescued" and paraded before the media.

But, Aatreyee Sen of the Human Rights Law Network says, "Almost 90 to 95% of these rescued children come back to work, most of them are actually worse off. Many end up being sold or trafficked."

Considering that bans and raids in the past have failed to work, most activists say the latest ban is unlikely to have any effect.

Ashraf, who visited the ISBT just two days ago, says he saw at least 40 children working in the food stalls here. Today, they are all missing.

"He has gone home," is the common response when we inquire about the children.

A euphemism for "staying out of sight", explains Ashraf.

So most of the children are waiting for the dust to settle, after which they will come back. For, as Dhiraj says, they really have no alternative.

His parents and his four younger siblings live in Bihar and the small plot of land the family owns is unable to provide for everyone. Dhiraj's income makes the crucial difference in the family's battle to survive.

So, he says he is going to stick it out here. "I have found another job, at another food stall, but I've been told to lie low for a few days. There will be raids for three four days, but after that they will stop. And then I can go to work," he says.

Posted by Anupam Chander on October 9, 2006 at 08:55 PM in Globalization | Permalink