This is in continuation with my previous post on the subject of child labor. CRY needs no introduction. I happened to chance upon CRY's take on the implementation of the law and this is what I liked about it:
Even within the notification's limited ambit, there are gaps:
The prohibition is restricted to servants at home, hotels, dhabas and other recreation centres. It is not clear whether this applies to the household manufacturing sector, where a vast number of children are employed in similar working conditions.
The conviction rate for the already existing Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 is abysmally low - so low, that it is hardly a deterrent for employers. Without strengthening both enforcement mechanisms and provisions for rehabilitation, this step has little meaning.
The notification is premised on the belief that that child labour needs to be prohibited in hazardous occupations only. This totally ignores children's right to safe and facilitating environment for development, including health, nutrition and education needs.
Combined with the failure to table and pass legislation enabling the fundamental right to education and the likelihood that this notification is no more than an attempt to pre-empt the anticipated Supreme Court move to prohibit all forms of child labour, it is hard to imagine that this move will achieve significant impact.
The National Sample Survey 2000, reported 16.4 million Indian children aged 5-14 years were 'engaged in economic activities and domestic or non-remunerative work'. Another 46 million children of school-going age are unaccounted for, neither enrolled in school nor officially working.
Giving India at least one reason to be Number 1- home to the largest number of child labourers on the planet.
27 years of CRY's work with 2,500 marginalised communities across 20 states across India , has shown that the piece-meal, scheme-based, relief-oriented approach adopted by both governmental and NGOs has limited impact and practically no sustainability. This is because they fail to address the underlying causes of deprivation. Causes related to gender, caste, ethnicity, religion and class keep over 100 million Indian children hungry, unschooled and vulnerable to the worst forms of abuse and exploitation imaginable.
To read the entire article click here.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Musings on varied subjects
Its been a long time since I have posted anything on this blog. The only excuse that I have is the festive season has kept me very busy playing and enjoying life. One needs a break once in a while from the things that are going around in the world. ;-)
Too many things have happened in the past few weeks that my mind has been in a state of inertia. Verdict on Priyadarshini Mattoo's case has been declared, the traders have raised their voice against the Delhi sealings, the Jessica Lall case has come up for hearing again and so on n so forth.
Various blogs are full of topics of death penalty, corrupt mcd officials, mcd sealings, child labor rights and various people from around the world have raised their voices against and for the subject.
My take on these things can be viewed on the various posts that I have made on the various blog threads on ndtv's message board. To summarise I would like to state here that the death penalty should be retained as the highest form of punishment that can be offered to the guilty. With the known incidents of circumventing the law in India by the powerful and the mighty people of the country, a life term might just defeat the purpose. A death penalty is very final and very justified in these cases which drives home the point that no one is above law.
But then if no one is above the law, then why should religious practices be considered above the law. Recently there have been a couple of cases reported on the Jain practice of Santhara. With the practice of Euthanasia being considered as illegal in this country, does this Jain religious practice be encouraged? On one hand is the law and a lot of controversies and debates that are surrounding it and on the other hand is a religious practice that openly flounts the law. Being a law abiding citizen of India I would like to conform to the law and thereby not support Santhara as well. But circumstances in life drive a lot of things and what is right or wrong, legal or il-legal are all a matter of perception. Today I take a softer stance on the subject since an editorial in the TOI moved me deeply...... 'Dying with Dignity'.
Where dignity is concerned, even children are entitled to lead a dignified life. The child labor law has been made functional but only for a select section of children. As I see it, the laws have already been there for ages but it lacked proper implementation. Although I dont give my trust to the implementors of the law even today but looking at the radical actions that the present government is undertaking against un-lawfulness my hopes have been raised. If my hopes are fulfilled then probably I would dream that the same privilege will also be extended to the other children in the society as well. Life lives on hope.
A lot of things to write about and a lot of things to ponder on..... and on a wide variety of topics too. Watch out for my next post on this blog for some more of my take on other social causes.
Too many things have happened in the past few weeks that my mind has been in a state of inertia. Verdict on Priyadarshini Mattoo's case has been declared, the traders have raised their voice against the Delhi sealings, the Jessica Lall case has come up for hearing again and so on n so forth.
Various blogs are full of topics of death penalty, corrupt mcd officials, mcd sealings, child labor rights and various people from around the world have raised their voices against and for the subject.
My take on these things can be viewed on the various posts that I have made on the various blog threads on ndtv's message board. To summarise I would like to state here that the death penalty should be retained as the highest form of punishment that can be offered to the guilty. With the known incidents of circumventing the law in India by the powerful and the mighty people of the country, a life term might just defeat the purpose. A death penalty is very final and very justified in these cases which drives home the point that no one is above law.
But then if no one is above the law, then why should religious practices be considered above the law. Recently there have been a couple of cases reported on the Jain practice of Santhara. With the practice of Euthanasia being considered as illegal in this country, does this Jain religious practice be encouraged? On one hand is the law and a lot of controversies and debates that are surrounding it and on the other hand is a religious practice that openly flounts the law. Being a law abiding citizen of India I would like to conform to the law and thereby not support Santhara as well. But circumstances in life drive a lot of things and what is right or wrong, legal or il-legal are all a matter of perception. Today I take a softer stance on the subject since an editorial in the TOI moved me deeply...... 'Dying with Dignity'.
Where dignity is concerned, even children are entitled to lead a dignified life. The child labor law has been made functional but only for a select section of children. As I see it, the laws have already been there for ages but it lacked proper implementation. Although I dont give my trust to the implementors of the law even today but looking at the radical actions that the present government is undertaking against un-lawfulness my hopes have been raised. If my hopes are fulfilled then probably I would dream that the same privilege will also be extended to the other children in the society as well. Life lives on hope.
A lot of things to write about and a lot of things to ponder on..... and on a wide variety of topics too. Watch out for my next post on this blog for some more of my take on other social causes.
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