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Political will lacking to put an end to child labour, says Brinda Karat

— Photo: R.V. Moorthy

Concern for the child: Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Brinda Karat, Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Member of Parliament G. Venkat Swamy, Communist Party of India general secretary A. B. Bardhan and Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu N. Ram at a national convention on ‘Right to Education and Abolition of Child Labour’ in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: Advocating the need for the people to stand united for the rights of the child, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Brinda Karat said on Friday that there was a lack of political will to address the issue.

Speaking at a national convention on ‘Right to Education and Abolition of Child Labour,’ organised by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) here, Ms. Karat said there was a huge political deficit and a lack of multi-dimensional approach when it came to abolition of child labour.

The existing law bans children from working but there is no monitoring when it comes to their rehabilitation. Recommending penalties for the employers of child labour, she said the responsibility of encouraging child labour also lay with those who employed children.

Ms. Karat strongly suggested amendments to the international conventions and legal provisions to prohibit all forms of labour for children and bring all individuals up to the age of 18 years under the definition of ‘child.’

Citing shortage of universal immunisation vaccine as the basic violation of child rights, Ms. Karat said the government’s immunisation programme had collapsed because of privatisation.

Agreeing with Ms. Karat, Communist Party of India general secretary A. B. Bardhan said everyone was aware of the issues of malnutrition, drop-out rates, and child rights but the need of the hour was to come together to find a solution. He favoured stricter legal provisions for those indulging in child rights violations.

Admitting that abolition of child labour was a long and hard battle with no easy solutions, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu N. Ram focussed on the powerful linkage between child labour and the absence of a system to ensure all children are in school and not part of the work force.

The system has completely failed in doing justice to its children and it is clear that Indian social and political India lacks the will and ways and means to do what most countries have done for their children, he said.

Mr. Ram said most developed countries had made education compulsory and shifted focus from making education as a duty instead of right. The Indian legislation has failed to understand that the shift has to be from right to duty as it will make it “unacceptable not to send a child to school.”

Pointing out that children were the worst affected in the present deteriorating economy that forced dislocation and migration, Mr. Ram said pressure must be put on the political parties to address the issue, particularly when general elections were slated in a few months. He said a similar approach had been adopted before the 1996 elections but most political parties did not respond except the CPI (M) and the CPI who put it in their election manifestoes.

Describing child labour as a national shame, Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh said all stakeholders had to come together to eradicate child labour but said that right to education would be a reality as the Right to Education Bill would be passed in the current session of Parliament.

Mr. Singh said poverty was the main cause of child labour and poverty was caused by unemployment. If unemployment was removed, child labour would also end. He hoped that India would become poverty-free by 2015 and subsequently child-labour free.

Member of Parliament G. Venkat Swamy apologised for not being able to eradicate child labour during his two tenures as the Labour Minister at the Centre. He also said that those non-governmental organisations which received foreign funds in the name of eradicating child labour should be banned. All funds should go to the government, he said.

International Labour Organisation’s Governing Body member Adyanthaya said child labour could not be eradicated unless there was universalisation of education and every child had access to school. He was also of the opinion that trade unions should be strengthened to ensure no children were employed at work places.

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