From Work to School Campaign Campaign Activities Child Domestic Labour Child Labour is a Crime Complaint Form I Pledge...for Childhood Campaign Materials Campaign History

My Experience As Child Labour(er)

President of India administered a pledge to the legal fraternity for free legal aid to victims of child labour

Mukti Caravan takes off in Jharkhand and Bihar

"From WORK to SCHOOL" Campaign (Brief Report)

"India Launches Liberation Caravan (Mukti Caravan) Against Child Labour (October 10, 2006)

"From WORKto SCHOOL" Campaign Launched (October 06, 2006)

You see her everyday at the school bus stop in your locality. She carries a school bag waiting for the school bus to arrive. When it arrives, she promptly hands it over to another girl of her age who boards the bus and goes to school. But she returns to the home to cook food, wash clothes, clean utensils and perform other household chores. It doesn’t take much to realize that she is the neighbourhood maid.

He is called chotu by everyone. He hands out tea at the office, at the roadside eateries (dhabas), he takes the change from you, to hand over to his master. But perhaps, he doesn’t get any money at the end of the month. He is the ubiquitous boy along the many eateries lining the roads in Indian cities and towns. 

These are two faces people have grown used to seeing, so much so that not a passing thought enters their minds as to why these little children should work and others their age go to school. They are poor…their parents can’t afford to send them to school… if they go to school, who will get extra money…that’s the reason they work. With this general observation, the thought is shrugged off.

The Indian Census figures quote that there are about 12.05 million children engaged in child labour. While the real figures are much higher and NGOs estimate there are 60 million child labourers in the country. In India 20% of all children under-14 working outside the family are in domestic service.* Thus, there are anywhere between 2 -12 million child domestic labourers in the country. These children are deprived of education, are isolated from their families, and are exploited behind closed doors.

Violence behind closed doors

Duties performed by domestic child workers are everyday household chores such as cooking, washing, ironing of clothes, cleaning, fetching water, shopping and taking care of employers’ young children – including escorting them to and from school and carrying their bags.   Similarly children working in Dhabas, Restaurants etc work day and night sacrificing their childhood: their chance to go to school, to play and to be with their families. 

The children are often beaten up for not doing the job properly, and cases of sexual abuses and rape against child workers have been frequently reported. Their dreams and aspirations are shattered and gradually die in the breathlessness behind the closed walls.  They are deprived of the rights due to them as children, including the right to education, play, health, and freedom as individuals.

With such atrocities happening on a daily basis, are there no provisions to protect children and their fundamental rights? India has banned child labour in certain sectors and occupations listed as hazardous in the Child Labour (Regulation and Prohibition) Act, 1986. In a notification on July 10th 2006, the Government of India has added child domestic labour and child labour in the hospitality industry to the list of hazardous occupations which comes into effect on the 10th of October 2006. It is now illegal to employ children in homes and in restaurants, dhabas, spas etc.

The efforts to get child domestic labour listed as a hazardous occupation has been on since 1996 when BBA helped rescue Arshad, who was burnt with a stove and branded with hot iron for daring to have drunk left over milk after the master’s child had drunk and left some in the glass. The master was a government employee. The gruesome face of invisible child labour came to light then. Arshad’s case was taken up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) which directed the government to change service rules for government employees asking for a ban of employing children as domestic help in their homes. It was only in 1999 that it came into effect. It took another 7 more years to extend the ban to all households in the country. (For more, read history of Child Domestic Labour Campaign)

Notification by Ministry of Labour

EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN AS DOMESTIC SERVANTS AND IN DHABAS BANNED FROM OCTOBER

The government has decided to prohibit employment of children as domestic servants or servants or in dhabas (roadside eateries), restaurants, hotels, motels, teashops, resorts, spas or in other recreational centres. The ban has been imposed under the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 and will be effective from 10th October 2006. The Ministry of Labour has recently issued a notification to this effect giving three-month mandatory notice. The Ministry has warned that anyone employing children in these categories would be liable to prosecution and other panel action under the Act.

It may be recalled that the government servants have already been prohibited from employing children as domestic servants. By issuing this notification, the Government has imposed these restrictions on everyone.

The decision has been taken on the recommendation of the Technical Advisory Committee on Child Labour headed by the Director General, ICMR. The Committee considers the occupations mentioned in the above notification as hazardous for children and has recommended their inclusion in the occupations which are prohibited for persons below 14 years under the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986. The Committee while recommending a ban on employing children in these occupations had said that these children are subjected to physical violence, psychological traumas and at times even sexual abuse. It said that invariably such incidents go unnoticed and unreported as they take place in the close confines of the households or dhabas or restaurants. It said that these children are made to work for long hours and are made to undertake various hazardous activities severely affecting their health and psyche. The Committee has said that the children employed in road-side eateries and highway dhabas were the most vulnerable lot and were easy prey to sex and drug abuse as they came in contact with all kinds of people. The measure is expected to go a long way in ameliorating the condition of hapless working children. The Labour Ministry is also contemplating to strengthen and expand its rehabilitative Scheme of National Child Labour Project, which already covers 250 child labour endemic districts in the country.

MLD//L -53 (cpi-iw) 1.8.06

Source: Press Information Bureau

The Government's Role>>

What can you do?

• Spread awareness about child labour and the movement against it

• Stop employing children in your homes and businesses

• Stop using products made and services rendered by child labourers

• If you know someone who employs children, report them to the authorities

• Volunteer your time, energy and resources towards elimination of child labour and providing education to all children

• Ensure that every child around you is in school
  
  
• Treat every child as if s/he is your own

For more information, RWAs, students, teachers and all aware citizens may contact BBA by phone at (011) 2622 4899 or 2647 5481 or by mail at advocacy@bba.org.in