Jaipur: A group of 14 children from the tribal families of the Banswara and Dungarpur districts in southern Rajasthan have expressed concern over a recent amendment in the child labour law, which has reduced the number of hazardous occupations and allowed child labour in family enterprises. The change in law would create more difficulties for child labourers, said the children.
Children in the age group of 12 to 18 years — many of whom are working at different places — attended a three-day event in Banswara earlier this week, where they narrated their experiences of leaving the schools, working in difficult circumstances, and facing new challenges at a young age.
“Child labour is their reality. It is what they learned at home...The food they eat is paid with the money they earn with child labour,” Jayesh Joshi, secretary of Vaagdhara Tribal Development Resource Centre, which organised the programme, told The Hindu on Saturday.
The child panellists took part in a number of activities at the camp, via which they were apprised of the changes brought about by the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, passed in the Parliament in July this year. Children were surprised to learn that they could now be forced to work in their family enterprises with no law coming to their help.
The participants included Anita, 16, a school drop-out, Ajad, 17, working at a marriage venue in Gujarat, Ramesh, 15, who works at construction sites, and Sarika, 12, enrolled in Class 6 in a government school in her village.
Asked about their working environment, children said they often worked overtime without sufficient wages and no one took responsibility if something happened to them. They had to resort to open defecation as they did not have washrooms or toilets close to their work sites. As sheep grazers, they worked for 12 hours at a stretch.
During their interaction with government officials, children asked how the new law had given them ‘freedom’ to work if they did not have the right to vote, drive, form unions or sign contracts. “I want to study. How can you support me and children like me?” asked Kuleep, who also sought to know how all children of a family could study if they had the responsibility to earn and feed others.
Banswara Child Welfare Committee chairperson Harish Trivedi and additional director, social justice and empowerment, Dilip Rokadiya, agreed that the issues raised by child panellists must reach policymakers and that children needed support from civil society groups to deal with the challenges confronting them.
The child panellists recommended that that the list of hazardous works under the law be extended and the government take the responsibility to ensure that no child below the age of 18 years is forced to work.
“Child labour is a direct outcome of poverty and lack of opportunities. If you want to end child labour, you need to fight poverty,” said 14-year-old Shilpa, who has a formed a group for child rights in her school.
