Introduction
India is the host of the highest number of child laborers in the world. This is caused by various social, economic and cultural factors that are experienced in the country. Child labor is an unethical and immoral venture that deprives the children of their basic privileges and rights that are entitled to their childhood. These activities expose the children to heavy commercial and industrial activities that are harmful to the physical and mental development of the children. This has led to the emergence of various agencies and organizations that have laid down advocacy programs and initiatives that have initiated campaigns to alleviate the activities related to child labor in India. Several laws and regulations have also been advanced by the government to try to control and mitigate the actions that are related to child labor. A big issue is the high number of child laborers in India who operate without detection. Lack of social security, ignorance, corruption and poverty are the main causes of child labor in rural areas of India and realistic proactive measures are necessary to effectively control the behavior.
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"Child Labor in Rural India Essay".
Reasons
Compulsory Education.
Government has to change the education policy and that will be by making the education compulsory which will increase the school enrollment and decrease the illiteracy (Weiner, 1991, p. 101-108). Government has to make the education compulsory and free at the same time and that will decrease the child labor in India (Maurya, 2001, p. 494-498). The Compulsory education will prevent the slave traders to exploit children and also parents cannot force their children to work during the time of the school. Moreover, making education compulsory for children who fewer than 14 is a good solution for child labor in India because children are obliged to attend school. Also, if the policy is put by government then people whether parents or slave trades will be afraid form barking the law. Thus, with education compulsory the number of school enrollment will goes up because many children who under 14 will go to school and leave their current jobs. However, it is not reasonable to force poor families to pay their children’s education expenses while their daily goal is to have food and that will be above their budgets. Also, that will be the unfair solution or cure for this problem if government solves the problem by creating another problem; therefore, the education has to be compulsory and free at the same time.
Family Business.
Children work to help their families at their own business and many children in rural areas in India help their families by working at their own stores and farms. (Maurya, 2001; Weiner, 1991). Poverty is often the main cause of making the children to work for their families in farms and business and it reflects the ancient India where parents used to work at homes and children were sent to farms. Poor families ask their children to work with them, and 80% of all child laborers in the rural India are employed on agricultural fields between the age group of 5-14. This trend is common especially in the rural India where the many farms are found. These types of farming include aquaculture, livestock, and farming. Also, many children are working in other kind of jobs such selling condiments, selling ornaments for cattle, sewing, or making and stacking matchboxes. Children who work with their families will get some skills helping them to do some jobs such as crafts to get money in order to help their families. However, in the other side, what they loss is the opportunities of education.
Family Lower Income.
The needs of money is the major reason that drives parents to force their children working , and also it gives the salve trades chance to buy some children or use them in some work (Frontiers, 2005; Lieten, 2003). Poverty in India is often the main reason of why children go out of schools and go to work. India is a poor country and the poverty is more in rural areas. Many families in rural India are under the poverty line that forces the parents to make the children working to have food. Parents force the children to work in order to have more money that helps them to survive from the hunger. Moreover, some parents do not have any choice form selling their children and that is a perfect chance for the slave traders to buy those children and use them in some work, whether dangers or not. Some children work at companies agricultural or small factories and they face the physical violence and lose their freedom.
Family and Household.
household should help their parents by working to get some money and rise the family income (Lieten,, 2003, p.5191).This term is not the solution of child labor, but it is the one of most serious factor for child labor. That is because children here work and corporate with their family to help them pay the monthly expenses.
Effects
School Enrollment.
Child labor in India affects the education because children go to the work in school time. If not controlled, this issue will lead to more increased illiteracy in the country in the near future (Kurosaki, Ito, Fuwa, Kubo, & Sawada, 2006). A number of working children, who are under 14, will not contribute positively to the country in the future, but it will be a problem in terms of social and economic conditions (Frontiers, 2005; Lieten, 2003; Maurya, 2001). Children in this age supposed to be in schools studying and getting sufficient knowledge which helps them to develop themselves and their countries. However, in some rural areas in India, many families would prefer their children to work than study because they think that children will have more benefits from working than education. They think children will learn more by training and that will be as guarantees for their children’s future because they will have a monthly income and job at the same time. For example, children will learn some professions such as agriculture or they will learn some crafts and make some goods by hands. In addition, the education is not poor families priority due to the education expenses in for instance many low income families have to pay for their children’s food while they studying and also pay for books and bags. Education expenses put an obstacle in front of these families because the education will be expensive while their priority is to have food and satisfactory life. These factors decrease the number of children who go to school and consequently increase the number of working children in rural Indian areas. This is a very dangerous index for children and India’s future because it increases the number of illiterates which is the enemy for development.
Solution
Non-formal Education.
The non-formal education is encouraged by government because many workers children’s attentions are caught by this program and they leave their work to attend school (Maurya, 2001, p. 496). According to Weiner (1991), Children left their work when the non- formal education programs were applied in rural India because children have some education events in the morning in their job and health care (p.27). Non-formal education has been applied in many rural Indian areas and it has resulted in significant changes in terms of encouraging the education. This education system benefits those who cannot go to the traditional or formal institutions that give them the full time knowledge. The non-formal education imparts knowledge to worker children who are under 14,and it also solves two parts of child labor in India. The first part is time because non-formal education does not force children to come school in specific time.
This kind of education system exists in many Indian rural areas such as Sivakasi and reduces the number of child labor. The second part of the solution is that it covers the educational expenses. In rural India a lot of poor family cannot pay for their children education. However, non-formal education often provides the children with free food, free books and free uniforms. In this way, this system of education is encouraging the students to acquire education along with their jobs. These non-formal education programs are effective and differ from formal educational programs as they provide more practical knowledge and the pace of knowledge earning is determined by the students themselves. Also, it allows them to learn and work at the same time while allowing for the children to earn wages for their family and learn at the same time. In brief, this program is increasing school enrolment as well as the literacy rate of India.
Family and Household.
This solution can come from family such as mother and this can be done by targeting mothers to make them realize why it is important for them to focus on household educational models (Kurosaki, Ito, Fuwa, Kubo, & Sawada, 2006). They could be educated about how their raising to the children could play a great role in their own development as well as in the development of the country through formal or non-formal education. In India parents have a power to control their children and force them to work, but they do not force their children to go to school because they think the education has fewer benefits than working. That means if parents consider the school as requirement for children future and lives, then the concept of education will change completely in rural India for the better. Therefore, the parents need to be educated at first in order to educate the children following which the child labor could be easily overcome and controlled. In short, in rural India, educated parents will remove children from farms fields or other works and will force them towards education which will reduce the child labor and increase the literacy rate.
NGOs.
NGO’s are very important for solving child labor in India because they do a lot of work and activities to give the Indian government a clear picture about the problem and help children who work and their families (Mangla, 2009; Weiner, 1991). NGO’s are needed to connect with government officials to work and solve this problem. They help the government to beat this issue and reduce child labor in India They are very important in every community because they provide non-official work that helps the society. They provide statistics and study about the problems and they try to know the reasons of the child labor in India as well as other countries. NGOs are working hard to find some solutions for child labor such as applying some of educational programs in rural India. Another example, the hold some programs that assist the poor community by communication to each other. The perfect cooperation between Indian government and NGOs is the best and most right way of controlling and eliminating the child labor in India.
Conclusion
There are various factors that have led to the increase in the number of child laborers in India. Ineffective government policies have not been able to solve the crisis amicably. The high cost of living in India has made the families to involve the children in labor, either in family business or in paid ranks, to sustain the numerous economic and domestic needs for their survival. Child labor has led to various effects to the children. This includes dropping from schools to sustain their financial needs and poor physical and mental development. Various models have been introduced in India including informal education to try and inform the public on the importance of respecting the status of children. These programs have not been effective because of the socio-economic challenges in India.
As a third world country, there are various that need to be addressed in India. Most of these include matters that revolve around social dynamics. The factors that come out as key contributors to the current state of the things include poverty, ignorance and corruption. All these are the major contributors to the child labor. It also apparent that most people do not uphold the importance of adopting mortal standards and ethical behavior as the center of enhancing a just and fair society for all people. The big gap between the rich and the poor in India is also another factor that needs serious consideration, this is because it leads to exploitative behavior in the society. This includes taking advantage of the poverty in somebody to lure their children into labor and then underpaying them.
In conclusion, there are various actions that can be taken to ensure that the state of affairs is managed in India. Different organizations should create advocacy programs that should be adopted by the legislatures to create strict laws against those who violate human rights associated with children. These campaigns should include very tough fines and legal actions against those who violate these regulations. The government should collaborate with other agencies in running campaigns to sensitize the general public on the importance of respecting children through giving them basic rights. These initiatives should also create awareness on the rights of children and provide accessible legal avenues for the people in the rural areas. Ultimately, people should embrace basic ethical standards as the first way of finishing the activities related to child labor. Therefore, everybody in the society has the obligation of ensuring there is dignity to humanity by respecting children and their basic necessities.
