No one seems to have attempted to find out the root cause of child labour. Till one finds out the root cause it will be difficult to eliminate the socio-economic issue called child labour and dream of a child labour free India. The two major factors responsible for child labour are poverty and illiteracy.
“Children work mainly to help their families, because the adults do not have appropriate employment and adequate income. Children also work because there is a demand for cheap labour in the market. Poor and bonded families, succumbing to the demand, often sell their children to contractors who promise lucrative jobs in the cities and the children end up being sexually exploited, employed in brothels, hotels and domestic work. Many run away and find a life on the streets.” A child has all the right to have a safe and facilitating environment for development, including health, nutrition and education. “Lack of awareness about the basic rights of a child has resulted in easy violation of laws meant to protect and empower children. In homes, on the streets and in sweetshops, children are being exploited,” says Irwin Fernandes, Regional Director, CRY (Child Rights & You).
The enforcement of different acts by the government to protect the interest of a child has created confusion about the true definition of child labour in the country. There is a lot of confusion between the Child Labour Act, the Juvenile Justice Act and the Shops and Establishment Act, because the age limit for child labour mentioned in these three acts is different. In the Child Labour Act, the age limit is below 14 years; in the Juvenile Justice Act, it is below 18 years and in the Shops and Establishments Act, it is below 16 years.
Most of the children migrate from Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and the North East to Mumbai in the hope of getting some job and eke out a living. The government talks about child labour abolishment but there are no arrangements, no provision of food and education by the government for these children. After rescuing these children, most of them are sent to remand homes and the miserable condition of remand homes forces the children to run away from there. They then go astray and indulge in illegal activities in order to earn money. Unless and until the government makes provisions for food and education for these children, it will be difficult to eradicate child labour completely. One needs to find a way out of this situation otherwise the children will be caught in a war between officials, their respective employers, NGOs and will continue to suffer.