New Delhi, India, August 3, 2006— India has banned the employment of children in hazardous industries, but many continue to work in firework and match factories, or are involved in carpet weaving, embroidery or stitching footballs in wretched conditions, according to the Daily Telegraph.
New Delhi alone has more than 500,000 child labourers, according to the Daily Telegraph.
New Delhi alone has more than 500,000 child labourers,
The Indian government threatened employers of child workers with jail by announcing measures yesterday aimed at improving the lives of millions of maltreated and exploited children.
Under legislation due to come into effect in October, children under the age of 14 will be prohibited from working as domestic servants, at roadside food stalls and in hospitals. Penalties for employers who contravene the ban range from a prison term of up to two years, a fine of up to pounds 250, or both.
Such employment of children was "hazardous," the government said. In many instances they suffered violence, psychological trauma and sexual abuse, most of which went unreported.
It promoted the ban as an effort to "ameliorate'' the lives of many children forced to work at the expense of enjoying their childhood and receiving an education.
But Mukesh, 13, who shuttles between jobs at building sites and food stalls in New Delhi, said: "The reality is that I have to earn. I have to feed myself and my mother.''
Children's rights groups were also sceptical, dismissing the legislation as a "symbolic'' gesture that would have little impact on the child labour culture. M M Vidyarthi, of Delhi's child welfare committee, said that alternative sources of income must be found for families whose children worked in the banned sectors; otherwise the law would be flouted.
Labour ministry officials responsible for enforcing the bans admit that no credible mechanism exists for them to do so. They also concede that the government cannot be held to its promise of providing free and compulsory education for children up to the age of 14 and raising adult employment and incomes.
