Philippine E-Journals

A Tryst with Reality: Child Labor in the Heart of India, New Delhi

Rewa Singh

Discipline: Social Science

 

Abstract:

 “Why do we have to pay the price of poverty? We didn’t create poverty, adults did.” This might be the sentiment of every child who is forced to work at an age when he or she deserves to go to school unlike the fellow kids who are born in a family that can afford to give them a decent childhood. Child Labor is the single most damaging impediment on the road to achieving the goal of development and the purpose of this paper is to show the obstacles that this social evil poses in the path to development. The study used Exploratory, rather unstructured research design and instruments such as case studies and life histories. The study indicates that the government of India has taken some strict measures to eradicate this evil such as the passing of the Right to Education Bill, illegalization of employment of children under the age of 14 years, schemes like “Sarva Siksha Abhiyan” (Education for all campaign), free afternoon meal and so on. But on the ground level their implementation is shoddy due to (as bureaucrats would put it) practical problems. The problem is of course, in the system but it has more to do with the mindsets of the people too. There are people who speak against child labor in India and back at their own house or office, many of them will have at least one child working for them. People need to realize that what a waste of talent and a major obstacle to a country’s development, Child Labor is.