Child Labour in India

Child labor in India is a human right issue for the whole world. It is a serious and extensive problem, with many children under the age of fourteen working in carpet making factories, glass blowing units and making fireworks with bare little hands. According to the statistics given by Indian government there are 20 million child laborers in the country, while other agencies claim that it is 50 million. In Northern India the exploitation of little children for labor is an accepted practice and perceived by the local population as a necessity to alleviate poverty. Carpet weaving industries pay very low wages to child laborers and make them work for long hours in unhygienic conditions. Children working in such units are mainly migrant workers from Northern India, who are shunted here by their families to earn some money and send it to them. Their families dependence on their income, forces them to endure the onerous work conditions in the carpet factories. The situation of child laborers in India is desperate. Children work for eight hours at a stretch with only a small break for meals. The meals are also frugal and the children are ill nourished. Most of the migrant children who cannot go home, sleep at their work place, which is very bad for their health and development. Seventy five percent of Indian population still resides in rural areas and are very poor. Children in rural families who are ailing with poverty perceive their children as an income generating resource to supplement the family income. Parents sacrifice their children’s education to the growing needs of their younger siblings in such families and view them as wage earners for the entire clan. The Indian government has tried to take some steps to alleviate the problem of child labor in recent years by invoking a law that makes the employment of children below 14 illegal, except in family owned enterprises. However this law is rarely adhered to due to practical difficulties. Factories usually find loopholes and circumvent the law by declaring that the child laborer is a distant family member. Also in villages there is no law implementing mechanism, and any punitive actions for commercial enterprises violating these laws is almost non existent. Child labor is a conspicuous problem in India. Its prevalence is evident in the child work participation rate, which is more than that of other developing countries. Poverty is the reason for child labor in India. The meager income of child laborers is also absorbed by their families. The paucity of organized banking in the rural areas creates a void in taking facilities, forcing poor families to push their children in harsh labor, the harshest being bonded labor. Bonded labor traps the growing child in a hostage like condition for years. The importance of formal education is also not realized, as the child can be absorbed in economically beneficial activities at a young age. Moreover there is no access to proper education in the remote areas of rural India for most people, which leaves the children with no choice.

Child Labour in India

Child labor in India is a human right issue for the whole world. It is a serious and extensive problem, with many children under the age of fourteen working in carpet making factories, glass blowing units and making fireworks with bare little hands. According to the statistics given by Indian government there are 20 million child laborers in the country, while other agencies claim that it is 50 million. In Northern India the exploitation of little children for labor is an accepted practice and perceived by the local population as a necessity to alleviate poverty. Carpet weaving industries pay very low wages to child laborers and make them work for long hours in unhygienic conditions. Children working in such units are mainly migrant workers from Northern India, who are shunted here by their families to earn some money and send it to them. Their families dependence on their income, forces them to endure the onerous work conditions in the carpet factories. The situation of child laborers in India is desperate. Children work for eight hours at a stretch with only a small break for meals. The meals are also frugal and the children are ill nourished. Most of the migrant children who cannot go home, sleep at their work place, which is very bad for their health and development. Seventy five percent of Indian population still resides in rural areas and are very poor. Children in rural families who are ailing with poverty perceive their children as an income generating resource to supplement the family income. Parents sacrifice their children’s education to the growing needs of their younger siblings in such families and view them as wage earners for the entire clan. The Indian government has tried to take some steps to alleviate the problem of child labor in recent years by invoking a law that makes the employment of children below 14 illegal, except in family owned enterprises. However this law is rarely adhered to due to practical difficulties. Factories usually find loopholes and circumvent the law by declaring that the child laborer is a distant family member. Also in villages there is no law implementing mechanism, and any punitive actions for commercial enterprises violating these laws is almost non existent. Child labor is a conspicuous problem in India. Its prevalence is evident in the child work participation rate, which is more than that of other developing countries. Poverty is the reason for child labor in India. The meager income of child laborers is also absorbed by their families. The paucity of organized banking in the rural areas creates a void in taking facilities, forcing poor families to push their children in harsh labor, the harshest being bonded labor. Bonded labor traps the growing child in a hostage like condition for years. The importance of formal education is also not realized, as the child can be absorbed in economically beneficial activities at a young age. Moreover there is no access to proper education in the remote areas of rural India for most people, which leaves the children with no choice.

POVERTY ALLEVATION AND WOMEN

Women's Economic Empowerment through Co-operative Farming

(Vocational Training & Business Development)

Due to the lack of specific implementation plans and faulty representations, local communities have not adequately accepted government and private schemes for the upliftment of women. Women have not actively participated in their own emancipation due to their lack of economic independence and rampant illiteracy. Therefore, The George Foundation decided to address this important issue of women's empowerment in India by raising the status of women in Hosur Taluk through economic empowerment and education.
Krishnagiri District is the most backward district in Tamil Nadu. In the geographical location selected, there are no high schools, no private schools, inadequate primary health sub-centers, and no NGOs. Roads, water supply, drainage and communication network are inadequate to augment economic development. Fragmented land holdings are not conducive to commercial farming. Child labor is rampant in this socially backward area. Population statistics of our country clearly indicate that quality education is out of the reach of the poor and marginalized irrespective of their innate potential. Women are often exploited by their communities. They have very little voice and no knowledge or means of improving their social and economic status.
In the villages of the area, the caste system is deeply entrenched. The lower caste colonies are ostracized and basic facilities are denied to them. Female infanticide is a common practice and women are punished socially for bearing girl children. Gender biases are very evident in the preferential treatment given to the male child.
Rain-dependent agriculture, home-based animal husbandry, silkworm rearing and brick making are the main income generating activities. Fisheries, horticulture and industries have been established in a few select areas such as Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Hosur. Rural folk find it difficult to travel to these cities in search of jobs. The average family income level is below the poverty line.
One of the popular schemes employed by several NGOs, and supported by some international and bilateral agencies, is the so-called "micro-finance" or small loans that usually range up to $100 (Rs. 5,000) per woman to start some form of business. Notable successes have been recorded, and the program has received considerable world attention. Most poor women entrepreneurs are said to have been able to make their businesses successful, and repay the loan. However, our experience in this area with lower caste poor women has been somewhat different.
Poor women, especially from backward communities and lower castes, are mostly illiterate, untrained, and have very little social and economic status. In India, there are over 350 million such people, mainly in rural areas. The unemployed are nearly 200 million people, a great majority of them belonging to these deprived sections of the society. Without meaningful skills, social status, and economic power, they are unable to do any business on their own even with financial assistance.
To start even a small rural business, it takes no less than $500. According to some studies conducted by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad, the average capital need for a one-person small business is in excess of Rs. 1 lakh ($2,000). Further, the chances of making any business successful is very small - the odds are barely 1 in hundred for an educated person. Uneducated lower caste rural women find it almost impossible to initiate any such entrepreneuring work without adequate capital, proper training, and on-site daily support.
Based on our understanding of the problem faced in our rural community, we have devised a scheme for empowering poor and socially deprived women. The key ingredients of this program can be summarized as follows:
Adequate training in an area where the women have natural abilities and understanding (for example, farming and cattle rearing)
Use of superior technology to obtain better output and higher profits (modern farming techniques, such as use of proper fertilizers, deep ploughing, drip irrigation, etc.)
Creation of financial assets through savings (from profits generated from sale of produce, over and above wages received)
Ownership of physical assets (use of financial assets to purchase cultivable land - ½ acre per family)
Sharing of resources such as wells, tractor, etc. among several farmers
Provide a support system that addresses concerns, difficulties, know-how, etc.
Access to information and markets (knowing what high-value crop to grow and when, which markets offer higher prices on a given day, tie up export contracts, etc.)
Only when these requirements can be met, we believe poor illiterate rural women can be expected to turn into entrepreneurs.
The George Foundation has purchased/leased 250 acres of land. An executive committee comprised of representatives of The George Foundation, village panchayath, and agricultural consultants has been formed. Under its direction, the soil is being prepared for crop cultivation. Superior seeds of selected crops have been purchased. The panchayath members are highly motivated about this project. People from the surrounding villages are participating in the preparation of the land for farming. This program will be expanded to cover the neighboring state of Karnataka in its later stages.
Members of the village panchayat, the village administrative officer and the block development officer have been with the project from its planning stage. The geographic community and the community of beneficiaries, particularly poor rural women, were involved in planning and implementation of the project.

A Violence that Leaves No Physical Traces

In a landmark ruling earlier this year (April 6, 2008), the Supreme Court (SC) sentenced a man to two years' imprisonment for driving his wife to suicide following taunts over her 'dark' complexion. Referring to the man's acts as severe mental torture, the court said that disparaging and sneering remarks could be worse than physical torture for a sensitive person. Not only will this stance taken by the SC send a tough message to the perpetrators of emotional violence, it will also draw attention to its pervasive nature.Domestic violence is a widely known but loosely used term; as is apparent, it may not be fully understood by both the abuser and the abused. It connotes many, different and inter-related kinds of violent actions. Yet, only the most visible one - physical violence - has come to be, literally, the face of domestic violence. The apparent conspicuousness of physical violence often overshadows emotional abuse and violence. As a result, most of what is spoken or written about domestic violence constitutes physical battering, not emotional. Of course, all abuse - physical, sexual or financial - contains elements of emotional abuse. Yet, there are many people - mostly women - who primarily suffer from emotional abuse and violence. According to the World Health Organization, between 20 per cent and 75 per cent women across the world, had experienced one or more of these acts, most within the past 12 months. It may appear strange then that their plight lacks voice, especially when qualitative research consistently finds that women frequently consider emotionally abusive acts to be more devastating than physical violence. The reason behind this silence could be that emotional abuse and violence is complex to define and measure. It constitutes many kinds of behavior or actions that cause emotional suffering. For instance, denying emotional responsiveness, failing to provide care in a sensitive and responsive manner, being detached and uninvolved, interacting only when necessary, ignoring a person's mental health needs, treating the spouse or any other as a 'job to be done', and so on. Being subjected to the silent treatment for hours, days, weeks or even months on end can also be emotionally draining for many. A common form of emotional abuse is the denial of sexual relations. But as women, generally, are not supposed to initiate or demand sex, this isn't deemed as violence.Another reason why emotional abuse and violence remain under cover is because many women choose to suffer in silence. The social and cultural conditioning of women as guardians of family honor makes them feel responsible. Besides, women themselves may not perceive emotional violence to be as life threatening as physical violence. They may also be under the impression that such behavior will disappear with time. However, the truth is that emotional abuse follows a pattern; it is repeated and sustained. If left unchecked, the abuse only gets worse with time. What women themselves fail to realize is that, in the bargain, they could end up with their sense of self-worth and self-perception severely undermined. It may be a subtler form of violence but emotional abuse can cause serious mental trauma and agony. The scars of continued emotional abuse can have serious physical or psychological consequences for women, including severe depression, anxiety, persistent headaches, back and limb problems. As shown in 'Provoked', a film based on the real life story of Kiranjeet Ahluwalia in the UK, who killed her abusive husband, victims do not just destroy their own physical and mental health, they can even turn violent themselves after years of savage degradation.Take the case of Renu and Others versus State of Haryana (1991), where the court had ruled that accusing the wife of being barren amounted to mental cruelty. In yet another case, Gonanath Pattnaik versus State of Orissa (2002), the Court stated that 'cruelty', for the purposes of constituting the offence, need not be physical. Even mental torture or abnormal behavior may amount to cruelty and harassment in a given case. The flawed and incomplete understanding of domestic violence is not just harbored by popular discourse, but is revealed by police attitudes as well. Knowing domestic violence as physical assault only, they may look for injury marks to establish the crime. But for a victim of emotional abuse, there are no outward bruises to show and prove one's violation. Often, the victim cannot truly understand or explain how she is made to feel. In many situations, when the police show up, the perpetrator may appear calm and collected while the victim may appear hysterical. The emotional violator often is reported to play 'mind-games' by lying, contradicting, fabricating stories, denying or minimizing the scope of his action/s inconsistently. Many perpetrators invalidate their partners' perceptions of neglect and abuse. The motion picture 'Gaslight' (in the film, the husband convinces his wife that she is going mad, so he can have her certified insane and confined, and can then lay claim to her property without impediment) illustrates this dynamic quite effectively. Such complexities make the identification and verification of emotional violence rather tricky. Given the sensitive nature of such situations, law enforcement agencies - in metros, towns and villages - must be adequately oriented, sensitized and skilled to handle such cases. Thankfully, the new 2005 avatar of the law on domestic violence in India - Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 - carries a more substantive definition of violence. It goes beyond physical violence to include forms of violence that hurt the dignity of a woman and impinge upon her rights. It also stretches beyond relationships of marriage and includes co-habiting partners, and others who share a household, such as brothers and sisters. Most importantly, it acknowledges the acts of 'omission or commission', since omissions can be as grave and criminal as commissions. But having a stringent law in place is just half the battle. Since emotional violence is harder to bear than physical violence, the popular perception that views domestic violence just in terms of physical violence needs to change. Women should especially be made aware of the ramifications of emotional violence. Their families still need to be sensitized to the dangers of ignoring emotional abuse. Since laws cannot totally prevent violence, what is ideally needed is the active engagement of men against domestic violence. Helping men review their perceptions of masculinity and understand power dynamics in personal relationships could be the first positive step. Society - most specifically men - needs to engage with this concern more actively.