Dear Friends,
Subject: Existing plans of the Government of India to address
child labour are flawed. Here are our recommendations for a new
Plan of Action for a viable strategy to address child labour.
(Attached: A copy of our ‘Open Letter’ to Sri. Oscar Fernandes,
Minister of Labour, GOI)
We
write to you on a matter of great concern and urgency. During the
past couple of month the media has been filled with coverage of
the new (Oct 10th - 2006) GO adding domestic work,
dabhas and resorts to the schedule of processes and industries
banned under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)
Act 1986.
The
response has been varied. Some have welcomed the move and hailed
it as a progressive step, while others have been more cautious in
their comments and have raised questions regarding the subsequent
welfare of the children rescued as a result of the raids. The
experience of the past years has shown that in most cases the
situation of these children has gone from ‘the frying pan into the
fire’. Others are concerned about the ‘best interests of the
child’ being violated by the ban approach. An increasing number of
organisation and individuals, including journalists and political
analysts have questioned the viability of the strategy and
question and doubt that a ‘child labour free India’ will be
reached by 2007 or in the near future.
It
is clear that this top down, piece meal, scheme based, relief
oriented strategy has failed to meet its goals. Karnataka and
several other states have asked for an extension of the time limit
up to 2012. Proceeding with the same plan would be suicidal as it
is obviously flawed. This strategy and plan of action needs to be
reviewed and a new strategy practical and viable needs to be
formulated with great urgency.
So
far the legislative approach towards child labour has been to ban
industries and processes for children below the age of fourteen.
This approach is implemented through consequent punitive action
against employers and the criminalisation of the children who
labour and the only way we have seen fit to implement this
legislation is through compulsion. For all concerned, especially
the child labourers themselves, this approach has been crippling
rather than enabling; criminalising rather than empowering and
marginalising rather than inclusive and participatory.
However, now the time is ripe to adopt a more enabling and
empowering strategy that does not treat child workers as the
problem, but include them as a part of the solution.
In
our ‘Open Letter’ to Sri. Oscar Fernandes, Minister of Labour,
GOI, that has been attached to this letter (Annexure 1), we
have listed some of the central issues that have accounted for
this failure and suggestions for an alternative Action Plan. A detailed
critique and corresponding recommendations by CWC is attached as
Annexure 2.
We
do not make theses suggestion lightly. We, the Concerned for
Working Children have more than 30 years of field experience
working with working children and their marginalised and deprived
communities in five Districts of Karnataka and have worked as
consultants in over 25 countries of the world. We have also proved
that the approach we suggest works. In North Karnataka we have
managed to reduce the numbers of child labourers from 4 digit
figures down to two digits in a space of five years and in South
Kanara down to 1 digit.
We
request you to publish our critique and raise the key concerns
raised in this ‘Open Letter’ in your publication so that they will
reach the policy makers and the general public in order to ensure
the creation of a comprehensive, multi-pronged, bottom-up,
decentralised and participatory approach to address the problem of
child labour, that includes working children themselves as actors
in finding solutions.
Thanking you,
Kavita Ratna
Back