Children of another god

Sanchari Sur, The Statesman, Asia News Network, Calcutta

Suman Chattopadhyay's haunting strains from a current hit is about a teenaged boy who transports people from one destination to another on his rickshaw. His name is Jeebon. Jeebon, 14, has to work for his living while the people he serves can afford the luxury that earns him his very living. Jeebon and the likes of him belong to a section of society called the Poor.

These unfortunate children have lost their childhood somewhere under the societal debris. Walking down Calcutta's streets, or sitting at a roadside tea stall, don't we come across Jeebons and overlook them? Or even pretend we haven't seen them at all?

Child labor is hardly an issue in a country that has the largest number of child laborers in the world. Following the government of India's Labor Commission Report, 2001, the number of working children is set at more than 100 million, 10 times more than the official figures available from the Census and NSS reports.

But it is less of a surprise when one learns that the country's official position has been unsatisfactory, accepting it as a "harsh reality", intrinsic to its status as a developing country. The occasional spurt of attention that child labor has got in the recent past after the debates on globalization and its impacts have often raised only cacophonic noise instead of a coherent understanding.

Child labor can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution when the surplus-seeking entrepreneurs sucked children into the vortex of the labor market. As capitalism went through its various stages of development, the institution came to be concentrated in the developing economies or in areas where Capitalism was still developing. Like poverty, illiteracy and other social problems, child labor too emerged as an endemic problem.

But why are children so important for the labor market? Children are the easiest means of labor, which makes them the most wanted yet, the most neglected. The labor market demands workforce and what better workforce than a bunch of people who are energetic, young and never question their rights? In a country like ours arguments are often put forward that if children learn the family trade they can grow up into contributory members of the family and this cannot be considered as child labor.

However, this form of family trade ranges from simple farming to hard laborious work, that often results into a dropping out from school. Hence "child labor" is often confused with "employed children or working children", when actually child labor per se is something hateful and exploitative for the gainful purpose of anyone but the child in question.

Here the definition of child labor as given by the International Labor Organization needs mention which categorically states that child labor includes children permanently leading adult lives, working long hours for low wages under conditions damaging to their health and to their physical and mental development, sometimes separated from their families, frequently deprived of meaningful education and training opportunities that could open up for them a better future.

When we are talking about this issue one needs to keep in mind that since independence our constitution has tried to protect the rights of children and there has been innumerable legislations against the employment of children in the labor market. However, not only have these been practically ignored but the evil is also carried on with surprising conviction. Theoretically speaking, there are two dominant strands of thought for the existence of child labor:

o The continuing existence of child labor in developing economies suggest that children are an example of a Reserve Army of Labor, drawn into the labor market when it is "tight" to provide extra labor power and expelled from work when there is an adequate supply of adult labor.

o Children work in the underdeveloped and developing nations where unemployment is highest and poverty severe and children work to alleviate their families' hardships.

Taking the cue from the first, one might point out to the growing number of children engaged in laborious work all over the country. However, as the children grow older they find themselves replaced by another set of children who are to face the same consequences.

There are many people who try to defend child labor especially in the sectors of handicrafts and local art forms. The argument put forward, namely Nimble Finger Theory, states that children, having softer and nimbler fingers, can produce more intricate and perfect goods than adults. Being energetic their input is also more than adults' and hence they are much more profitable for employers.

The fact the supporters of this theory deliberately overlook is that these children are subject to inhuman working conditions and their employment benefits the employer the most. Instead they take pride in saying that these employers are actually helping these children not only to earn their livelihood but also are training them in the particular trade. The Zari Industry of Mumbai for example has a huge population of children working for it.

It follows the old and popular belief that certain craft- oriented industries would die out and skills lost permanently if children were to be banned from working. And so these children weave expensive and intricate Zardosi work on wooden frames, working 12 hours to 14 hours a day. Their workshops are small rooms in slums and they hardly get to see the outside world. And yes, the designers who represent India in London or Paris with their Zardosi creations were, till recently, unaware about the origin of the material they were working on. Does it seem ironic? And even then it takes a lot of effort to open our eyes to such cruelty.

The age of these unfortunate children is between six and 14 years. West Bengal has its share of the problem but surprisingly, sitting in the city one hardly finds it disturbing. One wonders why! On one hand a section of the society lives in such affluence that the children of these families have everything at their beck and call, and on the other hand their more unlucky counterparts toil day in and day out irrespective of the weather just to earn their daily bread.

Whether it is Bihar or West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh or Rajasthan this endemic institution of child labor needs serious thought. Poverty, obviously, is a major reason behind this. However, poverty is only one of the factors; another major factor often overlooked is our attitude towards children working at a young age.

Lack of sensitivity of parents, employers and society at large is the most important concern. To understand with a measure sensitivity, one has to understand the myths, stereotypes, preconceived notions, negative assumptions, traditional beliefs and ideologies working in a particular society. In spite of numerous Acts and policies prohibiting child labor, the institution remains.

Shouldn't each of us be questioning ourselves? Aren't we to blame too, we who boast of belonging to the biggest democracy in the world where rule justice, equality and fraternity?