It is estimated that there are 280 million child labourers in the world and that 35 million of them are in India. Estimates of numbers do vary and none of them take into account the many hidden labouring children. What is clear is that India is the country with the highest number of child labourers in the world.
But there are different kinds of child labour. Many children in India work simply because they can do no other, because their families are poor and would otherwise not survive. It is important to realise that if many of the children were immediately prevented from working there would not necessarily be a good outcome for them or their families.. The task ahead is to tackle poverty: benefits to children would then follow. Most families obviously love their children and are not happy to see them working.
However, sometimes the horrendous situation arises of families selling their children to do work for others. The families may do this out of desperation but it means that the children who are sold have to work in very unhealthy conditions, and for very little or no pay. They are sometimes forced to live in the place where they work, away from their families and parents, and their lives are usually short. This type of work is known as “bonded labour”. Examples of bonded labour may be found in the diamond industry, making fireworks, the silk industry, building work and making bricks. Dangerous bonded labour was made illegal in India in 1986: it is against the human rights of adults and children. The sad situation is that it is still common and must be rooted out.
One example suffices to illustrate the nature of bonded labour. This is in the silk industry, which provides the beautiful cloth which so many people all over the world enjoy. In this industry it is not unusual for 5 year old children work for 12 hours a day and for 6 or 7 days a week for less than 10 rupees a day. The children are obliged to put their hands into boiling water to touch and check the cocoons.
Christians Aware has a link with Trinita in Kolkata. This charity was started to raise and educate the poor child labourers in the slum areas of the city. Some of the work the children do is general labour, commodity selling, rag-picking, van and rickshaw pulling and being servants in many places. The literacy rate is very low, health is poor and there is a lack of awareness by the people of their basic needs. The people are vulnerable in every area of life. Trinita works to help child labourers, especially in the fields of health and education.
Please send a card of support to - (Air mail label and 70p stamp) Anthony Das, Trinita Casa Resource Centre Rasikpur, Kurwa Dumka, Bihar 814101 SP, India
If you would like to make a financial contribution towards the work of Trinita you can do so through Christians Aware
