A long way to go: There is clearly an urgent need for a set of additional policies and programmes to help contain the livelihood crisis. In the meantime, a comprehensive expansion plan of the NREGS to include all rural areas of India and the extension of the scheme to urban areas is imperative, and a good place to start, bolstered by a broad Social Security bill that would take care of basic rights such as fair wages and healthcare. The benefits of such an inclusive policy would have far-reaching effects - one that would span generations. This is something we at CRY have seen happening in village after village - when the rights of the parents are guaranteed, the rights and dignity of the child is guaranteed. 42.02% of Indias workforce was estimated to be children between 5 and 14 years of age. 68.14% of child labourers were employed in the agriculture sector. 16 occupations and 65 processes are included in the list of hazardous work outlawed by the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, updated in 2006. Agriculture is not included in this list. Growing rural and urban poverty, combined with a lack of fundamental services such as schools and anganwadis, is pushing children into labour, that may include helping the family, working as goat herds, etc.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 11:10:20 +0000
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