The revelation of the national convenor of the advocacy unit of the Campaign Against Child Labour has been really shocking: Goa, a state having a high index of literacy, has the highest number of domestic child labourers. And what is more, the statistics is five years’ old. It was collected by the National Family Health Survey in 1998-99. The CACL says according to their estimates there has been a substantial increase in the percentage of child labourers as domestics since the size of the educated and urban middle class has increased. It is really a paradox that the middle classes, which have been most vocal in their portrayal of non-governance in every walk of life and always raised their voice for rule of law, have been averse to obeying the laws and human conscience and protecting the rights of the children.

What has been most pathetic is the passive attitude of the government agencies in putting a stop to this practice. However it is not that government of Goa is the lone culprit; almost all the governments have been least bothered about the problem of child labour. The government of India along with the state governments has signed the United Nations International Covenant on Children’s Rights, but unfortunately they have not pursued any measure to make the covenant a reality. For some years the debate has been going on for creation of a National Children’s Commission. Some of the state governments have their own child labour commissions but almost all are on paper: either a senior bureaucrat heads the commission or a group of ministers look after its work, and in either case the result is negative. The reports of violations of human rights, abuses which include kidnapping, rape, murder, torture are not being paid proper attention.

The death of a migrant child in Margao in the first week of April and the apathy of the government to deliver justice to the dead child is still fresh in public memory. The authorities are yet to initiate any measure to ameliorate the child labourers’ conditions, since they are nobody’s children. Acknowledging the rights of the children as sacrosanct by the authorities and the rulers has simply turned out to be a ritual and a ploy of populism; real concern is missing. There is no doubt that violation of children’s rights has been on increase in Goa or other states. And this has got a psychological dimension. The common attitude, particularly of the middle class, toward these children has been of exploitation. As long as they get them for their domestic work they are least concerned about anything else. Most Goans see it not as their problem but as a problem of the poor inside or outside the state and would not like to be blamed for the plight of these children.

Fifteen years ago, the UN General Assembly had adopted a resolution on the Rights of Child which, besides prohibiting child labour, laid down that every attempt be made to protect the child labour at work and also attack the basic cause of child labour. Unfortunately no move has been initiated in the direction of analysing the roots of the problem and finding the solution. A CACL study points out that the agrarian jobs not proving to be more effective, there is a gradual shift of the child from the agrarian sector to manufacturing or service sector. Though the official statistics shows a reduction in the child labour, the number of these children has multiplied by 60 per cent in some states. And this has been happening when India joined the rest of the nations of the SAARC region in setting a deadline (year 2000!) for the eradication of child labour in hazardous occupations and all child labour by 2010.

The government of India has set up a high-powered body, the National Authority for Elimination of Child Labour for laying down policies and programmes for elimination of child labour. But what has been most amazing is the abnormal rise in the child labour. Despite a number of laws made curbing it, the system is getting stronger. It is obvious that the government and the political leadership is not too keen to eliminate it. Otherwise there is no reason why the government should have preferred to ignore the demand of the children’s rights groups for a comprehensive code bill. If the government is really serious to eradicate child labour, it should immediately come out with a comprehensive education bill with focus on equity and formal nature of schooling. The authorities must take strong measures to reduce the number of children employed as domestics in middle class homes as well as in other sectors, like hotels and restaurants.[Source: The Navhind Times]