Child Labour: A Review in the Context of Nepal

BACKGROUND
Labour is the physical or mental work done by the individuals. Naturally, Child Labour is confined to the physical work done by children. The children who work as child labourers are generally found to be of the uneducated, unaware and poor family. Child labour deprives the children of education, which is indispensable for the acquisition of knowledge, training and skill to make their future better.
Child Act 2048 (1992 A.D.) has defined the children as the individuals below 16 years. The children below 16 years are strictly prohibited to work as child labourer. However, the children aged between 14-16 years can work only for limited hours per day. The can work six hours a day. They should get half an hour rest if they work three hours continuously.
The number of children both in rural and urban area is increasing. In urban areas, the children are found mainly involved in various industries, hotel and restaurants, rag picking and domestic works. In fact, they are found more or less involved in everywhere including the work of printing press, book binding, street vending, porterage, rickshaw pulling and so on.
The International Labour Organization (ILO), from the very beginning of its establishment has been working as a pioneer in the struggle against child labour in collaboration with other NGOs and INGOs. For the abolition of child labour, ILO has launched the international Programme for the Elimination of child labour (IPEC) in 1993. Moreover, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations International Children's Education Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) have been involved for the protection of child directly or indirectly. After 1979, WHO has carried out different studies on the health conditions of child at work especially in difficult circumstances. UNICEF has launched a new programme in 1986, focusing for children in Especially Difficult Circumstances.
UN has declared the year 1979 to International Year of Child. Since then, many NGOs have been started to work in the area of child labour. Though the growing number of NGOs is very large which work directly for the development of children, unfortunately, there is always a large gap between the lovely words and hard deeds.
PROBLEM
Child labour is a serious and wide spread problem in South Asia and African countries and the situation is not different in Nepal also. The problem of child labour is not yet stopped and is in continuous exhilaration. The masters who employ the children pay minimum wages to them and exploit. They are deprived form school education.
A country's development is shown by its number of child population who has got their child rights because the future of the country depends on the future of the children who have to take the responsibility of development of the country on their shoulder tomorrow. But it is pitiful thing that most of the people in Nepal are living an extreme poor life. This situation has created the children forced to work very hard from their early stage of life to survive. Though talks of poverty alleviations are happened in seminars, conferences but the situation does not seem to be improved. And the misfortune of the country remains still that child workers have to live dreadful and fearful life under great uncertainty of their future and life both. They are cheated and exploited everywhere due to their illiteracy, lack of education and poverty which lead their life very difficult.
Since years ahead, child labour has remained as a part and parcel of the feudal economy. Like in other countries of South Asia, the rural communities in Nepal are living under the state of social injustice, economic exploitation, deprivation and backwardness.
THEORETICAL REVIEW
Factor of Child Labour
The Report of Director General (ILO, 1983) points that slow growth of urban employment leads to child employment for generation and supplement of the family income. So, children especially from poor families are forced into labour market to work either individually or as part of contracted family labour.
Problem of child labour is being prevailed due to such parents who lack awareness, have had no education, do not understand that education is the investment for future and do not attract towards education, are not assured of the guarantee that children get employment after the completion of study in school, and instead they prefer their children working to support their economic income. It is because of the existing education system which is not able to become relevant to the needs of the community of developing countries.
Child labourers are among the world's most exploited workers.
Being the industrial service and infra-structure development of Nepal in an incipient stage, in such a stage of economic transition, the high rate of population growth is contributing to weakening the economic base of the country. In such an economic context, the lines of the poor and marginalized families and their children are indeed grim which forces them to leave their homes to go to the cities in search of work. The brokers sometimes recruit child workers from villages by enticing them of disillusion by promising a life of enjoyment and ease in cities along with Kathmandu. And they sometimes will offer a loan to a parent, when the family is unable to repay the loan on pay the interest, they may strike a deal to 'train' or employ a son or daughter in the city. The child labour wages are then taken as interest on the loan.
Nepal on Child Labour
Nepal has adopted Labour Act 2048 (1991 A.D.) and Children Act 2048 (1992 A.D.). Children Act has declared that employing children under the age of 14 is illegal. Still no sector of labour is completely free of child labour and exploitation. Inadequacy and ineffectiveness of enforcement of labour legislation is the root cause of child employment.
ILO on Child Labour
In 1959, United Nations General Assembly adopted the declaration of the rights of the child which specified that "mankind owes to the child the best it has to give" and "the child shall not be admitted to employment before an appropriate minimum age and he shall in no case be caused or permitted to engage in any occupation or employment which would prejudice his health or education or interfere with his physical, mental or moral development."
The Minimum Age Convention (No. 138) and Recommendation (No. 146), 1973 provides general as well as specific guidelines on which conditions children may or may not work. "The minimum age for admission to any type of employment or work, which by its nature or circumstances, in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardize the health, safety and morals of young person shall not be less than 18 years." If these conditions are protected and children can get specific instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity, the minimum age may be lowered to 16. On the other hand, this convention states that national laws or regulations may permit the employment or word of persons 13 to 15 years of age on light work "Which is not likely to be harmful to their health or development." and "not such as to prejudice their attendance at school or orientation or their participation in vocational training programmes."
The first priority of the ILO is the promotion of social justice including human rights and the implementation of international labour standards. Indeed abolition of child labour was one of the guiding principles of ILO's constitution-1951, and it remains one of its main goals. The ILO's policy on child labour has been derived from two interrelated but distant objectives. First, the effective and complete abolition of child labour will be attained through legal and socio-economic measures. The second objective is the protection of children at work recognizing that the adoption and successful implementation of legal and socio-economic measures for complete abolition of child labour in practice will take time. For this purpose, it encourages the countries to regulate the working conditions, for example, shorter working hours, improved wages and remunerations, safer and less hazardous working environment, welfare facilities and services etc.
UN on the Right of Child
Since abuse of children has been regarded as severe form of violation of rights of human, UN has announced nearly 20 different human rights related international laws convention and declaration for the protection and promotion of the rights of the children against sexual exploitation and abuse.
Several decades have passed after UN declaration of rights but still we are witnessing and alarming shocking plight of children in the global context. It is naked truth that children are working in hazardous conditions, neglected or abused, are physically and psychologically handicapped by war and disaster currently. Looking at the harass reality, the rights of child as per UN declaration is still controversial.
The United Nations Convention on the rights of the child specifies that
1. Every child has inherent right to life, and State shall ensure to the maximum survival and development.
2. State shall ensure that each child enjoys full rights without discriminations on distinctions of any kind.
3. State shall protect children from physical or mental harm and neglect including sexual abuse or exploitation.
4. The child is entitled to the highest attainable standard of health.
5. Children shall have time to rest and play.
6. State shall protect the child from economic exploitation and work that may interfere with education or be harmful to health and well being.
7. State shall protect children from illegal use of drugs and involvement in drug production or trafficking.
CONCLUSION and SUMMARY
The existence of child labour is the reflection of underdevelopment of the country. Society has a vital role in development of country. It has many important and indispensable components. One of the very important essentials of the society is the child. But in our society this part is so ignored that we have serious problem of child labour. Though Government as well as other national and international non-governmental organizations are working and implementing various plans for child welfare in the country but it has not been successful to improve their condition. These days many more campaigns against child labour have been carried out, there are laws and regulations enacted against child labour but still they are not working properly. So there is need of strong enforcement of every tool to use for welfare of children. Social and lawful efforts must be made. All the citizens and every aspect should be sensible, they have to realize and successfully play role to complete their responsibility for child development and welfare.
ASPECT of SOLUTION
Poverty alleviation, Education and literacy programmes should be successfully and effectively motivated and implemented.
Critical unemployment problems of rural area of country should be solved.
Ignorant parents toward the importance of child education should be made aware and understood of the child education. Behaviour of ignoring children, maltreatment and abuse to children (especially by step-parents) should be discouraged and parents should be made realized towards their responsibility and duty to care their children properly.
Enhanced steps to enunciate child welfare should be taken through special children orientated and practical programmes held extensively in communication media.
In current situation, private schools are being commercialized and education in these schools are reaching out of parents' average income. These educational institutions should become service oriented rather than commercial.
Measures should be taken to raise public awareness against the exploitation of children. NGOs and local communities should act as pressure groups in raising general consciousness for the protection of the rights of child labourers.
The Act and Laws against the child labour and for the child right should be implemented successfully and effectively as well as the positive social efforts and roles should be played.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Balsarokar (October, 2000); Issue No.39
2. CBS (2002); Statistical Year Book of Nepal
3. Crowford, Susan (1995); Child Labour in South Asia, A Review of Literature, UNICEF
4. CWIN (1988); Working Children in South Asia, Realities and Challanges, Kathmandu Seminar Workshop
5. CWIN (1989); Urban Child Labour in Nepal, Realities and Challanges, Kathmandu
6. CWIN (1998); State of Child, Country Report, Kathmandu, Nepal
7. Fyfe Alec (1993); Child Labour, A Guide to Project Design, Geneva, ILO
8. ILO (1983); Report of Director General, PART-1: Child Labour International Labour Conference 69th Session
9. ILO (June, 1993); "Concerted International Action for Children" in the World of Work; The Magazine of ILO, No. 4
10. Maskey, Aditee (2000); Child Domestic Labour in Kathamdu Municipality
11. Myres, W. E. (1991); Protecting Working Children, London and New Jersey Zed Books, UNICEF
12. Nepal, Puskar (1997); A Case Study of Street Children in Kathmandu: Nepal
13. NESAC (1998); Nepal Human Development Report: Nepal South Asia Centre
14. Sattaur, Omar (1993); Child Labour in Nepal: Anti Slavery International and CWIN
15. Taqi, A. (1986); Child Labour; A Briefing Manual, ILO, Geneva
16. World Bank (1991); A World Bank Count Nepal Poverty and Income
17. Yogi, B. (1977); National Institute of Public Co-operation and Child Development, India

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