The Government has launched many welfare schemes like E-Baal Nidan, a special portal for Jammu & Kashmir, Baal Swaraj, Sahara, and the Out-of-School Children Trafficking Portal. The Government initiates efforts for child welfare, but their actions at the implementation level are very limited. To make crucial decisions about child labour, we need updated data, further research, and an assessment of the impact of child labour on child development. This article aims to analyze the National Child Labour Policy, its implications, and the legal framework, aiming to eradicate child labour. During a trip to the Mysore Palace, while exploring the palace from outside, a young boy approached, trying to sell roses.
There is a chance that as people living in smaller towns and villages still follow the old traditions, the new policy would cause agitations in communities. Four Indian states with large Muslim populations have already passed versions of a “two-child policy”. What’s more, built into many of these policies are incentives for families to have just one child. And in 2021, a senior government minister proposed a national “one-child” policy. India’s fertility rate has dropped to 2.3 births per woman in 2016, compared to 3.2 births per woman in 2000, according to government data. But the booming population has been raising concerns for decades due to a rising poverty, decline in jobs and a poor literacy rate.
- With over 220 million people, Uttar Pradesh says it’ll deny government jobs, subsidies and the right to contest local polls – to anyone who has more than two children.
- The country’smost recent approach to population issues focuses on the advancement of womeneconomically, academically, and socially, as independent women are more likelyto have small families.
- Muttreja of the Population Foundation of India pointed out the “complete contrast” between the proposed law and the government’s population policy based on a “non-coercive, life-cycle approach”.
- With “limited natural resources available, it will be difficult to meet the needs of every citizen if there is a population explosion”, he told reporters.
- May we remember that a fair hearing for the child is not only an obligation but also an honour, for in their fledgling words lie the seeds of tomorrow’s society.
Following these amendments act 2016, Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Rules 2017 was enacted. “This is a significant moment for the partnership between India and UNICEF. For 75 years, we have worked together to reach every child – wherever they live, whatever their background – with quality services and systems enabling improved health, learning and opportunity. UNICEF is proud to mark that this is the fifth commemorative postage stamp being released in partnership with the Ministry of Communications, having marked several over the past 64 years,” said Cynthia McCaffrey, Representative UNICEF India. India is a signatory to the United Nation Convention of Rights of Child (UNCRC). The mighty voice of international law resonates in Article 12 of the UNCRC, acceded to by India in 1992.
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Additionally, limited access to social protection, high youth unemployment, weak enforcement mechanisms, lack of public awareness, and inefficiencies in coordination and service delivery continue to hinder progress. The data stipulates the presence of child labour in significant numbers, especially between the age groups of 5-9 and years. The number of child workers increases from the younger category to the older category. The clear visibility of a significant number of children employed as child labourers raises concerns about serious social issues.
India’s National Child Labour Policy: Legal Framework and Challenges
But experts say there is no evidence to suggest that such a law will help in bringing down the fertility rate. The draft says those who are not in government service but follow the two-child policy will get rebates on water and electricity bills, housing tax and home loans from banks. The bill proposes to make people with more than two children ineligible for state government jobs, disentitle those already in service to promotions, and exclude them from the benefits of as many as 77 government schemes. The right-wing government in India’s most populous state has proposed a controversial legislation aimed at curbing its population growth, with experts calling the move “coercive” and fearing it may lead to increased gender inequality.
Why two-child plan in India’s most populous state is ‘coercive’
Moreover, Uttar Pradesh is not the only BJP-run state where a chorus of population control has grown recently. Government employees following the two-child policy will be eligible for incentives such as two additional increments during their service, subsidy on purchase of land or house, and a 3 percent increase in Employee Provident Fund under the National Pension Scheme. According to the draft, anyone violating the two-child policy in the state will also be debarred from contesting local bodies elections. But the notion that India should emulate China’s past population policies is misguided at best, and dangerous at worst.
Given Australia’s growing ties to India, it should be concerned about what population policy could mean for the erosion of democratic norms in India. China’s failure is being taken as a lesson by countries such as India, where development is instead being seen as the key to capping population growth. But B. Paswan, head of the department of population policies and programmes at the International Institute for Population Sciences highlighted the proposition is simply not realistic.
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As activists and experts scramble to educate the public on the need for contraception and family planning, these politicians want to limit each family to have just two children. The worry here is that the coming population milestone will push India to adopt knee-jerk population policies. Therefore, it was felt necessary to collate up-to-date data biannually, if not annually through a dedicated method by the Government. Child labour one child policy in india is multi- phenomenon demanding a multitude of solutions for an effective resolution. The stakeholders shall consider the policies, budget, appraisals, feasibility studies, evaluations, economic-development targets/goals, etc. at the national, sub-national, and sectorial levels and with regional bodies. The National Policy on Child Labour was initiated in 1987, but it was implemented after the Amendment Act 2016.
In the grand tradition of parens patriae, our superior Courts hold the solemn responsibility of shielding the child’s interests. However, in fulfilling that sacred role, we must not stifle the child’s spirit. Duties/activities will be focused/conducted by the government for the society in relation to population stabilization under the bill. But statistics show that India’s population growth peaked decades ago and is now on a downward trajectory. Calling the rising population “a hurdle in development”, Adityanath said he wanted to stabilise the state’s population and reduce maternal and infant deaths in a time-bound manner.
- Signed in 1994, the declaration advocates free speech and honors the reproductive rights of couples to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of children.
- The fact is that in North India, the fertility rate is way over 5 births per woman, which is as high as the mean the African countries with the highest fertility (Roser).
- The idea the country should adopt something like China’s former “one-child policy” has been moving from the fringe to the political mainstream.
- The clear visibility of a significant number of children employed as child labourers raises concerns about serious social issues.
- The Government initiates efforts for child welfare, but their actions at the implementation level are very limited.
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, has now found a definition of the “best interest of child”. Under the Guardian and Wards Act, 1890, if the minor is old enough to form an intelligent preference, the Court may consider that preference. Another keyissue that Indian public information campaigns have widely targeted is favoritism for boy children, a deeply ingrained traditionthat drives couples to have more children.
The irony is that India’s birth rate and the size of families are decreasing because of women’s own reproductive choices. Many women are getting surgical contraception after having two children (or after having a son). Like past population control policies, they’re targeted at Muslim and lower-caste families, and illustrate a broader Hindu nationalist agenda with anti-democratic tendencies. As in China, in some states in India, women’s education and their aspirations for their children have contributed to lower birth rates. The irony is that India’s birth rate and the size of families are decreasing because of women’s own reproductive choices. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, infant mortality dropped significantly.
As happened at the height of China’s one-child policy, Indians could lose government jobs and more if such laws were passed at the national level. Some Indian states and municipalities have already legislated that people with more than two children are ineligible for government jobs and to stand for political office. Despite declining birth rates, some politicians have advocated for the adoption of something like China’s former one-child policy in northern states with large Muslim populations. These calls have less to do with demographic reality, and more to do with majoritarian Hindu nationalist concerns around Muslim and “lower-caste” fertility. As happened at the height of China’s one-child policy, Indians could lose government jobs and more if such laws were passed at the national level. Despite declining birth rates, some politicians have advocated for the adoption of something like China’s former one-child policy in northern states with large Muslim populations.