How is child labour defined?

pratyush6 · 18th February 2015, 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by aargee

.

This happened about couple years back. A small boy along with his younger brother showed up at our gate & asked for some work & I said, there's no work. Now he doesn't go & says instead he would like to clean up the garden for some money. So I assumed he's a beggar & asked him to get lost. Now he says, he isn't a beggar & he wants money to raise his brother, books & support his family. Sorry that I cannot write anything more about the conversation, as I'm already in tears!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by bblost

I take that as the greatest failure of the worlds largest democracy.
Shame on all of us.

Quoting something that was written 5 years ago .. Agree with the response, something like that happening is a blot, is a shame for all of us. An abject failure of democracy and freedom. In the last when I was studying (and used to have a lot of free time to roam around) - I constantly saw people eating out of garbage - that is an image that I have never been able to get off my mind.

Going OT over here:
What we as citizens can do, atleast support one child - with their studies, playtime everything. I don't have any hope with the Govt., it's too busy helping the Tata & Ambanis of the world.

Everyone born in this country, everyone, should have the right to food, right to education and right to lead a decent life. That means even if a child is born to a destitute, he or she, should be taken care by the system. But I guess, we are too busy trying to buy each and everything in the market.

On the topic: It is a terrible thing for the Govt to do take away even minor forms of wage earning capacity when there is no way for these guys to survive is abhorrent. I do not expect anything better from the Govt. but I do from educated individuals and corporates.

raghu.t.k · 18th February 2015, 18:06

A very interesting discussion, though at the risk of sounding "politically incorrect". I think, the problem is the human tendencies to find loopholes in the system to maximise on the profits. This is likely to happen everywhere, be it the petty shop(do they exist now a days!!) across the street to the MNCs across the globe. There are people in all professions who wouldnt mind exploiting the loopholes.

It is a geniune dilemma wherein a child is trying to earn his next meal, against someone trying to ill treat their child employees. I have seen how children used to get beaten up with spanners or screwdrivers for some silly mistakes or sometimes for the owner to just vent out his frustration. Same in hotels(restaurants). Any sort of adding clauses in the law would only open more loopholes to be exploited.

I dont have an answer to the problem, apart from the fact that we could engage him over some weekend activities along with his parents/elders, while ensuring it does not affect his childhood. Though might sound as incorrect!!

alpha1 · 18th February 2015, 19:13

Aargee you have drawn up very thought provoking points (supported by others too).
You are right there is no white or black in such cases, and whether the child labor employed is right or wrong, fair or unfair has to be decided on case to case basis.

Giving a Blanket label of child labor as wrong is without looking into WHY and HOW to remove the situation/circumstances that led to the child labor.

My opinion is that it is society's responsibility to ensure that such compulsions do not arise. Since collective societal responsibilities are dealt with rather elegantly in a democracy - this has to be taken up in the legislature.

It is funny that our parliament does not find such a CORE issue as something worth debating, racking the brains and coming out with an intelligent plan.

Chetan_Rao · 18th February 2015, 19:26

I've never been in favor of exploiting a child, but it makes no sense to take away a legitimate (but potentially exploitative) source of income on the bare pretext of safeguarding the child's interests, without actually providing some sort of social security net. The poor & desperate child will most probably end up in an illegitimate and even more exploitative environment, which seems to be happening at an alarming rate these days.

Any law that makes people poorer and more destitute than they already are is flawed and needs a do-over, but I have no hope or faith in our policy-makers. They screw the tax-paying middle class in the name of the poor, and the poor in turn get screwed over as well. Almost any welfare scheme one can think of is on life-support with no hope of ever bearing fruit.

I rather prefer doing something at an individual level (adopting a kid's educational expenses, teaching poor kids on weekends, volunteer for social support/teaching campaigns etc.) than wait for someone else to solve these problems which will probably never happen anyway.

Will I change the world? Probably not, but there will at least be a few less destitute children on the streets. Good enough for me.

msrsooraj · 18th February 2015, 21:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by aargee

Last week I was randomly changing channels & was struck up on a specific channel that was telecasting a show where kids were dancing & singing exhibiting their talents. I let my thoughts run free & I'm penning down them in sequence.

http://www.scoopwhoop.com/inothernew...-at-mcdonalds/

Saw this the other day. And it does ask a very important question.
I really appreciate your concern and thank you for the thread. I don't know why, but I felt really good for having read something like this here.

Regards
msrsooraj

18th February 2015, 18:06	#32
raghu.t.k BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Chennai Posts: 468 Thanked: 193 Times	Re: How is child labour defined? A very interesting discussion, though at the risk of sounding "politically incorrect". I think, the problem is the human tendencies to find loopholes in the system to maximise on the profits. This is *likely* to happen everywhere, be it the petty shop(do they exist now a days!!) across the street to the MNCs across the globe. There are people in all professions who wouldnt mind exploiting the loopholes. It is a geniune dilemma wherein a child is trying to earn his next meal, against someone trying to ill treat their child employees. I have seen how children used to get beaten up with spanners or screwdrivers for some silly mistakes or sometimes for the owner to just vent out his frustration. Same in hotels(restaurants). Any sort of adding clauses in the law would only open more loopholes to be exploited. I dont have an answer to the problem, apart from the fact that we could engage him over some weekend activities along with his parents/elders, while ensuring it does not affect his childhood. Though might sound as incorrect!!
	() Thanks

18th February 2015, 19:13	#33
alpha1 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: LandOfNoWinters Posts: 2,095 Thanked: 2,605 Times	Re: How is child labour defined? Aargee you have drawn up very thought provoking points (supported by others too). You are right there is no white or black in such cases, and whether the child labor employed is right or wrong, fair or unfair has to be decided on case to case basis. Giving a Blanket label of child labor as wrong is without looking into WHY and HOW to remove the situation/circumstances that led to the child labor. My opinion is that it is society's responsibility to ensure that such compulsions do not arise. Since collective societal responsibilities are dealt with rather elegantly in a democracy - this has to be taken up in the legislature. It is funny that our parliament does not find such a CORE issue as something worth debating, racking the brains and coming out with an intelligent plan.
	() Thanks

18th February 2015, 19:26	#34
Chetan_Rao Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 5,902 Thanked: 24,086 Times	Re: How is child labour defined? I've never been in favor of exploiting a child, but it makes no sense to take away a legitimate (but potentially exploitative) source of income on the bare pretext of safeguarding the child's interests, without actually providing some sort of social security net. The poor & desperate child will most probably end up in an illegitimate and even more exploitative environment, which seems to be happening at an alarming rate these days. Any law that makes people poorer and more destitute than they already are is flawed and needs a do-over, but I have no hope or faith in our policy-makers. They screw the tax-paying middle class in the name of the poor, and the poor in turn get screwed over as well. Almost any welfare scheme one can think of is on life-support with no hope of ever bearing fruit. I rather prefer doing something at an individual level (adopting a kid's educational expenses, teaching poor kids on weekends, volunteer for social support/teaching campaigns etc.) than wait for someone else to solve these problems which will probably never happen anyway. Will I change the world? Probably not, but there will at least be a few less destitute children on the streets. Good enough for me.
	() Thanks