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| Authorities violate laws on child labour with impunity | | Why Celebrate Childrens' Day? | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 14: Even as the country is celebrating Children's Day to mark birth anniversary of country's first Prime Minister Pt Jawaharlal Nehru today, the poor children are still engaged in different kind of labour in the state, but the concerned authorities seems to be taking the issue for granted.
As per official data of State Labour Department, during the year 2009-10, a total of 3949 child labour cases were identified out of which only 5 cases were selected for prosecution in the court.
During the year 2010-11, the department found 2868 cases and initiated legal action in 35.
Likewise during the year 2011-12 against 4331 identified cases, prosecution was initiated in only 13 cases.
In the year 2012-13, the department found 3423 such cases and initiated action against just 22, while from April 2013 to till date, the department identified more than 1200 such cases and only a couple of cases were brought in the court of law.
As per experts, the reason behind poor enforcement is the lack of coordination among concerned government departments which allow the offenders to escape the punishment.
"It is found that even many law makers employee children in their homes as domestic helpers which also goes in favor of violators," they added.
The child labour is prohibited in the state under Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act.
According to the law anyone found employing a child below the age of 14 have to face a jail term up to two years and a maximum fine of Rs 20,000.
Pertinently, as per a survey conducted by an NGO in 2009, Jammu and Kashmir State has over three lakh children working under the age of 14 and nearly 34 per cent of child laborers have only received a fifth-grade education and only 66 per cent have studied up to the eighth grade.
The study also stated that 9.2 per cent of child labourers are 5 to 10 years old, while 90 per cent of them fall in 11 to 14 year age.
The survey further reveals that more than 80 per cent of the child workforce comes from families with 6 to 10 members and 15 percent from families having 11 to 15 members. It further says that over 61 percent of parents of child laborers are illiterate. |
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