http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?category=National&slug=Domestic+child+labour+rampant+in+Delhi&id=90954
Domestic child labour rampant in Delhi Sutapa Deb Wednesday, August 2, 2006 (New Delhi): Most middle class colonies in South Delhi conceal a public secret, i.e., domestic child labour. Unofficial estimates put the number of child domestic labour in the country at one crore. Of these nearly 90 lakh are girls. The employers are the powerful and the elite, including government officials, academics, professionals and politicians. After Tuesday's government notification, such people now have 70 days to put an end to the practice. The penalty for flouting the law is a jail term ranging from three months to two years and fines ranging from Rs 10,000 to 20,000. "The order is wrong. If a mother cannot feed her 14-year-old at home, then those who feed the child are not wrong. A child under the age of 14 can do light jobs. We can pay some money that their parents cannot give them. Whatever he gets is better than the torn clothes he gets at home," said a local. Although this may be an argument against the law, reports of children being duped by middlemen are all too common. Forced by poverty For instance, girls from Rourkela and Jharkhand arrived at a local shelter recently. Vulnerable and exploited, their poverty is a pretext for slavery. Although the shelter has a capacity for accommodating 55 girls, it is common for it to get overcrowded. Since January this year, 100 girls have been brought to the shelter from one spot alone, i.e., the New Delhi Railway Station. All the girls were in search of domestic work. Moreover, what is interesting is that at least 50 per cent of the girls belong to the tribal community, the rest are OBCs, Dalits and Muslims. NGOs say that the government's order is a positive step and that it not only recognises the unorganised labour force but also acts as a deterrent. No penalties enforced While the order would give some teeth to law enforcement agencies, it has been difficult to enforce the provisions of penalty for the accused. "Unfortunately, you cannot find one single example where anybody has been punished for two years of imprisonment, which is a provison of the law since 1986. Some people were arrested but a small fine of Rs 200 were given and then they were free," said Kailash Satyarthi, Chairperson, SACCS. Presently, existing schemes address only 6,000 children, and there are concerns that there is no national child labour programme for the millions of children who work as child labour in different sectors. "We are doubtful how the government is going to address the rehabilitative measures for children who will be rescued. That is the big challenge. They are in this for want of livelihood and their parents are also party to that. How to provide education, give shelter, repatriate them back home and also how to support the family," said Rajib Haldar, Prayas. Thus, for the programme to be comprehensive, it must address both the source point and the destination point of child labour. «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥««¤»¥«¤»§«¤» This is ZESTCaste whose members watch India's painful journey to society's de-casteisation. Members are encouraged to post messages to ZESTCaste@yahoogroups.com If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join Get all ZESTCaste mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join ==theZESTcommunity====================================== [1] ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ [2] ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ [3] ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ [4] ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ [5] ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ [6] ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ [7] ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ [8] TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
