Why in news?
It is estimated recently that it would be difficult to achieve the child labour eradication target by 2025.
What are the global status of child labour?
- The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that eight years from now, around 121 million boys and girls would still be engaged in various occupations.
- The present figure is around 152 million children aged 5-17.
- Around 71% of working children are concentrated in the agriculture sector, with 69% of them undertaking unpaid work in family units.
What are the implications of India’s target?
- In 2015 union government set a target to eradicate child labour by 2025.
- At a recent conference in Buenos Aires India told that it will miss the deadline.
- The implication is also that realising the objective could take well over 20 years after the expiry of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
- It is a shame that the goal to eradicate child labour by 2025 seems intangible
What are the challenges for India in achieving the target?
- If countries resolve to reinvigorate their efforts to reach the target, they would be looking at a reduction each year of 19 million.
- That is close to five times the prevalent pace of decline.
- There was a slowdown in the reduction of child labour, just one percentage point, during the four years until 2016.
- More worrisome is that there was almost no progress with respect to the rescue of children under 12 years in the four years since 2012.
- Equally, the decline in child labour among girls was only half the proportion of that of boys during this period.
What are the reasons for lack of progress?
- There is an absence of national legislation to give effect to global conventions on the employment of children in hazardous industries, as well as on the minimum age of work.
- The fact that the two instruments have received the largest number of ratifications brings into sharp focus the lack of harmony between global commitments and domestic priorities.
- Incoherency between laws that prescribe a minimum age for employment and those for completion of compulsory school education.
- Due to absence of strong collective bargaining mechanisms and effective social protection policies it is tedious to implement social policies.
Source: The Hindu
