Child Labour
What is child labour
and what is its impact on the society?
This is the constant question I ask myself when I see a child working in
a hotel or in a garage. We are very much aware of child labour to reduce child
labor, the government of India has implemented a number of child welfare laws.
The Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act was enacted in 1986; the
National Policy on Child Labor was introduced in 1987, rehabilitating children
and giving them education, nutritious food, and vocational training with a
minimum stipend for poor families. Also, the National Child Labor Project
(NCLP), launched in 1988, offers these services to rural interior populations
(Government of India, Ministry of Labor, National Child Labor Project). What is
in our constitution?
Article 21 A
Right to Education
The State shall provide free and compulsory education to
all children of the age of 6 to 14 years in such manner as the State, by law,
may determine.
Article 24
Prohibition of employment of children in
factories, etc.
No child below the age fourteen years shall be employed
in work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
Article 39
The State shall, in particular, direct its
policy towards securing:-
(e) that the health and strength of workers, men
and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are
not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or
strength.
They
are over 12 million child laborers in India, according to the 2001 national
census, who are exploited by industries, institutions, and landlords
(Gentleman, New York Times, 2/18/2007). Male children may
also become beggars or get involved in robbery and female children may become
prostitutes to survive. In rural India child labor is seen in many areas; these
children are often caught in a cycle of poverty. When they grow up, because of
their own illiteracy and poverty, they may also make their children work at
young ages. Child Labour is not a recent phenomenon and again, not confined to
a particular State. According to 1996 UNICEF and ILO sources, the number of
child Labourers in India may be anywhere between 14 to 100 million out of
approximately a total 246 million Child workers in the World. Thus, one out of
every six children in the world today is involved in child Labour.
What are the reasons
for this? Why this is a common Phenomena of the whole world? The push factors
include abject poverty, illiteracy, and lack of awareness, parents' unwariness
and a child un-friendly mindset in communities then there are socio-cultural
discrimination, gender bias, and denial of legal safeguards and thin outreach
of development benefits. The absence of inadequacy of educational facilities,
the state's incapability to effectively handle natural disasters such as
floods, earthquakes, droughts and famines, are other causes. Development
disasters such as deforestation, mining and displacement are largely
responsible for children falling prey to child labour.
The Indian government
is working hard in this area of human rights. The main focus of the National
Child Labor Project is to eliminate hazardous conditions for children by
providing "basic needs" (food, clothing and shelter) and education.
According to the Indian Ministry of Labor, children under the age of eight have
been encouraged to stay in school with the support of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan
(Giving Education to All), a part of the Ministry of Human Resource
Development. Older child laborers are mainstreamed into schools, also with the
help of this organization. Who help the government? The Corporate world which is very much
involved in the social work can be pulled to help the governme
Education is a crucial component of any effective effort to eliminate child
labour. There are many interlinked explanations for child labour. No single
factor can fully explain its persistence and, in some cases, growth. The way in
which different causes, at different levels, interact with each other
ultimately determines whether or not an individual child becomes a child
labourer. The corporate world can be roped in this activity and help the
children to be educated formally or informally. The magnitude of
the child labor problem is so huge that single-handed intervention can never
solve the problem. We believe that sustainable end to child labour, forced
labour and trafficking cannot be achieved without the active will and support
of the corporate community. There is need for not only intra-sectoral alliance
building but also inter-sectoral coalition. Unless we rope in multiple
stakeholders like Human Rights Groups, Teachers Union, Trade
Union and political parties and Corporates etc, the problem of child labour
will remain long unresolved
Greedy employers looking for a vulnerable, docile
and cheap workforce, bribery and other forms of corruption will add to this
misery. The corporate world needs to follow the rules and regulations of the country/state.
They should not seek the easy way to get labourers for their profit or their
interest. This basic commitment is need from them besides their CSR work.
The Government is committed to eliminate child
labour in all its forms and is moving in this direction in a targeted manner.
The multipronged strategy being followed by the Government to achieve this
objective also found its echo during the recent discussions held in the
Parliament on the Private Member’s Bill tabled by Shri Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi. It
was unanimously recognized therein that the problem of child labour, being
inextricably linked with poverty and illiteracy, cannot be solved by
legislation alone, and that a holistic, multipronged and concerted effort to
tackle this problem will bring in the desired results.
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| Fr. Vijay D'Souza sj |
Written by Fr Vijay D'Souza sj
vijudsouza@gmail.com
Fr. Terence Writes....
Fr.Francis pudicherry arrived in Ahmedabad around 2.30pm. with his official chaufeur Fr.Ronald Sanctis.
He looks cheerful and in the pink of health.
He has landed in Sughad Panth with the 14 pre-novices heartily greeting him.
Please pray for a retreat given by Fr. Sudir Chettiar to nuns in Punjab beginning on 30th June.
He looks cheerful and in the pink of health.
He has landed in Sughad Panth with the 14 pre-novices heartily greeting him.
Please pray for a retreat given by Fr. Sudir Chettiar to nuns in Punjab beginning on 30th June.
We are at present Two, Frs Alpesh and Terence, now we have good company of Fr.Francis.
Terence
Congratulations Dear Brothers......
 |
| Sch. Raman and Sch. Brijesh |
Dear Brothers,
We Joyfully congratulate our New-born Jesuits.
Sch. Raman Dalvi sj and Sch. Brijesh Parmar sjnpronounced their wows in Sadhana Sadan our Novitiate. Gujarat Province of the Society of Jesus joyfully congratulate the young Scholastics and the Novice Master Fr. Shekhar sj who has moulded them rightly in the traditional Ignatian Charism and Spirituality.
Wish You all a Happy Feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga.
The Term “JESUIT” by Hedwig Lewis SJ
However, in 1544, barely four years after its foundation, Peter Canisius in a letter to Peter Faber notes that the members of the Society were called Jesuits in Cologne – but in a pejorative sense. Canisius believed that the custom originated in Louvain, where the name was applied in mockery. In the 17th century, in England, France and Germany, the term Jesuit was used in derision, connoting hypocrisy, intrigue and malice.
On the other hand, those who appreciated the extraordinary contributions of the Society in various fields: science, education, missions… held the “Jesuits” in high esteem.
Reference: http://en.ignatianwiki.org/THE_TERM_JESUIT
Welcome
Dear Friends
Greetings from Richard
Thanks to Anoob that we are having a new blog.
This is what Anoob writes to me:
I have already started working with the new blog for the Scholastics. The new e-mail id of it will be gujaratjesuits@gmail.com and the blog address will be gujaratjesuits.blogspot.com
I hope that we shall all contribute our views, news, opinions, sharings and resources to his blog and continue to be touch with our 'spiritual conversation.'
Wishing you all the best for the new year that you are going to begin soon.
Love and prayers
Richysj
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