Child labour in India

Child labour is referred to as a condition in which a child is

deprived of his/her potential. It refers to the kind of work

which is mentally and physically dangerous to children.

Here, children are forced to work at an age when they

should enjoy and study. In India, around 12.9 million

children are trapped in this cage called “child labour”.

These children are mostly between the age of 7 to 17

years. It is a major social issue in India.

The kids engaged in child labour are less likely to attend

school or attend it in intervals. The majority of them work

upto 16 hours a day to meet basic requirements for them

and their families. Millions of children in India go to work

everyday doing odd jobs, some on the roads, some in

factories just to help their families. Children are used for

selling ‘bidis’ on roads, cigarettes, working in textile and

steel industries. The worst part of child labour is the sexual

exploitation of children. A huge number of girls are victims

of child trafficking. Around 1 million children in India are

involved in prostitution. Working children are exposed to

pesticides and toxins. These exposures increase the risk

of lung cancer, leukemia etc. The difficulty of the jobs

create problems such as malnutrition, depression and

drug dependency with no protection from their families.

It is important to end child labour as the children who were

first employed in child labour will send their own children

to work some or the other day. This hazardous cycle must

come to an end. By spreading awareness, reducing

poverty, taking some steps to control child trafficking and

making education compulsory are some of the factors that

can decrease child labour to some extent. Thus, we all

should try our best to spread awareness and put an end to

this social evil.