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International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, April, 2012. ISSN- 0975-3486, RNI-RAJBIL 2009/30097;VoL.III *ISSUE-31
Research Paper - Economics
Problems of Child Labour
in Karnataka
April, 2012 *Dr.M.S.Ramananda** Dr. Mallikarjuna N.L.
*Faculty Member, Regional Institute of Cooperative Management, Bangalore-70.
**Professor, MBA, SEA College of Engineering& Technology, Bangalore-49.
Introduction The Rights of the Child
In order to eradicate the worst forms of child The UN spelled out the full range of children's
exploitation such as exploitative labour, we need to rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
tackle the issue of poverty, since poverty is both a adopted in 1989. This has been signed and on ratified
direct cause of child labour, and a determinant factor by all the countries in the world except two. The con-
in preventing children from accessing an education vention contains one particular article about economic
that can protect them against exploitation. Since child exploitation article 32; it also guarantees other rights
labour is concentrated in less developed countries the relevant to whether children should be working or not.
child labour controversy ends up having a trade re- Article 32 commits government to recognizing
lated dimension. A portion of politicians and civil "The right of the child to be protected from
societies in developed countries resume from the "abo- economic exploitation and from performing any work
litionist approach" that child-made products have to that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the
be banned. This measure however, is seen as a trade child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health
barrier by developing countries. On the corporate side, or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social develop-
the "abolitionist" approach is somewhat consistent with ment". It condemns forms of work that interfere with
the strategy adopted by "no child labor" labels while education and those that cause harm. The Convention
the "realistic approach" is followed, among others, by spells out a child's right to education, as well as iden-
the Fair Trade movement.4 The objective of our paper tifying the forms of harm to which children should not
is to verify whether the "realistic" approach works by be exposed. A second part of the same article describes
testing the effect of FT affiliation on child schooling the measures governments must ask to implement this
with field survey data. More specifically, both Rug right. They must.
mark and Fair Trade (FT) labels aim to sell ethical a. Provide for a minimum age or minimum ages for
intangibles to concerned consumers, but their approach admission to employment;
is quite the opposite. In the first case we have a "no- b. Provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and
child-labor" constraint and no intervention on market conditions of employment;
prices5 while, in the second case, producers are free to c. Provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions
choose whether or not to send their children to school to ensure the effective enforcement of the present ar-
but receive a price premium from the organization. ticle.
What is Child Labour? In practice, despite the near universal ratifi-
The term "child labour" coined in Britain cation of the Convention many countries have not
during the 19th century, implies that the children in- fulfilled the obligations in "b" and "c", Many have
volved should not be working. "Youth employment", specified a minimum age but to little to enforce it.
on the other hand, implies something quite different Article 28 guarantees every child's right to education
that young people need appropriate training and sup- and stresses the important of equal opportunity for all
port to enter the labour market to find jobs when they children to have access to education. It requires gov-
leave school. Many languages do not have a phrase ernment, "progressively and on the basis of equal op-
that implies that children should not be working and portunity".
use expressions more similar to "child work". The * Make primary education compulsory and available
terminology used is important because it implies what free to all children;
should be done in response: a "child labour" should be * Encourage the development of secondary education,
returned to school; a "youth" or "adolescent" worker including general and vocational education, and to
should be assisted in getting a job, with more supervi- make these available and accessible to all children.
sion and protection than an adult worker. * Take measures to encourage regular school atten-

10 RESEARCH AN ALYSI S AND EVALU ATION

dance and to reduce drop-out rates. Two other provi- because they do not have the means to absolutely es-
sions in the Convention are also vitally important for tablish the ages of e.g. teenagers, and, without appro-
working children. Article 3 says government agencies priate documentation, young people may also be de-
and other institutions taking action concerning a child nied access to state services such as schools.
or children must base their decisions on what is in the The role of education
children's "best interests". Article 12 emphasis that Children who receive little or no school edu-
when a child is capable of forming his or her views, cation miss out on the knowledge that can create op-
these should be given due attention, in accordance tions for them later in life. Without it, they make less
with the child's age and maturity. These general pro- contribution as adults and are more exposed to exploi-
visions are relevant to organizations such as UNICEF tation and abuse. Not attending school is consequently
which want to end child exploitation. Every initiative both a cause and effect of child labour. The importance
has to ensure it is in child's best interests, and that the of education for a society's economic and social devel-
views of children, particularly those who are more opment is widely acknowledged. However, even coun-
mature, must be sought and taken into account in tries that have made an explicit undertaking to send
deciding what initiatives are suitable. every child to school still have to do a great deal to turn
The Supply: What Pushes Children into Work? this commitment into reality. The shortcomings of
Poverty The main reason why children start work existing school systems remain a major factor that
instead of attending school, or leave school before "pushes" children on to the labour market when they
completing their primary education is that their fami- are too young. Sending children to school does not
lies are poor and cannot pay the basic costs of food and come without a cost. In many countries, parents still
housing without their child earning something as well. pay a fee for their children to attend primary school,
But the reasons why families are poor vary enormously as well as buying books and providing a school uni-
- some are global, some are national and some are form. For a poor family these are significant costs,
historic. alongside the lack of income for the household while
Some adult workers are not paid enough to a child is at school. To tackle these economic realities,
support their families, and sometimes even the wages Brazil introduced a "school scholarship" for low-in-
from both parents' incomes are not sufficient to keep come families. This is an income subsidy tied to a
their family housed, clothed and fed. However, it is child's continuing attendance at school. The incentive
also common to find families in which one or both has had a marked effect, reducing the frequency of
parents are not earning anything, maybe because a child labour in the areas where it has been tried.4
parent has died or left home, or because adults are However, while the Brazilian government was able to
unable to get work. Sometimes employers prefer to make funding available, similar subsidies are not yet
employ children, finding them more obedient and forthcoming in other parts of the world.
cheaper than adults. Alongside families where all the Review of Literature
children are expected to work and earn their living Gawali (2008), in his study of child laboru
from a young age, there are others where just one or problem marathwada reveals that the regional issues
two children work to earn money to enable another are serious and they formed a part of the serious and
sibling to attend school. Around the world, the details they formed a part of the complexities of local issues.
vary but the story is the same. There is not enough The child labor from remote districts that do not have
money for families to survive without some or all of any job or security for their future, they folk towards
their children working. regional centers and their issues become more com-
Family breakdown plex when they came to cities. Putra and Nayak (2008),
Families break down for many reasons, leav- in their study reveal that the objectives to assess the
ing the household short of income. Sometimes divorce problem of child labor it causes and consequences in
leaves one parent looking after more children than she a tribal dominated district or Orissa. Using a multi-
or he can afford to feed. Divorce is sometimes brought stage random sampling method data were collected
about by domestic violence, which also directly drives from 140 respondents covering 12 Panchayatas spread
children to leave home when they are still young. over 4 identified blocks of the study area. The study
Poor infrastructure Another factor is the practical dif- reveals that most of the active child workers are com-
ficulty of establishing a child's actual age in countries ing from poverty stricken socio-economic backward
where the infrastructure may not be in place for e.g. families very often they are ill treated. To deal with the
systematic birth registration. This can disadvantage problem a multi pronged attack is inevitable. All the
children in many ways - law enforcers are hampered actors should work in unison to have a permanent
RESEARCH AN ALYSI S AND EVALU ATION
11

solution to this man made disaster. Mishra (2008), he not be exist with child labour existence. He says that
analyzed for national commission for protection of child labour represents fundamental abuse of child
child rights (NCPCR) Shantha Sinha feels no that rights & violation of international & national laws.
effort has been made to make children go to school has Sharma & Mishra (2008), in their article highlighted
observed that India is having the largest number of senior civil servants observed that the child labour in
malnourished children NCPCR has no any policy about India in their own vision. At present India would emerge
these children. Also he observed India has the largest as a developed country on the world map. Liberaliza-
number of children out of school. It also has the largest tion privatization & globalization (LPG) effects In-
number of children in work force people are poor and dian Economy & Society. Indian achievement in the
they need to income from their child's labour. Poverty field of atomic energy soft ware technology & launch-
is the main causes for child labor without child labour ing of the satellite are recognized in the world.
peorce will statue poor people are send the children to Dhaka and Narwal (2008), they gave us the position of
school with all difficult life. The type of people is less the child labour & the impact of this problem & its
in number. eradication through government & non government
Shireen (2008), he opines about child labour organization. Also they say that children are an asset
is unavoidable? It is argued that the child labour is of a nation. The density of a nation directly depends on
needed for life cycle. If children do not work, they well how well its children are looked after.
stare & surely work in better that starvation? Toler- Research Issues
ance & acceptance of the child labour is become argu- After reviewing literature on problems of child
ment issue. It is really great sin in the enlighten soci- labour, some of the research issues were identified.
ety. Society should be enlighten against child labour Most of the studies concluded that the poverty and
peoples of the most discriminated as lower castes & unemployment in converted child labourer are high.
rulers areas are made a working about the government Some of the studies concentrated on the relationship
rulers & regulation of child labors its welfare between education and asset position. Moreover, stud-
programmes about child labour under Sarva Shiksha ies dealing with the child labourer are scanty. Very few
Abhiyaan the Government has promised a school with studies had attempted on this aspect across northern
a 1km radius & below for children between 6-14 has states of the country, while, particularly no compre-
been disclosed free of compulsory. Satyarthi (2008), in hensive research work is conducted on these lines in
his study gave us a critical study of child labour in southern part of Karnataka. Further, due to the lack of
India. According to him, the child labour act 1986. detailed information on the problems of child labourer,
Came into force but the eradication of child labour is the study has been undertaken. Thus, it is obvious that
not successful for so many reason. Generally the rea- a comprehensive study on the problems of child labour
son for child labour is that poor family needs children and related issues at the gross roots level is required.
to contribute economically to their survival. Also gave Hence, the present study intends to examine various
an account of comprehensive approach to eradicate issues in problems of child labour in India and
child labour which enlighten of awareness. Karnataka. Therefore, the present study on problems
Desai (2008), in his article highlighted the of child labour through organized and unorganized
emeritus professor at the London School of Econom- sector in Karnataka has been undertaken with the fol-
ics observed that the child labour in India is a complex lowing objectives.
one child's life has so many components like school- Objectives of The Study
ing. Playing, friendship etc. He observed that the trag- 1. To examine the status of child labour in Karnataka
edy of child labour is that children are compelled to 2. To analyze the problems of child labour in Karnataka.
work due to poverty mainly craft men families induct Methodology
children into work which they carry out at home. This The present study has been carried out by an
work in Zari production or carpet weaving or bidi empirical investigation by canvassing a structured
making. Sharma (2008), In his study reveals that he schedule. Appropriate simple statistical tools were used
has observed a silent programme to eradicate child in accordance with needs to analyze various aspects of
labour. According to Sharma child labour is due to the child labour. Arithmetic Mean, Annual Growth Rate,
poverty & debt of the family. Most of the parents do not Standard Deviation and Co-efficient of Variations were
know the importance of the education of their chil- used.
dren. Mukherjee (2008), he is noted that Habitat & Data Source
Environment Forum, Kolkata. He has analyzed child Secondary data were collected from the office
labour in India. According to him healthy society can- of the child labour, Mysore and Karnataka, Govern-


ment Records, Journals, Periodicals, Text Books and the problem on its own but it is the problem of the
Internet. Primary data were collected from the respec- maintenance of child and the living wage of adult
tive respondents through a pre-tested interview sched- wage earner so that they can maintain their family at
ule. adequate standard"
Tools Used For The Data Analysis: 3. Unemployment
The following tools were used for the study Sometimes, children seek work because of
* Arithmetic Mean (AM) their unemployment parents or adult relations in the
* Standard Deviation (SD) family, which is sometimes also because of under-
* Annual Growth Rate (AGR) employment of the adults. In our country, the agricul-
* Co-efficient of Variation (CV) tural workers are engaged for a maximum period of
Child Population: (All India - 1991 census) 290 days in different agricultural and allied works; but
The Child Population in India declined by 5.0 million sit absolutely idle for the rest of the other 75 days,
(or - 3.0 %) between 2001 and 2011 which sometimes forces them to send their children
This is due to the sharp decline of 8.9 million (or - for small jobs.
7.0%) in child population in Rural areas In Urban 4. Large Family
areas, the child population increased by 3.9 million In most cases, the child worker belongs to a
(or +10.3 %) large family in which it is difficult to pull easily with
Child Labour - Urban & Rural break - up (2011 a low income. It is difficult to provide a sheltered-
Census): childhood to their children and therefore they send
(a) Urban: 919 them to work for more income. It is seen in many such
(b) Rural: 914 cases of poor families that they need more children,
Child Labour - Male / Female break - up: which will bring them more income ultimately.
(a) Male: 56.24% 5. Child Labour is cheaply available
(b) Female: 43.76% Employers like to increase their production
There are many causes of child labour of which some at cheap labour costs which they get easily from em-
of the principal causes are ploying the child labourer than the adults to ensure,
1. Poverty higher margins of profit. The poverty is a blessing to
The foremost reason for the origin of child these employers as they get the poor children more
labour isacute poverty, which exists in developing easily from the labour market.
nations. According to a study, 92 million out of 228 6. Illiteracy and Ignorance
million of Indian children are in the families below A seminar on "Employment of Children" in
poverty line. Nearly 1 lakh children die annually as a November 1975 indicated that, "Child labour is preva-
result of malnutrition. There are nearly 2 lakh beggars lent extensively in the processes which cause the even-
and vagabond among the children. Another study re- tual loss of sight, hearing or bone deformity. Small
veals that more than 40 percent of the Indian popula- children are working in hotels and restaurants with
tion is below poverty line, half of which belongs to fumes and dirty water, which causes to them skin dis-
Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes. So, they de- eases.
ploy their children in different employments, for supple- See Table 2.6
menting the family income or at least to get rid of the The table indicated that national child labour project
burden of such children. schools reveals that the government will take care for
In cities, a large number of migrant child the welfare of the child labour for the education but the
labourers are seen, who failed to get any job at their running schools become less for the shortage of status.
natives areas. To avoid economic helplessness and Child labour is not so interested in education male
poverty line their villages, they come to towns. In children is more than the female children.
Bhubaneswar, it is observed that nearly 83 percent are See Table 2.7
migrant child workers whereas only 17 percent are the The table 2.4 result indicated that child labour project
residents of the city. school thus that the male children are more than fe-
2. Low income of the bread earner of the male children. The No. of child laobur is are increas-
family In some cases, it has been observed that the ing in every year. So the child labour problem is also
inadequacy of wages of adult earning member(s) of increasing is every year. The government sanctioning
the family compels them to send their children to work school for year but running school is becoming less for
and supplement the family income. It is clarified in the want of children. This shows that children will not
report of ILO that, "this problem of child labour is not take education properly child laobur is still exist.
13


Table 2.6, National Child Labour Project (NCLP)
Year No. of Sanctioned School t No. of Running No. of Children
by Governmen Schools Male Female Total
2004-05 2 School 1 School 15 6 21
2005-06 3 School 2 Schools 18 4 22
20 5 25
Total 38 9 47
2006-07 5 Schools 2 Schools 14 3 17
8 3 11
Total 22 6 28

2007-08 5 Schools 4 Schools 37 13 50
20 6 26
27 7 34
38 12 50
Total 122 38 160
11 3 14
Total 31 8 39
Source: ILO Report
Table 2.7, State Child Labour Project Schools (S.C.L.P) in Karnataka
Year No. of Sanctioned School No. of Running No. of Children
by government Schools Male Female Total
1 2 3 5 6 7
39 4 43
Total 72 9 81
57 6 63
19 8 27
Total 126 23 149

2006-07 5 schools 3 Schools 59 6 65
42 9 51
19 12 31
Total 120 27 147
2007-08 6 Schools 3 Schools 43 11 54
38 7 45
17 11 28
Total 98 29 127
30 5 35
Total 55 11 66
Source: ILO Report of child labour, although one should add that causes
Conclusion tend to be multivariate, and that explanations need to
For an efficient and realistic intervention in be found in the structure of poverty, modes of employ-
policy matters, a differentiation needs to be made of ment, labour relations, etc. as well as in agency.
the different categories of disenfranchised children: Suggestions
the labouring child, the working-cum-schooling child One must know the various causes for child
and various other disabled children who are usually labour there are so many components around the Child
referred to as nowhere children. A clear analysis will labour
also help us to have a better understanding of the causes 1.To eliminate child labour one must be eliminate

poverty otherwise people will starve. Government 3. Government will take steps to open schools nearer
should provide work for the people to increase their to villages. Vehicles to road facilities to be made to
income. Necessary steps should be taken to provide reach schools in all season of the year.
basic needs to the poor people. 4.School environment should be made an attractive &
2.Peoples should be encourages to send their children pleasable to students children should full homely
to school for the welfare of the children. Government friendly environment for learning. Teachers should be
& non government organization of the community act as friendly & merciful guider to children.
educate the people about the importance of the educa- 5.All action to stop child labour should be implemented
tion of children. taking the child best interest into account.
R E F E R E N C E
Aditya Kumar Patra and Sujan Nayak (2009), "Child labour: An ugly Bureau and child welfare, 1912-1946 Urban: University Ilion is press.
face of the civilized society" JSOC. 19(3) 201-203. Bremner, Robert. Meghnad Desai (2008), "Problems and solutions Yojana vol 34 No. 1
M (1974) "Child and youth in America: A documentary History": Vol May 2008, 18-20Michael P. Todaro and Stephen. C Smith (2003)
II and III Cambridge, MA: Harvard University press. Danlabotz (2009) "Economic Development" Arrangement with Peurson Education, Inc
"The World crisis, capital and labour: The 1930s and Today". Eco- 2003, 372-376. Rasvirs. Dhaka and Jagbir Narwal (2005) "Child
nomic & political Weekly. March 28, 2009, 179-185. Dhurjati labour in the city of Rohtak: A study". The Indian institute of public
Mukherjee (2008), "Change of societal attitude imperative" Yojana administration Januar& March 2005, 38-47.Sahoo U.C. (1995), "Child
vol. 34 No. 1 May 2008, 28-30. Gawai B.E (2008) "Child labour labour in agrarian society" Rawat publications Jaipur and New Delhi
problems in Marathwada: A critical Study". Southern economist. Au- 1995, 9-15. Shireen Mill (2008), "A moral conundrum" Yojana vol. 34
gust 15, 2008, 41-42. Kailash Satyarthi (2008), "No more tools in tiny No.1 (2008) 8-12. Smith Kothari (1983), "Child labour in Sivakasi"
hands" Yojana vol 34. No. 1 May 2008.13-15. Kiran Sharma (2008), Their blood on those match sticks 18(27), July 1193-1199. Subhash
children as change makers (2008) Yojana vol 34(1) May 2008, 22-23. Sharma and Devendre Mishra (2008), "Myth and Reality" Yojana
Lindenmeyer, Kriste (1997) "ARight to childhood": The US Children's 32(1), May 2008, 32-36.

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