Child Labour News

5 Feb : Government on Thursday said it was working towards building a consensus for implementation of an ILO convention which seeks to prohibit and take immediate action for the elimination of the worst form of child labour.

“We want to implement it. We want to go with the world, but we are taking some time to build a consensus surrounding the issue,” Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said.

His reaction came in response to a criticism from one of the governing body members of ILO that India was only among a handful of countries left which had yet to ratify the convention 182 of ILO on child labour.

N M Adyanthaya, during his address at ILO’s 90th year of celebration in New Delhi today, said only countries like Myanmar, Sierra Leone and Somalia were among the 10 countries left, apart from India, which had yet to ratify it.

Kharge, who also spoke at the function, said there were several socio-economic factors which was unique to India and all of these issues have to be taken into account before arriving at a consensus for ratifying the convention.

He said the mutual relationship developed between India and the ILO over the years has been very meaningful and beneficial.

ILO Director General Juan Somavia, whose address was read out by ILO regional director Leyla Tegmo Reddy, supported India’s bid for a permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

“India is a permanent member of our (ILO) governing body. I look forward to a time when India will also be a permanent member of the UN Security Council,” he said.

The Department of Post released a ’special cover’ on the occasion commemorating ILO’s 90th years.

Twenty three years after child labour was banned in India, the country continues to be home to the largest number of child labourers in the world

NEW DELHI: The global financial crisis could push an increasing number of children in several countries including India into child labour,
according to a new report issued by ILO.

The report entitled ‘Give girls a chance: tackling child labour, a key to future’, notes that while the recent estimates indicate the number of children involved in child labour has been falling, the financial crisis threatens to erode this progress.

The report said “the danger of girls being forced into child labour is linked to evidence that in many countries families give preference to boys when making a decision on educating children.”

According to the organisation, more than 100 million girls are involved in child labour across the globe.It states that because of the increase in poverty as a result of the crisis, poor families with a number of children may have to make choices as to which children stay in school.

Without naming any particular country, the report further said that in cultures in which higher value is placed on education of the male child, girls risk being taken out of school, and are then likely to enter the workforce at an early age.

Mumbai, 11 June 2009: On 12th June 2009