Petals under hammer- the child labour

Abstract

Child labour is the practice of having children engaged in economic activity, on part or full time basis to support or earn live hood. In India the estimated total number of child labourers, aged between 5-14 years is found to be at 43,53,247, out of which 2,86,310 are in Madhya Pradesh. The present study is an observational study on 200 randomly selected Child Labourers who were engaged in various economic activity, conducted in Bhopal city from 1st Nov. 2014 to 31st Jan 2015 to determine the factors responsible for child labour in Bhopal city, the education status of children engaged in economic activity, the family status of children engaged in economic activity, and the socio-demographic profile of children engaged in economic activity. Out of total 200 children, 134 were Hindus (111 males and 23 females) and 66 were Muslims (62 males and 4 females). Most preponderance of child labourers is in the age group 10 to 14 years. Maximum child labourers earn between 50 – 150 rupees per day. Among 200 child labourers, 63 were homeless, spending their night hours on foot path, bus stand, and 137 were residing in slums or small houses. Among 200 child labourers 89 were addicted to tobacco in the form of Gutkha (A Form of Tobacco Preparation); out of them 74 were males and 15 were females Keywords: Child Labour, Economic Activity, ILO, Indian Penal Code, Article 24, Gutkha.