CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD

GUJARAT’S THROBBING INDUSTRY MAKES IT THE WORST OFFENDER WHEN IT COMES TO CHILD LABOUR

Radha Sharma | TNN

Ahmedabad: This is a number one position which the state would rather not acknowledge! Gujarat tops the country with the highest number of children working, according to the National Family Health Survey - Phase III (NFHS-3).
The survey has revealed that 31.6% children in Gujarat were engaged in some or other kind of labour as compared to 9% children in Maharashtra which is economically and industrially progressive. Of the 31.6 % children working, 19.5%were involved in unpaid labour while 5.5% earned a wage.
“In Gujarat, every third child is engaged in labour. One in 18 children are paid workers while every fifth child is engaged in unpaid work for someone who is not a member of the household,” says MD Irfan Khan, professor and head research at Taleem Research Foundation, who was the project director for carrying out research for NFHS-3 in the state. Gujarat is followed by Arunachal Pradesh where 20.1% were involved in labour and Rajasthan wherein 19.6% children were found engaged in labour. Nearly 3,400 households were covered in Gujarat in the survey.
A child worker, as defined by UNICEF, is a child between 5-11 years, who in the seven days preceding the survey, worked for someone who is not a member of the household, with or without pay, or did household chores for 28 or more hours, or engaged in any family business. It also includes any child between 12-14 years. “In Gujarat, maximum children are employed in hotel, chai-kitlis, laari-gallas and entertainment sector. The second biggest sector employing children is domestic which has now been accepted as hazardous for girl children,” says child-rights activist Sukhdev Patel.
Meanwhile, Campaign Against Child Labour and Child Line has planned a rally where participants will wear extra-huge glasses to seek child-labour.