A NATIONAL daily runs a stinging picture of child labour in the country at the time when the government vehemently claims GDP growth rate is at 7 percent and the overall increase of a standard of living. No measure of economic growth can ever justify the fact that around two million children are engaged in child labour in the country.
The intensity of child labour is high among urban slum dwellers whereas the children between 10 and 14 age work dawn to dusk for augmenting their family income. The children of the extreme poor families — 12.9 percent of the total population – hardly go school, as their parents like to engage them as bread earning instead of sending them to free schools. Ending child labour is a huge challenge for the government for championing its growth claim and attaining UN sustainable development goals. Because, there are over 2 crore child labour in the country at the moment.
The Labour Act 2006 specifies that the minimum age of employment is 14 and the government has even declared a number of sectors as hazardous for children. But countless children way below 14 years are engaged in some of the worst forms of child labour in many sectors, leaving them exposed to physical, economic and sexual exploitation. Because of the fact that child labour is largely driven by economic reasons, children from low socio-economic backgrounds are often forced to work in dangerous conditions as welders, bus conductors, domestic help, tanners, etc., putting their lives in serious jeopardy. It has now become a fashion to torture the child labourers by adult co-workers and at times owners too. In some cases, such torture ended into fatality. These children are not only being deprived of a childhood but are also being robbed of their future with no scope to acquire a proper education and skills needed to exit the cycle of familial poverty.
A 2006 study by Save the Children revealed that more than 36 percent of boys and 34 percent of girls had “extreme fatigue” experiences on the job. An overall nonchalant attitude towards child labour and the lack of implementation of existing laws and policies make it extremely difficult to reduce – let alone eradicate – child labour in Bangladesh.
The fact is no ministry of the government has any responsibility or accountability.
