Committee: Human rights

Topic: Child labour

Represented country: India

Delegate’s name: Alex Godoroja

An estimated 4.35 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are thought to be part of India's
workforce, working anywhere from brick kilns to carpet factories.India is fully aware and deeply
concerned about the situation and wishes to eliminate child labour.

India has the dubious distinction of hosting the largest number of child labourers in the world.With
23 percent of India’s 1.2 billion people living on less than 1.25 dollars a day, it is perhaps only
natural that parents will send their children out to earn in a desperate bid to keep the family
alive.The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimated that 40% of India's citizens were living
in abject poverty in the mid-1990s and most believe that figure has not fallen.Research suggests
that since families need money to survive, children are pushed into work at an early age to
supplement this meagre income.Sociologists say the lower castes of Hindu society perhaps feel
this pressure the most.According to the annual report of the Department of Labour, Indian children
are exploited in the worst possible way. Those in the agriculture sector are made to carry heavy
loads and sprinkle harmful pesticides on crops.

As a solution to the problem,ILO estimate India has signed 120 ILO conventions all seeking to
eliminate child labour.Despite the intention,no one has been jailed for violating labour laws since
1986.Indian Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, a child rights activist who was honoured in 2014,
has been demanding a complete ban on every kind of child labour in India for kids up to 14 years.
To remedy the situation, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), a non-profit which Satyarthi helms,
helps parents access government funds so that they are not forced to take their children out of
schools to earn extra money.BBA has also created hundreds of child-friendly villages, where kids
are freed from exploitation and enrolled in schools instead.The Indian government banned child
labour in 2012, but the ban's implementation has been patchy, leading activists to pressure
governments to strengthen legislation.India considers these actions as a partial remedy to the
problem,since there is a lot more to do to completely eliminate child labour in India.

One of the potential and possible solution that India wishes to further implement would be the Child
Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill,an early passage of the pending legislation
against child labour created by the activist Satyarthi ,which could make employment of children
below 14 years in any occupation illegal.The bill would also be in sync with the Right of Children to
Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009, which guarantees free education to out-of-school
children,who are in a devastating number of approximative 1.4 million,according to a recent
UNESCO report

India has a major involvement in ending child labour completely,both government officials and
activists are willing to get rid of the country’s poverty,this being one of the root causes for the
continued prevalence of child labour.Many aid agencies tend to be critical of what they consider the
government's over-emphasis on the link between poverty and child labour.India’s massive
participation in the problem could also be seen in the non-governmental organisations, NGO’s like
Bachpan Bachao Andolan(BBA), ChildFund, CARE India, Talaash Association, Child Rights and
You, Global march against child labour, RIDE India, Childline etc. that have been working to
eradicate child labour in India.
Some steps India considers might help solving the problem would be:
1) Increasing family incomes .

2) Giving the right for free education - helps children learn skills that will help them earn a
living .Children need to learn how to read and write. They need social and professional skills that
only school and a nurturing environment can provide.India wishes to provide free public schooling.

3) Introducing Social Services - helps families with children survive crises such as diseases or loss
of home and shelter.

4) Considering family control or fertility - So that families are not burdened by children.

5) Eliminating poverty - Boycotting is not the solution because it forces children, who otherwise
have no specific training,to quit school and return to the streets or to more dangerous activities.

6) Enforcing more labour laws - India has laws against child labour; however, some representatives
of the government support child labour (regardless of existing laws) as a way of gaining a
competitive market advantage.Preventing children from working is the best solution; children may
end up in worse situations and their families may become even poorer.

7) Abolishing child trafficking - There are adults who earn a living by buying and selling children.
The government of India must take harsh measures against child trafficking.

8) Promoting fair trade: Fair trade practices guarantee a fair price to small-scale producers.Fair
trade helps keep co-operatives in business. These co-operatives consequently provide goods to
the people and often reinvest profits in the community, where the money is used to build schools,
medical clinics, wells, etc.

9) Replace child workers by adult workers - There are 44.79 unemployed adults in India, and yet,
the number of working children is estimated to be at over 4.35 million.

These steps could make a semnificative improvement in children’s life.Taking in consideration the
arguments and the aspects of the problem,India expresses its hope in completely eliminating child
labour,which has been present since 1810.