Have universal school enrolment and mid-day meals reduced child labour in India?

By: Nikita Gupta

Recently, 58 children including 39 boys and 19 girls from a distillery in the Raisen district of MP were rescued by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) with the support of an NGO. The children bore severe burn wounds due to exposure to harmful chemicals and alcohol working 12-14 hours daily and were transported by their employer by a school bus.

Child labour is an illegal practice which serves as a human rights violation found predominantly in developing countries due to major factors such as abject poverty, parental attitudes, capital market imperfection, national and international conflicts, climate crisis, and natural calamities.A report by a leading NGO for children and the 2011 census projections depicts that India will have around 7.8 million child labourers in 2023 in India.

Quality Education enlisted under United Nations SDGs (Goal 4) aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030. Against this backdrop, India has taken serious steps towards elevating the status of education through policies and programmes. Notable among them are the RTE Act, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, improved school infrastructure, residential hostels, effective student-teacher ratio, capacity building of staff members, free textbooks and uniforms and, the PM POSHAN Scheme have all contributed to a steady decline in school dropout rates among boys and girls. Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan ensures compulsory school admission for children till the age of 14 and mid-day meals guaranteeing meals provided to all children studying in government and government-aided schools. Progressive schemes such as Among these schemes mid-day meal programme under the PM POSHAN scheme deserve a special mention which has largely led tosubstantial enrolments and retention of children in schools.

India has attempted to take constitutional, statutory and developmental measures towards eliminating child labour. Considering the manifold nature of the issue of child labour, the Government of India has taken steps both from legal as well as from socio-economicempowerment points of view. According to the SOP of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Government of India Child Labour is the system of employing a child below14 years of age toprovide labour or service by the child to any person, for any payment or benefit to the child, or any other person exercising control over the said child.

As per the 2011 Census, about 10.1 million children are working between the ages of 5 and 14 either as a 'main worker' or a 'marginal worker'. In addition, more than 42.7 million children in India are not included in any form of education. According to NCRB report 2022, 982 caseswere registered under the Child Labour Act in 2021 with the highest number of cases registered in Telangana followed by Assam.

The rate of enrolment of Indian children in elementary and secondary education surpassed the global average in recent years. However, enrolment in tertiary or higher education is still below the world average. This reflects India has to formulate policies which not only enrol children in schools but also encourage them to complete their education. The Gross Enrolment Ratio(GER) helps in understanding school enrolment data statistically as in how many children of aparticular age group are attending school.

At the primary level i.e. Grades 1 to 5, India’s GER is more than 100% which can be attributed to underage and overage children enrolled in primary classes. Still, later the number of childrenin school dwindles due to factors such as child marriage, drug addiction, lackadaisical attitude of teachers, attending to domestic chores, engagement in economic activities, inability to cope in studies, and non-supportive family environment.

In conclusion, child labour can come to a decline if people are taken out of intensive poverty and are taught the merits of small family size which will not only boost family income but will also save the children from the menace of abuse. School enrolment and mid-day meal schemes have proved to be major milestones in combating child labour but still, a lot has to be devised and implemented to achieve universal literacy.