Child labour must stop

June 12 was the World Child Labour Day 2023. This day is observed every year to raise awareness about child labour around the world.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) first decided to observe Child Labour Prevention Day in 1992. Accordingly, since June 12, 2002, ILO has been observing the day as ‘Child Labour Prevention Day’ every year through various programmes.

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1974 made child law and compulsory primary education. And the current Awami League government has formulated the National Child Policy-2011, Child Act-2013, Child Marriage Prevention Act-2017 along with various activities of development and protectionAnd the cabinet has approved the draft Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Act 2018 banning child labour. If anyone hires child labour, he will be fined five thousand rupees. Adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 can do light work. Earlier, 12-year-old children used to get this opportunity for light workDifferent types of facilities and rights for workers have been guaranteed in the proposed law. According to research, there are currently 34 lakh 50 thousand child labourers in Bangladesh, of which 12 lakh 80 thousand children are engaged in hazardous workAccording to the survey, the number of child labourers in the country is highest in Dhaka division which is about 8 and a half percent followed by Chittagong with 5.8 per cent child labourers. Child labour is the lowest in the country at 1.7 percent in Barisal.

Children are the leaders of the country and nation. It is the children of today who will take the responsibility of running the country, nation and state of tomorrow. That is why it is essential to develop children as competent citizens. In the developed countries of the world, various types of care systems have been developed for the physical, mental and intellectual development of children. But children in our country are deprived of their basic rights in many ways due to illiteracy and poverty. Due to scarcity, they are forced to engage in various labour occupations at the beginning of their life. And in Bangladesh, the most child labour is used in textile, garment industry, leather industry, brick kilns and shoe factories. Hotels, restaurants and welding workshops. Currently, many children are also seen driving rickshaws on the streets of Dhaka. Also medium vehicles - Laguna, Tempu carry risky jobs like picking up passengers, collecting fare while moving. However, recently, child labour gatherings can be seen in the canteens of various shops and educational institutions in the country.

Economic distress is the first and foremost cause of child labour in Bangladesh. It is no longer possible for poor families to pay for their children’s education. As a result parents lose motivation to send them to school. In this situation, regardless of age, parents consider it profitable if the child earns income by engaging in the father’s profession or any other profession. On the other hand, children who are deprived of the opportunity to go to school or drop out are engaged in various jobs. Employers/Owners/Managers/Authorities are also more enthusiastic about employing children as they can be employed for long periods of time at low wages.

The socio-economic condition of Bangladesh is also one of the causes of child labour. In our society, if the head of the family i.e. the father dies, then it becomes a responsibility to provide for the education and support of those family members. When parents are separated by family breakdown, no one keeps track of their children. Apart from this, due to non-acceptance of family planning in poor families, due to the large number of children, the families concerned with their maintenance face great financial hardship.

Due to insufficient job opportunities in villages, social insecurity, lack of basic needs etc., people are moving from villages to cities. Natural calamities like floods, droughts, floods and earthquakes occur frequently. Every such incident constantly pushes children towards manual labour.

Due to low education, poverty and ignorance of parents, they consider education as an unprofitable activity. They don’t have the patience to continue paying for their children’s education for 10/15 years. Child labour is on the rise due to lack of educational facilities and opportunities and lack of awareness/indifference of parents about the evils of child labour. Due to the heavy reliance on domestic workers for household work in urban life, the traditional culture also brings the child engaged in education in the village to the city for domestic work.

All workers employed below the age prescribed by existing laws are child labourers. According to the consensus of experts, child labour is any form of labour that is physically, mentally and morally harmful to the child and is incompatible with the needs and rights of the child in all institutional and non-institutional cases.

The Garment Industry Factory is a labour intensive industry. Factories are under heavy workload to manage lead time in production process. As a result, the authorities believe that employment of child labour in this industry will not help the mental development of the child, which applies to all children regardless of caste, religion, casteFor this reason, at the initial stage of the recruitment process, the officers of the Human Resource Department are using the national identity card and birth registration of the candidates coming for the job. Even after the selection, the age of the recruitment candidate is determined through the registered doctor to be more sure of the age determination of the candidateIn some cases, the authorities accept the pass certificate to prove the age of the candidate.

According to the Labour Act 2006, the employment of children is prohibited and a qualification certificate is required to employ them in any factory. Child means a person who has completed fourteen years of age and juvenile means a person who has completed sixteen years of age but below 18 years of age. In exceptional cases, a child who has completed twelve years of age may be engaged in light work which does not cause any disturbance to the physical health and development or mental development of the child. The working hours of such children should be fixed in such a way that there is no problem in their school attendance. Child labour contracts are prohibited under the Labour Act by their parents or guardians. In case of juvenile workers it is mandatory to issue their fitness certificate by a registered medical practitioner. Such eligibility certificate remains valid for a specified period of twelve months from the date of issue.

The minimum age prescribed for hazardous work is 18 years. Workers above 16 years of age and below 18 years of age shall not be allowed to work in any establishment for cleaning, oiling or adjusting machinery while it is in operation or between moving parts of such machinery or between stationary and moving parts. No juvenile shall operate any such machinery unless he is fully aware of the hazards associated with such machinery and the precautions to be taken in this regard or he has received adequate training in the operation of such machinery or under the supervision of a person experienced and thoroughly knowledgeable about such machinery works. A juvenile worker cannot work more than 5 hours a day and 33 hours a week in any factory or mine and not more than 7 hours a day and 45 hours a week in other establishments. No juvenile worker shall be allowed to work in any establishment between 7 pm and 7 am. No juvenile worker shall be employed in underground or underwater or other hazardous work.

The writer is Jatiya Rogi Kallyan Society. He can be contacted at [email protected]