CHILD LABOUR- A COMMON STUDY
OF IT IN INDIA AND BANGLADESH
India and Bangladesh are very similar countries with similar
issues like child labour. Both of these are South East Asian countries and have
been through the rule of the British Empire. These include the similar causes
like illiteracy, lack of family options, lower wages and poverty which forces
them into this unbalanced world. Children are also more suited in making
fireworks and locks and so is a more preferred option of labour.
During our
research we also found out that juveniles are not aware of any of the risks or
the horrible conditions that they would be forced to work in.
UNICEF
has stated that illiteracy being one of the major causes in both nations is not
resolved as proven by, “In Bangladesh school attendance is virtually the same
for boys and girls aged 7-14 years. In the latter, 91 per cent of 7-11 year-old
girls and 90 percent of similarly aged boys are in school; and 80 per cent for
girls and 76 percent for boys in the 12-14 years age range. In India, among
7-11 year old children, boys’ attendance exceeds girls’ by four percentage
points, and among 12-14 year-olds, it exceeds 10 percentage points.”
Even
though both the countries have a literacy policy ‘National Literacy policy’ by
the government of Bangladesh and the ‘Right To Education’ by the Indian
government. Though these laws are being violated and very little is being done
by the countries to help protect the educational rights of the child.
Agriculture
is a most common and the most densely populated sector of child labour in both
the countries being 65% in Bangladesh and 80% in India.
Since
India is a big country it has more funds in order to eradicate child labour but
that is where the population kicks in as the greater the population the more
children are under child labour thus the funds required are relatively greater
having the same effect on the country’s ability to alleviate children.
The
other major areas of employment of children in India are the mining and the
fireworks industry whereas in Bangladesh it is the construction, industrial, as
street hawkers and even as home workers thus having relatively larger sectors
of child labour than India.
This
study of the commonalities and differences between these two societies can be
done on a much larger scale. This is a glimpse into how we can tackle the issue
of child labour affectively by focusing on common areas of concern.
