It is easy to see a lot of children working in restaurants, small shops and street food stalls in any Indian city. Not so visible are the children who work in mines and factories, and many more who help their parents in the fields.
Child labor in India is an irrefutable and persistent reality, and the changes proposed by the government raise doubts among activists, who think that the aims of politicians and the consequences of the laws go in opposite directions.
Recently, Prime Minister Modi passed a ban on employing children under 14 except in family businesses, entertainment or sports activities (excluding circuses). In these cases, a minor's work must be done outside school hours or while on holidays, as long as it is not hazardous.
In the package of measures that the Parliament must still pass, there are bigger penalties for breaches of the law, which can go from up to three years in prison and a €700 fine. However, activists have described the changes proposed by Modi's government as "regressive"; 'We are legalizing a horrible reality rather than banning it', says lawyer Vrinda Grover.
The Executive Branch maintains that its rationale is a "balance between the need to educate a child and the socio-economic reality of the social fabric of the country". According to the World Bank, 300 million Indians live on less than €1 a day, so many children accompany their parents in occupations such as handicrafts and agriculture.
However, when Kailash Satyarthi won the Nobel Peace Prize for his defense of the rights of children, he said that "This scourge persists due to the corruption of the authorities and the apathy of society. There is a lot of money laundering behind child exploitation". In India, laws are one thing and their implementation quite another.
We hope that in the near future, no child will have to say what Rahul, a youngster in northern India expressed; 'Until I got to tenth grade, I had to combine work and study. I would rather have studied, but I had to help my family."
Source: elmundo.es
