Child Labor
Even as India gallops toward First World status--with its booming economy, roaring stock market and rapid progress in autos and steel--it is still a giant back-yard sweatshop to the world, staffed by underage boys and girls.
PM calls for investment, reform in national education system
"We need a system that is both compassionate and demanding. No child should ever feel left out for no fault of his or her. No child should nurse a grievance that his creativity has been suppressed. We need a humane, creative and forward-looking system," he said.
CHILD TRAFFICKING: An awakening
The trafficking of human beings is a persistent and wide-reaching phenomenon, and in an increasingly integrated world of interconnected communications and commerce it truly represents a violation of human rights on a global scale. A lucrative market, the trade in human flesh is a multi-billion dollar industry that amounts to a modern-day slave trade.
Child scheme fine on ‘casual’ states
The idea is to affix responsibility on states. “Currently, we fund the scheme, but also get all the blame, particularly from the Supreme Court. If they can’t share the blame, let them at least share the funds,” a senior official in the women and child development ministry said.
Delhi to set up commission for children`s welfare
`We have realised that there is a need for a forum to look into the welfare of children. The cabinet has given its nod to a state commission for the protection of children`s rights. And Delhi will soon have one,` Raghuraman said on the sidelines of the national consultative meet organised by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
Child marriage is one of the biggest injustices: Patil
"Child marriage is one of the biggest injustices committed against a minor and adversely affects a girl child turning her into a baby-producing machine," Patil said here after launching the 'Mukhya Mantri Kanya Vivah Yojana'.
Showing posts with label child labour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label child labour. Show all posts
February 18, 2008
January 22, 2008
News Watch - Love, hope for shunned kids in India AIDS school
Love, hope for shunned kids in India AIDS school
They used to throw water on me and tear up my books," Komal said as she reminisced about her days at a regular school. "Still, I wanted to go to school, but one day my teacher said don't come back."
A take on the reality bites of child labour [Blog: Opinion]
Progressive step of expanding the scope of law to include Child labour prohibition law to include the child labour at hotels, dhabas and as house hold workers is much appreciated. But the same old story of legislation’s continue, though the laws are present, no one seems bothered about the enforcement, they are just meant to be black letters at the Government Gazette.
NUEPA's Educational Development Index (EDI) for states - southern states on top
The top 8 states include the five southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and the three northern states - Delhi, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh.
Poor Nutrition Causes One-Third of Child Deaths, Lancet Says
A quarter of those lives could be saved through simple programs such as promoting breast-feeding and handing out vitamin supplements, researchers including Zulfiqar Bhutta, a professor of child medicine at Pakistan's Aga Khan University, wrote in the Lancet today.
Needed: Legislation against child abuse
Though India claims to have achieved development goals in many sectors, it is yet to adopt a legislation against child abuse and there is no mandatory reporting and available infrastructure to curb the unfortunate practice.
Child scheme: Yechury asks PM to ensure Rs 12,000 cr in Budget
Sitaram Yechury said this amount should include Rs 2,500 crore “exclusively for improving the conditions of the Anganwadi employees and for providing them pension and other social security benefits.”
Women to have greater say in planning through gender-budgeting
The policy would be about incorporating a gender perspective and sensitiveness at all levels and stages of the developmental planning, policy and programme formulation.
The age of labour
Government officials and NGOs in Maharashtra want the Centre to increase the age limit for child labour to 18, up from 14 at present, which they feel will help curtail the exploitation of children in all kinds of business establishments.
They used to throw water on me and tear up my books," Komal said as she reminisced about her days at a regular school. "Still, I wanted to go to school, but one day my teacher said don't come back."
A take on the reality bites of child labour [Blog: Opinion]
Progressive step of expanding the scope of law to include Child labour prohibition law to include the child labour at hotels, dhabas and as house hold workers is much appreciated. But the same old story of legislation’s continue, though the laws are present, no one seems bothered about the enforcement, they are just meant to be black letters at the Government Gazette.
NUEPA's Educational Development Index (EDI) for states - southern states on top
The top 8 states include the five southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and the three northern states - Delhi, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh.
Poor Nutrition Causes One-Third of Child Deaths, Lancet Says
A quarter of those lives could be saved through simple programs such as promoting breast-feeding and handing out vitamin supplements, researchers including Zulfiqar Bhutta, a professor of child medicine at Pakistan's Aga Khan University, wrote in the Lancet today.
Needed: Legislation against child abuse
Though India claims to have achieved development goals in many sectors, it is yet to adopt a legislation against child abuse and there is no mandatory reporting and available infrastructure to curb the unfortunate practice.
Child scheme: Yechury asks PM to ensure Rs 12,000 cr in Budget
Sitaram Yechury said this amount should include Rs 2,500 crore “exclusively for improving the conditions of the Anganwadi employees and for providing them pension and other social security benefits.”
Women to have greater say in planning through gender-budgeting
The policy would be about incorporating a gender perspective and sensitiveness at all levels and stages of the developmental planning, policy and programme formulation.
The age of labour
Government officials and NGOs in Maharashtra want the Centre to increase the age limit for child labour to 18, up from 14 at present, which they feel will help curtail the exploitation of children in all kinds of business establishments.
January 17, 2008
News Watch - Babalog see Orissa hunger first hand
Babalog see Orissa hunger first handSachin Pilot of Congress, Supriya Sule of NCP, Jay Panda, BJD, Shyam Benegal, nominated member to Rajya Sabha, and Shahnawaz Hussain from BJP made up the political quorum of the alliance — Feroze Gujaral and Gauri Karnik added the celebrity factor to the group. Supported by Unicef, the group visited four villages in two blocks of Cuttack district — Salehpur and Tangi. The first two were villages planned for a visit in advance.
Experts stress on importance of breast-feeding
Bhanu, a lactating mother, who works as a teacher in a private school maintained that after the two months maternity leave given to them which also are varies from one school to another, it is difficult for them to breast-feed their children properly and regularly.
A Democracy called India (Blog: opinion)
One such problem is child labour. The Parliament has banned all forms of Child Labour under an Act and yet this loss of innocence continues. While traveling to college everyday I come across a little girl less than ten years old standing beneath the familiar traffic light. Everyday she hurtles towards halted cars as soon as the traffic light turns to flaming red. She begs for money using steel can wrapped with marigold flowers and adorned with Lord Shiva idols.
Kid organises computers for tribals
Karan's dream of teaching computers to these underprivileged kids has been realized, with HP agreeing to sponsor 30 computers through the Sankya project of Rotary Club, Bangalore South.
New Research Shows Nutrition Programs Targeting Pregnancy and First 24 Months of Life Dramatically Improve Child Survival and Overall Health
A landmark series of research papers on maternal and child undernutrition published in the leading international medical journal The Lancet today shows that children will suffer irreversible damage into their adult life if proper nutrition interventions are not delivered before the age of 24 months.
Image courtest Hindu Businessline
January 10, 2008
News Watch - Child labour: Govt to expand list of hazardous jobs
Child labour: Govt to expand list of hazardous jobs, amend lawThe Union Labour Ministry is about to notify a significant expansion of the list of hazardous processes and occupations where the employment of children below 18 years of age is strictly prohibited, even as it is working towards comprehensively reviewing and amending the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986.
Supply chains – Indian child labour slips through the Gap
Sean Ansett, managing partner of At Stake Advisors and former global partnerships director at Gap, believes that no company, even the most responsible, is immune to child labour in its supplhey chain.
Our unlucky children
Our children can buy potato chips in 40 flavours, but are denied an education tailored to their needs. Aamir Khan’s film is about a dyslexic boy let down by his school. His teachers do not recognize what makes him different and treat him as if he is stupid, shattering his self-esteem. Then Khan comes in as a sensitive teacher and turns things around.
Cartoon courtesy Suman
October 02, 2007
Aggregator: 4 lakh child labourers in cotton industry
Growing cotton nowadays is a very risky business. While farmers suicides in cotton-growing areas have been a long running phenomenon, a new report by the India Committee of Netherlands reveals that a shocking 400,000 children are involved as child labourers in the cotton industry in India. Multinationals Monsanto and Bayer as well as 13 big indian companies are also implicated in this supporting this "modern form of child slavery"
Discrimination and stigma against people living with HIV and AIDS reached a new low in Rajasthan when the courts denied a mother custody of her child because she had the virus, something her soldier husband gave her.
Climate change has been on the agenda for sometime now. So we knew it would not be long before children get dragged into the game. NGOs working to offset carbon footprints generated in the west with development activities in the west become controversial with this foot operated pump that forces children into child labour, according to Times online.
Discrimination and stigma against people living with HIV and AIDS reached a new low in Rajasthan when the courts denied a mother custody of her child because she had the virus, something her soldier husband gave her.
Climate change has been on the agenda for sometime now. So we knew it would not be long before children get dragged into the game. NGOs working to offset carbon footprints generated in the west with development activities in the west become controversial with this foot operated pump that forces children into child labour, according to Times online.
March 06, 2007
Media watch - Budgeting with a compassion deficit
Sources: various blogs, FE, Guardian, Businesswireindia, Reuters, Telegraphindia, TOI, BBC
What is the future of the street children?
Well, the government is admitting that it is in a big quandry. What is most likely to happen is that eventually this brouhaha about child beggars will die down and these children will be allowed to go - with stern warnings.
Budgeting with a compassion deficit
But nothing highlights the tokenism of the budget to equity concerns more than the statement of the Finance Minister that ‘the issue of urban poverty and unemployment is equally critical’, but the Budget increases actual allocations for employement generation in urban areas from an incredibly low Rs 250 crore to Rs 344 crore for the whole country, and continues to exclude urban homeless, migrant, and slum dwellers from the national rural health mission and the NREGS.
Hindu India Aborts Females Illegally
Some in today’s India decided to expose the abortion atrocity. They masterminded an ingenious plan to film those in the medical “profession” breaking the law by killing female unborns.
ERADICATING MALNUTRITION: AN AGENDA FOR ACTION
In the ultimate analysis, we must recognise that malnutrition is a human problem that can be addressed by human solutions, provided the requisite social will exists to bring about enduring change for the better.
India's missing girls
Daughters aren't wanted in India. So many female foetuses are illegally aborted that baby boys now hugely outnumber baby girls, while a government minister has begged parents to abandon their children rather than kill them.
The Budget and the Missing Child
CRY asks that the government make the rights of children the focus and the key evaluation criteria of economic policy. At just over 4%, state investments in children are grossly inadequate, considering that they are 45% of our citizens, or even in comparison with other emerging economies.
Poor question "Shining India" as budget eyes growth
But behind the headlines of "Shining India" are worries that growth is failing to trickle down to the poor and the communist-backed government is concerned that a by-product of the boom -- a rising inflation rate -- is making many people poorer.
SHOCKING LOW
How a society treats its children, its poor and its terminally ill is a certain measure of its level of civilization. On each of these counts, Bengal hit a new and inhuman low recently when a series of government hospitals in Calcutta refused to operate on a seriously ill child because he was found out to be HIV+.
Kids get a raw deal in budgets
A quick glance of the social sector indices reveals that despite rapid growth in GDP and per capita income, children's health and education has not received the desired attention which reflects in the high levels of foeticide, malnutrition, illiteracy and child labour rampant across the country.
March denounces child trafficking
Kailash Satyarthi, chairman of the Global March Against Child Labour, says South Asia is a major source, destination and transit area for child trafficking of all forms.
What is the future of the street children?
Well, the government is admitting that it is in a big quandry. What is most likely to happen is that eventually this brouhaha about child beggars will die down and these children will be allowed to go - with stern warnings.
Budgeting with a compassion deficit
But nothing highlights the tokenism of the budget to equity concerns more than the statement of the Finance Minister that ‘the issue of urban poverty and unemployment is equally critical’, but the Budget increases actual allocations for employement generation in urban areas from an incredibly low Rs 250 crore to Rs 344 crore for the whole country, and continues to exclude urban homeless, migrant, and slum dwellers from the national rural health mission and the NREGS.
Hindu India Aborts Females Illegally
Some in today’s India decided to expose the abortion atrocity. They masterminded an ingenious plan to film those in the medical “profession” breaking the law by killing female unborns.
ERADICATING MALNUTRITION: AN AGENDA FOR ACTION
In the ultimate analysis, we must recognise that malnutrition is a human problem that can be addressed by human solutions, provided the requisite social will exists to bring about enduring change for the better.
India's missing girls
Daughters aren't wanted in India. So many female foetuses are illegally aborted that baby boys now hugely outnumber baby girls, while a government minister has begged parents to abandon their children rather than kill them.
The Budget and the Missing Child
CRY asks that the government make the rights of children the focus and the key evaluation criteria of economic policy. At just over 4%, state investments in children are grossly inadequate, considering that they are 45% of our citizens, or even in comparison with other emerging economies.
Poor question "Shining India" as budget eyes growth
But behind the headlines of "Shining India" are worries that growth is failing to trickle down to the poor and the communist-backed government is concerned that a by-product of the boom -- a rising inflation rate -- is making many people poorer.
SHOCKING LOW
How a society treats its children, its poor and its terminally ill is a certain measure of its level of civilization. On each of these counts, Bengal hit a new and inhuman low recently when a series of government hospitals in Calcutta refused to operate on a seriously ill child because he was found out to be HIV+.
Kids get a raw deal in budgets
A quick glance of the social sector indices reveals that despite rapid growth in GDP and per capita income, children's health and education has not received the desired attention which reflects in the high levels of foeticide, malnutrition, illiteracy and child labour rampant across the country.
March denounces child trafficking
Kailash Satyarthi, chairman of the Global March Against Child Labour, says South Asia is a major source, destination and transit area for child trafficking of all forms.
February 17, 2007
Media Watch - Children of a lesser god?
Sources: Business Standard, TOI, RXPGnews, HT, Hindu
Children of a lesser god?
In cities and towns like Mumbai, Agra, Kanpur, Firozabad and Moradabad, to name just a few, where one face of Indian youth is flourishing in the multiplex-mall culture, there is another side where children in the same age group are probably working 18 hours in factories which fail to provide even basic comfort levels.
Give details of missing kids: HC to DGP
Taking serious note of 712 children missing from various areas in the state for the last one year, the Allahabad High Court directed the DGP to provide their disaggregate district-wise gender and age details on the next date.
When street kids smile through the lens
The exhibition titled 'Children of the world', being held in the city, has 40 photographs of street children from nine countries, including India. It is not the usual kind of exhibition where you step around to look at the portraits on the walls.
CBI to inquire into alleged child adoption racket
The Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), an autonomous Body under the Ministry of Women & Child Development, responsible for keeping a check on international adoption has suspended Preet Mandir's license last July after the with immediate effect after it was reported that the adoption home was allegedly involved in selling babies to foreigners for $12,000.
New light on child labour
Highlighting the plight of children working in hazardous industries, the film intends to sensitise society and the parents who send their young children to work in order to "augment" their income.
Children of a lesser god?
In cities and towns like Mumbai, Agra, Kanpur, Firozabad and Moradabad, to name just a few, where one face of Indian youth is flourishing in the multiplex-mall culture, there is another side where children in the same age group are probably working 18 hours in factories which fail to provide even basic comfort levels.
Give details of missing kids: HC to DGP
Taking serious note of 712 children missing from various areas in the state for the last one year, the Allahabad High Court directed the DGP to provide their disaggregate district-wise gender and age details on the next date.
When street kids smile through the lens
The exhibition titled 'Children of the world', being held in the city, has 40 photographs of street children from nine countries, including India. It is not the usual kind of exhibition where you step around to look at the portraits on the walls.
CBI to inquire into alleged child adoption racket
The Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), an autonomous Body under the Ministry of Women & Child Development, responsible for keeping a check on international adoption has suspended Preet Mandir's license last July after the with immediate effect after it was reported that the adoption home was allegedly involved in selling babies to foreigners for $12,000.
New light on child labour
Highlighting the plight of children working in hazardous industries, the film intends to sensitise society and the parents who send their young children to work in order to "augment" their income.
February 12, 2007
Media Watch - 5 kids will go missing the next hour
Sources: TOI, Hindu, NYTimes, HT, IE, Indiatogether, Hardnewsmedia, Indian Catholic, NDTV
200 bonded labourers freed in Hazaribagh
Nearly 100 child labourers along with another 100 bonded adults including women, were freed from a brick kiln near Ramgarh in Hazaribagh district on Saturday and brought to Ranchi from where they boarded trains to their respective states.
Girl child unspoken curse
The situation has worsened since 2003, when ultra-sonography and sex-determination technology became accessible to the remotest parts of Chambal, one of the most backward areas in the country.
Beyond punishment
A considerable body of research shows that corporal punishment can never make a child learn or behave better. Yet, the practice is widely prevalent.
Even Amid Its Wealth, India Finds, Half Its Small Children Are Malnourished
In this young nation, where 40 percent of the people are under 18, figures released by the government on Friday offered an alarming portrait of child health: Among children under 3, nearly half are clinically underweight, the most reliable measure of malnutrition.
Website to track missing children launched
Launched by Don Bosco National Forum for Youth at Risk in association with UNICEF, www.missingchildsearch.net will be closely watched and monitored by child welfare organisations in all major cities in the country and a search will be generated immediately.
Largest children population state lagging in childcare
child security had become an important concern in the post Nithari scenario but the issue was a broader one, involving the rights of the young child in the framework of security, protection, development and participation.
Ultrasound may result in `misguided treatment'
The available imaging technologies employed during pregnancy may not always be accurate, and therefore, may not enable correction of birth defects, feels a group of dedicated paediatric surgeons.
Flesh trade to beggar mafia: Mumbai capital for missing children
Maximum city Mumbai is also number one when it comes to missing children. In 2006 alone, Mumbai’s missing minor registers recorded 948 children as untraced.
5 kids will go missing the next hour
In fact, missing children is the veritable black hole in law-enforcement. As an investigative series from several states will show, just like Nithari, where police failed to even acknowledge the problem, elsewhere, too, the typical police response is: the missing child is the parents’ problem, not ours.
Paying a steep price for motherhood
The deaths come at a time when the state government of Madhya Pradesh is strongly advocating institutional deliveries as the mantra to combat high rates of maternal deaths in the state. Unfortunately in the state the campaign exists in the advertisement hoardings, newspaper advertisements and in media, thanks to efforts of public relation department of the state.
Indian PM meets 9-is-Mine delegates
20 children led the 9-Is-Mine delegation to the Prime Minister on 1st February, 2006. The Prime Minister received them at his residence on 7 Race Course Road, and spent exclusive time with the children.
Nithari’s Auschwitz
How many more Nitharis will have to happen to change the way the police and administration function in our ‘incredible, superpower’ India? Are the children of the poor in India eternally condemned in abject poverty, often homeless, without a childhood, trapped as child labour and now guinea pigs of perverse psychopaths, murdered and raped and chopped up in many parts, while the stunningly insensitive nexus of the police and the government plays footsie?
Children in India yearn for better future
India’s constitution is termed as best written human rights documents with several articles on children’s welfare and development. Alas, despite quantum jump on several fronts during last five decades most children are yet to become national priority and many provisions remains on the papers only
Corruption in ICDS schemes
The villagers say the Anganwadi centre does not function and the anganwadi worker goes missing for most part of the year. For example, it's already 9.30 and it's still closed. It's supposed to open at 7.
200 bonded labourers freed in Hazaribagh
Nearly 100 child labourers along with another 100 bonded adults including women, were freed from a brick kiln near Ramgarh in Hazaribagh district on Saturday and brought to Ranchi from where they boarded trains to their respective states.
Girl child unspoken curse
The situation has worsened since 2003, when ultra-sonography and sex-determination technology became accessible to the remotest parts of Chambal, one of the most backward areas in the country.
Beyond punishment
A considerable body of research shows that corporal punishment can never make a child learn or behave better. Yet, the practice is widely prevalent.
Even Amid Its Wealth, India Finds, Half Its Small Children Are Malnourished
In this young nation, where 40 percent of the people are under 18, figures released by the government on Friday offered an alarming portrait of child health: Among children under 3, nearly half are clinically underweight, the most reliable measure of malnutrition.
Website to track missing children launched
Launched by Don Bosco National Forum for Youth at Risk in association with UNICEF, www.missingchildsearch.net will be closely watched and monitored by child welfare organisations in all major cities in the country and a search will be generated immediately.
Largest children population state lagging in childcare
child security had become an important concern in the post Nithari scenario but the issue was a broader one, involving the rights of the young child in the framework of security, protection, development and participation.
Ultrasound may result in `misguided treatment'
The available imaging technologies employed during pregnancy may not always be accurate, and therefore, may not enable correction of birth defects, feels a group of dedicated paediatric surgeons.
Flesh trade to beggar mafia: Mumbai capital for missing children
Maximum city Mumbai is also number one when it comes to missing children. In 2006 alone, Mumbai’s missing minor registers recorded 948 children as untraced.
5 kids will go missing the next hour
In fact, missing children is the veritable black hole in law-enforcement. As an investigative series from several states will show, just like Nithari, where police failed to even acknowledge the problem, elsewhere, too, the typical police response is: the missing child is the parents’ problem, not ours.
Paying a steep price for motherhood
The deaths come at a time when the state government of Madhya Pradesh is strongly advocating institutional deliveries as the mantra to combat high rates of maternal deaths in the state. Unfortunately in the state the campaign exists in the advertisement hoardings, newspaper advertisements and in media, thanks to efforts of public relation department of the state.
Indian PM meets 9-is-Mine delegates
20 children led the 9-Is-Mine delegation to the Prime Minister on 1st February, 2006. The Prime Minister received them at his residence on 7 Race Course Road, and spent exclusive time with the children.
Nithari’s Auschwitz
How many more Nitharis will have to happen to change the way the police and administration function in our ‘incredible, superpower’ India? Are the children of the poor in India eternally condemned in abject poverty, often homeless, without a childhood, trapped as child labour and now guinea pigs of perverse psychopaths, murdered and raped and chopped up in many parts, while the stunningly insensitive nexus of the police and the government plays footsie?
Children in India yearn for better future
India’s constitution is termed as best written human rights documents with several articles on children’s welfare and development. Alas, despite quantum jump on several fronts during last five decades most children are yet to become national priority and many provisions remains on the papers only
Corruption in ICDS schemes
The villagers say the Anganwadi centre does not function and the anganwadi worker goes missing for most part of the year. For example, it's already 9.30 and it's still closed. It's supposed to open at 7.
January 31, 2007
Media Watch - ICDS scheme: A success story from TN
Raipur in a fix over ‘boy orderlies’
A police force’s job scheme for children of its dead personnel is earning it praise, and some legal trouble, with human rights activists saying that employing the youngsters for a charitable reason is still a violation of child labour laws.
`Plan to make Delhi hunger-free'
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday said her Government is formulating a food guarantee programme that would ensure food for all in Delhi and make it a hunger-free State.
Malnutrition a reality in Mumbai
That hunger exists in Mumbai is hardly a fact that needs to be established. And so, armed with a weighing scale, NDTV team visited the pavements of the city to randomly select and weigh children below the age of three
Can Indian laws adequately prevent child trafficking?
Every year lakhs of children go missing throughout India. A number of children are lured away from home and suffer abuse and torture. So what innovations are needed to change how we view our little ones?
Child trafficking is increasing in India
India harbours 19 per cent of world’s child population and almost 42 % of total population (1100 million) are children. And yet total expenditure on children in health, education, development and protection together is only 4.9 % of India’s total budget outlet.
Brave woman makes ICDS work
t's the anganwadi workers' personal motivation and dynamism which can really help the battle against hunger. NDTV's team traveled to Bikaner in Rajasthan to bring the story of Geeta Godaran, whose work has created a minor revolution in her village.
ICDS scheme: A success story from TN
At every anganwadi in Tamil Nadu, there is hot lunch, apart from satturundai, that's freshly cooked at the centre. Twice a week, egg is on the menu and on three days a week there will be vegetables, green gram or moong.
Children do not vote
As a nation we are not overtly mindful about protecting and nourishing our children who shall inherit this country from us. And, since children do not vote, they do not exist for political parties, although children under six years comprise 20 per cent of the population.
A police force’s job scheme for children of its dead personnel is earning it praise, and some legal trouble, with human rights activists saying that employing the youngsters for a charitable reason is still a violation of child labour laws.
`Plan to make Delhi hunger-free'
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Sunday said her Government is formulating a food guarantee programme that would ensure food for all in Delhi and make it a hunger-free State.
Malnutrition a reality in Mumbai
That hunger exists in Mumbai is hardly a fact that needs to be established. And so, armed with a weighing scale, NDTV team visited the pavements of the city to randomly select and weigh children below the age of three
Can Indian laws adequately prevent child trafficking?
Every year lakhs of children go missing throughout India. A number of children are lured away from home and suffer abuse and torture. So what innovations are needed to change how we view our little ones?
Child trafficking is increasing in India
India harbours 19 per cent of world’s child population and almost 42 % of total population (1100 million) are children. And yet total expenditure on children in health, education, development and protection together is only 4.9 % of India’s total budget outlet.
Brave woman makes ICDS work
t's the anganwadi workers' personal motivation and dynamism which can really help the battle against hunger. NDTV's team traveled to Bikaner in Rajasthan to bring the story of Geeta Godaran, whose work has created a minor revolution in her village.
ICDS scheme: A success story from TN
At every anganwadi in Tamil Nadu, there is hot lunch, apart from satturundai, that's freshly cooked at the centre. Twice a week, egg is on the menu and on three days a week there will be vegetables, green gram or moong.
Children do not vote
As a nation we are not overtly mindful about protecting and nourishing our children who shall inherit this country from us. And, since children do not vote, they do not exist for political parties, although children under six years comprise 20 per cent of the population.
January 23, 2007
Indian children adding more blood to tainted diamonds?
Leonardo di Caprio may well be nominated for the Oscar for his role as the South African diamond smuggler in ‘Blood Diamond’, a film attempting to lay bare the thriving international trade in conflict diamonds that fuels wars and conflicts in several part of Africa. The movie, supported by Global Witness and Amnesty International, opened in India a few weeks ago and is showing in glittering multiplexes in the heart of Mumbai, just around the corner from the diamond markets of this bustling ‘financiapolis’ of India.
Over 90% of the world’s rough diamonds pass through these markets on their journey to Surat, the biggest small-diamond processing centre in the world 326 kms by road from the city. A Guardian Observer investigation alleges that ‘blood diamonds’ from Ivory Coast and Liberia are being illegally processed here.
According to the article, “The stones brought in by dhows and fishing boats through the shallow waters of Gujarat's ungovernable west coast make a laughing stock of attempts to stem the global flow of blood diamonds.” The Kimberly Process, set up by diamond merchants, NGOs, governments and the UN in 2003 governs, albeit loosely the trade in diamonds and should help prevent the use of diamonds to fuel conflicts.
But the Kimberly process does not make any mention of child labour that is reported to be so prevalent in Surat, adding more blood the already tainted stones. Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Children Foundation) alleges that over 30,000 children are stuck in this trade in Dickensian conditions. These claims are stoutly denied by the industry.
And why not? Reports [1, 2] allege that over the years the diamond cutting industry has resisted unionisation or bringing itself under the purview of the Indian Factory Act that promised minimum wages and benefits for its workers. This is done by keeping the number of workers in each unit under nine (the legal limit requiring registration under the Act) and registering hundreds of small units. And it is in these units that the children are lost without a trace.
Diamond cutting is on the top of the list of ‘hazardous work’ that the law prohibits children from work in. And these are the children who sweat and toil, losing out on their childhood to add small value the ‘bling, bling’ that is the fad. The Kimberly process is meeting at this time to review the working of the ban.
Would they stop to consider for a moment the children in Surat, who are churning out these diamonds, paying with their own blood?
Over 90% of the world’s rough diamonds pass through these markets on their journey to Surat, the biggest small-diamond processing centre in the world 326 kms by road from the city. A Guardian Observer investigation alleges that ‘blood diamonds’ from Ivory Coast and Liberia are being illegally processed here.
According to the article, “The stones brought in by dhows and fishing boats through the shallow waters of Gujarat's ungovernable west coast make a laughing stock of attempts to stem the global flow of blood diamonds.” The Kimberly Process, set up by diamond merchants, NGOs, governments and the UN in 2003 governs, albeit loosely the trade in diamonds and should help prevent the use of diamonds to fuel conflicts.
But the Kimberly process does not make any mention of child labour that is reported to be so prevalent in Surat, adding more blood the already tainted stones. Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Children Foundation) alleges that over 30,000 children are stuck in this trade in Dickensian conditions. These claims are stoutly denied by the industry.
And why not? Reports [1, 2] allege that over the years the diamond cutting industry has resisted unionisation or bringing itself under the purview of the Indian Factory Act that promised minimum wages and benefits for its workers. This is done by keeping the number of workers in each unit under nine (the legal limit requiring registration under the Act) and registering hundreds of small units. And it is in these units that the children are lost without a trace.
Diamond cutting is on the top of the list of ‘hazardous work’ that the law prohibits children from work in. And these are the children who sweat and toil, losing out on their childhood to add small value the ‘bling, bling’ that is the fad. The Kimberly process is meeting at this time to review the working of the ban.
Would they stop to consider for a moment the children in Surat, who are churning out these diamonds, paying with their own blood?
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