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Lost Childhood

Immediate action needed to stop child labour

Amena Khatun and Pankaj Karmakar
Working hard for over 10 hours a day at a garage, Raju gets only some food in exchange for his work.
Hailing from Shariatpur, the 12-year-old boy has been working as an assistant of a mechanic at the garage in Khilgaon in the city for last three years as a non- paid labourer.
He, however, feels happy when his employer gives him some money on special occasions.
'When Eid comes, my master gives me I k 200 to 300 to bear my expenses for going home said Raju.
But the rest of the time he has to live in hardship. Even sometimes his master beat him mercilessly for a silly mistake.
His suffering adds further when his master compelled him to bringdnigsforhim from nearby areas.
1 wanted to continue my school, but my father wanted me to help the family/' he said, with tears rolling down his cheeks.
Another 11-year-old boy Rakib has been working at a CNG station at Malibagh since his father died five years ago.
He is paidTk 20 for working at least eight hours a day.
His job is very risky as gas may explode anytime if there is any mistake in handling it.
Both Rakib and Raju shared their experiences to The Daily Star at a programme in the city to mark the World Day Against Child Labour on Friday.
There are thousands of children like Raju and Rakib who are engaged in hazardous works with nominal wage or only in exchange for food across the country.
According to a study of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Study (BILS) in 2005. most domestic workers in Mohammadpur and Dhanmondi in the city are children and they work 10.73 hours daily on an average. They do not enjoy any weekly day-off and around 33 percent of total domestic workers sleep on the floor of kitchen room.
The number of child workers is increasing day by day, as most people are living below poverty line. Moreover, the government is not strictly implementing the existing rules.
According to a survey of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) ■ conducted in 2005, there are 79 lakh child workers aged between 5 * and 17 years in the country - 64 lakh in rural areasand 15 lakh in J urban areas. Of them, four lakh children are engaged as domestic J helps, one of the hazardous work for children.
The survey also said 52 percent of these workers were abused » and scolded and 16.7 percent were physically abused.
According to the National Labour Survey 2002-2003, a total of . 12.90 lakh children are engaged in hazardous child labour. Of them, 11.70 lakh are boys and 1.20 lakh are girls. Some 6.7 percent of workers are engaged in formal sector while 93.3 percent in various informal sectors.
A research report on the State of Child Labour 2001, Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum and Unicef identified some 430 forms of child labour. Among them, 67 types of work are iden -tified as hazardous, including Bidi factory, match factory and domestic help.
Though the Labour Law 2006 doesn't allow employers to hire workers under 14 years, the reality is that many under-14 children are engaged in various jobs.
According to ILO-Unicef Baseline Survey 2007, a total of 1.47 lakh children aged between 6 and 17 are working as domestic help in the city.
The National Child Labour Policy 2007 finds that the major reasons behind children working in dangerous and hazardous workplaces are poverty and lack of education. Poverty is increasing day by day in our country and education comes way down in the list of priorities, especially fo those who do not get enough to eat.
International Labour Organisation (ILO) held a convention in 1999 titled ILO Convention No.182' considering the need to adopt new instruments for the prohibition and elimination of the worst from of child labour. Bangladesh ratified the convention in March 2001. But the government is yet to define rive worst forms of child labour, which is considered as the first step of elimination ol child labour.
The ILO convention no. 138 in 1973, concerning minimum age for admission to employment, fixed the minimum age 18 to enter in job for the developed countries and 14 to 16 for developing countries.
The Child Labour Elimination Policy-2008 was drafted during the tenure of the previous caretaker government, but it is yet to be approved.
Talking to The Daily Star, Arun Kanti Aich, joint secretary (labour) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, said, "The drafted policy is at the final stage of approval in the ministry. After completing our homework, we will send it to the cabinet for approval."
According to the policy, the working children aged between 14 and 18 would be considered as child labour, he said.
At a meeting on Friday, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said the government would update the existing labour law in order to eliminate child labour from hazardous work.