Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, the founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, is a pioneer in the fight against child labour in India. He spoke to DH's Shemin Joy.
What is the situation of child labour across the world and in India?
Around 152 million children are forced to work globally. Out of these, nearly half i.e. 73 million children are in hazardous work. Alarmingly, the rate of reduction of child labour has been decelerating over the last few years and if the global fraternity keeps working in business as usual mode there will still be over 121 million child labourers at the end of 2025 miserably failing sustainable development goal 8.7. A word of caution here is that without achieving children-related goals, sustainable development agenda 2030 cannot be accomplished. According to census of 2011, India is home to 10.1 million child labourers. However, this figure does not seem to include the massive unorganised sector where maximum number of children work.
What steps should be taken to eliminate this crime. Recently German Minister Gerd Muller visited you. What was discussed?
Multi-pronged initiatives should be taken to eliminate child labour with a sense of emergency. These include larger investment by governments for free, quality and equitable education up to the age of 18. Strong, time-bound and accountable enforcement of laws protecting the rights of children will be a big deterrent for offenders. Turning the tap off at source requires proactive measures like curbing hunger, poverty and economic insecurity. For doing this robust social protection systems for children and their communities, ensuring decent working conditions for adults and efforts to formalise informal sector of economy are absolutely essential. Businesses must take proactive measures for responsible and ethically clean supply chains with zero tolerance for child labour. Consumers must demand for products and services that are not made by children. Children stuck in war-torn conflict zones or in refugee crisis should be provided with security and opportunities to grow. More importantly, children-related political championship at all levels of governance is required globally. Till some Heads of the States do not own up the cause of children and inspire the world from the helm, elimination of child labour will not be possible.
We have been closely working with Government of Germany on the issue of child labour in supply chains. In fact, in response to my demand for such a law that prohibits German companies from using child labour in their global supply chains, their Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Dr Gerd Muller had recently invited me to Berlin for mobilising support from other parliamentarians. Last week, he visited us with his delegation and pledged full support to our idea of initiating a worldwide campaign to eliminate child labour from global supply chains. It was discussed that we will together launch this campaign in September 2020 in Germany. The campaign will gain traction through 2021 and beyond and will give a big push to our global march to end child labour which is our commitment towards accomplishment of sustainable development goals. Notably, 2021 happens to be the international year for elimination of child labour.
How important is rehabilitation for a child in the road to justice?
Rehabilitation of a rescued child starts from the time he or she comes in contact with the law that protects his or her rights and lasts till the time she or he regains the lost childhood and is mainstreamed back into the society. Rehabilitation must not be charity or welfare work but must be extended to the child as a matter of right. This includes reparation and restitution to the child for the failure of the State to him or her in the first place. The process has to be easy to access for the child and his or her community, and reduce all barriers of the traditional justice delivery system. Rehabilitation is not only the responsibility of the governments. It is the collective responsibility of society, communities, schools, media among other stakeholders.
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What is the role of prosecution and conviction?
Prosecution and conviction are extremely important socio-economic deterrents for offenders. However, punishment should not be mistaken as justice. Criminal justice has to be easily accessible, speedy, timely and child friendly i.e. with the best interest of the child placed at the heart of the justice delivery system. For the purpose of realising justice in its truest sense, and by that I mean the ideals of natural justice, I have demanded for the National Children's Tribunal which would serve the purpose of child-centric justice delivery.
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