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Child labor in Bombay
ChiM Abuse & Neglect, Vol. 9, pp. 107 111, 1985 Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.
014%2134/85 $3.00 + .00 Copyright ~ 1985 Pergamon Press Ltd.
CHILD LABOR IN B O M B A Y MEENAKSHI N.
MEHTA,
M.D., D.C.H., S. V.
PRABHU,
M.D., D.C.H.,
M.N.A.M.S. AND H. N. MISTRY, M.B.B.S. L.T.M.M. College and Hospital, Sion, Bombay 400 022, India Abstract--Of the world's largest child labor force in India, Bombay has over 30,000 working children, most of them migrants. In a prospective study of 73 working children from a part of Dharavi, the biggest slum in Asia, 68% were working as hotel boys; 22% had started working before their 10th birthday, a large number doing so to increase the family income, but earning less than Rs. 100 ($11) per month. Forty percent worked more than 12 hours a day and only 16% continued schooling. Two-thirds depended entirely on their employers for food which was adequate and no child in the study was malnourished. Overall incidence of anemia and vitamin deficiency was 10% each. Only 7% had ailments related to their occupation. Because this was a cross-sectional study no conclusions can be drawn regarding long term and residual effects. Preventing children from working is likely to make worse their own as well as their families' problems unless substitute sources of income or welfare are available. Legal protection and other services near their working places are essential for those who have to work. R~sum~--A Bombay (lnde) on estime que 30,000 enfants sont employ6s comme travailleurs. Les auteurs ont tente une ~tude prospective fond~e sur 73 enfants travailleurs vivant dans les taudis de "Dharavi." le plus grand bidonville d'Asie. Le 90% de ces enfants btaient des gar~:ons, 63% de ces enfants 6taient des "boys" d'h6tel ou de cantines, le 22% avaient commenc6 ~ travailler avant 10 ans, une bonne partie d'entre eux le faisaient dans le but d'aider leur famille, dont le revenu 6tait inf6rieur & 11 dollars (100 Rs) par mois. Le 40% travaillaient plus de 12 heures par jour et le 16% seulement continuaient de fr6quenter l'6cole. Les 2/3 d'entre eux d6pendaient totalement de leur employeur pour leur nourriture, laquelle 6tait ad6quate, et ils ne souffraient pas de malnutrition. Dans 10% des cas on trouvait cependant une certaine an6mie et darts 10% 6galement des signes d'avitaminose. Le 7% seulement souffraient d'affections en rapport avec leur occupation industrielle ou artisonale. I1 est 6vident que si I'on interdit ~ ces enfants de travailler on va aggraver leur situation et celle de leurs families, et que si on le fait il faut trouver d'autres ressources et d'autres formes de soutien.
INTRODUCTION I N S P I T E O F T H E U . N . G E N E R A L A S S E M B L Y ' S R E S O L U T I O N a n d the I n t e r n a t i o n a l L a b o u r Office's ( I L O ) p o l i c y for w e l f a r e of w o r k i n g c h i l d r e n [1], child l a b o r exists, o f t e n in e x p l o i t a t i v e c o n d i t i o n s , a n d will h a v e firm r o o t i n g in d a y s to c o m e . A c c o r d i n g to a r e c e n t I L O e s t i m a t e there are 52 m i l l i o n c h i l d r e n u n d e r the age of 15 w o r k i n g in the w o r l d . O f these, a p p r o x i m a t e l y 29 m i l l i o n are f r o m S o u t h Asia, of w h i c h I n d i a has the largest c h i l d l a b o r force of 16.5 m i l l i o n w o r k i n g c h i l d r e n a g e d 5 to 14 [2]. E s t i m a t e s of the n u m b e r of w o r k i n g c h i l d r e n in G r e a t e r B o m b a y r a n g e f r o m a c o n s e r v a t i v e 30,000 to several t i m e s that n u m b e r [3]. C h i l d l a b o r i n v o l v e s the use of l a b o r at its p o i n t of l o w e s t p r o d u c t i v i t y a n d is, t h e r e f o r e , an inefficient u t i l i z a t i o n of l a b o r p o w e r . M o r e i m p o r t a n t , child l a b o r p r e c l u d e s the full realization of the c h i l d ' s p o t e n t i a l i t i e s , d e p r i v i n g h i m of e d u c a t i o n , t r a i n i n g a n d skills w h i c h are n e c e s s a r y p r e r e q u i s i t e s of e a r n i n g p o w e r a n d e c o n o m i c d e v e l o p m e n t . C h i l d r e n are the m o s t v u l n e r a b l e g r o u p in a n y p o p u l a t i o n , a n d b e c a u s e of their v u l n e r a b i l i t y a n d d e p e n d e n c e , t h e y Presented at the Fourth International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, Paris, 1982. 107
108
M.N. Mehta, S. V. Prabhu, and H. N. Mistry
can be exploited, ill treated and directed into undesirable channels by unscrupulous elements in the community [4]. However in spite of the fact that children are overworked and do not have the opportunity to live like "normal" children, it should be stressed that thex are better oft" than the great numbers of children elsewhere who do not work but who do not cal. This report is based on a prospective study undertaken to obtain lirst hand information on various aspects of child labor in Bombay and to help these children as far :is their physical health problems were concerned.
MATERIAl, AND METHODS Matunga Labor Camp, a portion of Dharavi slum, reportedly the largest in Asia, was chosen as the site for study because of proximity, poor living conditions, presence of varied occupations and industries employing children, and ready cooperation of the local social and community leaders. The area is mainly inhabited by Marathi- and Tamil-speaking families. A majority of the children studied belonged to the above area. In addition, 22 children. 12 working in the college canteen and mess and 10 from small tea stalls and restaurants from Fort area were also included. Phase 1 of the study consisted of frequent visits to the area, establishing rapport with the local people, understanding their life style, developing contacts with the local social workers and opinion leaders and locating the local industries, hotels, etc., in which children were working. Phase 2 consisted of interviews, examination and entry' of the data on a predesigned form by a team consisting of the three authors who were present on all occasions, two to three resident doctors and one to two interns by rotation. Working children of either sex under the age of 16 years formed the material. Each working child was individually interviewed and examined. Girls were interviewed and examined by the female doctors in the team. The procedure took about 45 minutes per child. If the child needed to attend the hospital for any investigation, this was explained to the employer and his permission was sought. At no stage were the parents of working children able to be interviewed.
RESULTS Most of the data were collected in four to five weeks. Table 1 summarizes the age and sex of the children. This compares well with figures from Singh's study [5] where only 5.5'7~ of children were less than 9 years old, 28.3% between 9 and 12 years and the rest more than 12 years old. This study contained a survey of 4,962 families of ten slums of Bombay, and revealed that 66% of children who worked were less than 15 years of age [5, 6]. Of the children in the present study, 22% entered the labor force before the age of 10 years as compared to 24.7% before the age of 9 years in a previous study [7], which assumed that the usual age of entry is 8 to 9 years. It is impossible to estimate how many of India's 255 million children work for a living but the National Survey estimates that the figure in 1983 was 17.3 million. In our study boys in
Table 1.
Years Male Female Total
Under 10 3 (4%) -3 (4%)
Age and Sex Distribution of Sample
10-13 22 (30%) 3 (4%) 25 (34~)
14 15 28 (38%) 1 (1%) 29 (40%)
15 16 15 (21%) 1 (1%) 16 (22%)
Total 68 (93%) 5 (7~) 73 (10(1F~)
Child labor in Bombay
109
the work force far outnumber girls. But this does not take into account the large number of girls who do the adult jobs of cooking, scrubbing utensils, cleaning the house, fetching water from wells and collecting firewood. All this does not quite fall into the category of helping with the household chores in the manner in which middle class children may help [8]. Our study, being a biased sample covering only work outside the house, includes only 5 girls of which one girl, though working in a hosiery factory for 8 hours a day, in addition had to help her mother in all domestic work and in looking after six younger siblings. The migration of children was significant with 63% migrating: 47% alone and 16% with their families. Forty-four percent of the working children were school dropouts while 18% continued to attend school; 47% had completed primary education compared to 52% in Singh's 1976 study [5]. More than half of the children started working to increase the family income and 82% of the children interviewed were in their first job. Two-thirds of all children were earning less than Rs. 100 ($11) per month in addition to food on a temporary basis, and one-half of all children were residing at the work place away from their families. In Singh's study also, 71% of the children earned less than Rs. 100 (U.S. $11) per month [5]. It was found that 53% handed over more than 75% of their pay to their parents. Seventy percent of the children interviewed were working in hotels, small tea stalls or canteens, 12~ in manufacturing industry, 3% as motor mechanics in a garage and the rest did miscellaneous jobs such as domestic servants, cobblers, fish or vegetable vendors. The children put in long working hours. Almost 40% worked for more than 12 hours a day and almost 50% had to work for 8-12 hours a day. Singh's study mentions that hotel boys in Bombay worked, on an average, 11.6 hours per day [5]. They had no energy or time left to play, study, or have any hobbies, and were compelled by their fatigue to sleep. In the present study, 51% utilized portions of their leisure time in sleeping; 68% in playing; and only 16% in schooling. At least 15% of the children could not appreciate the meaning of leisure due to their long and monotonous routine at work. Singh also mentions that very few working children had any leisure time, and more than 15% interviewed said that they spent their leisure hours sleeping or resting. Sixty-seven percent of the children in this study depended completely on their employers for all their meals (chiefly those migrants who worked in hotels or canteens and lived at the work place or with families at native place). Only 3% of the children were partly dependent on the employer who supplied one meal while they were on duty; the remaining meals were managed at home. All children who received meals from their employer had adequate food at least 3 to 4 times a day, including tea and occasionally snacks with tea. The amount and type of food appeared to have a direct bearing on the child's health. Since the children got adequate food both in quality and quantity, there was hardly any evidence of malnutrition even in those children who were completely dependent on their employers for food. Not a single child under study had any severe or obvious evidence of malnutrition. Early protein malnutrition was detected in two children apparently due to familial poverty. Vitamin A deficiency was seen in eight children (they were treated on the spot with a single oral dose of 200,000 units); Vitamin B complex deficiency in six children: and nutritional anemia in 8 children. A U.S Department of Labor survey of working children in India revealed over 25% had Vitamin A deficiency, 10% had riboflavin deficiency, and anemia and chronic bronchitis were common [7]. Regarding the physical growth of children, the heights were compared with standard ICMR percentiles: Four children had heights less than 5th percentile, whereas four other children had heights above 95th percentile. Both these groups may represent the variations in the normal physiology of adolescent growth. Physical problems encountered were few and not serious except for mental retardation in one child: Only 17 children had some problems ranging from pyoderma to otitis media. One child working in a garage had scars of a ruptured cold abscess in the neck for which he had
l l0
M . N . Mehta, S. V. Prabhu, and H. N. Mistry
taken and completed a year's course of antituberculous drugs. On examination he was found to be completely free from residual or active infection. Considering the physical problems directly related to the type or duration of work, there was nothing noteworthy detected. Only six children had problems: pigmentation of nails and nail bed (l): rough skin of hands and feet (5). The child with pigmentation worked in a printing press carrying heavy weights and helped in pasting, binding, etc. The five children who had roughened skin on hands and feet were working in hotels and developed this in washing crockery and mopping the floor. Almost 90% of the children had no addictions: seven children smoked 1-10 "bidis" (indigenous cigarette) per day and one 16 year old indulged in smoking, drinking and visiting prostitutes. Another survey in Bombay found 3.3% of working children smoked [6].
SPECULATION, RELEVANCE AND IMPLICATIONS Like most problems in India, child labor emerges out of the socioeconomic issues prevailing in the economy. Children are often forced to work due to economic needs and social conditions. Whatever might be the conditions leading to the children seeking employment, it would appear that children frequently work under conditions detrimental to their welfare and development. Most of these children have never been to school or have dropped out of school at an early age. The perception of child labor as a social problem has become an important feature of activities of trade unions, welfare organizations, social service bodies, and the state [9]. Child labor in the cities falls into three categories: those in the organized sector, the much larger number in the unorganized sector; and the self-employed. Children are employed in hotels and factories: They make bidis, baskets and bangles, polish shoes, hawk newspapers, sell vegetables, are used as aids to weavers, mechanics and traditional craftsmen. They work as domestic servants in urban middle class and rich homes and as child-minders in their own homes [3]. More than 75% of them belong to families who have migrated from rural areas in search of employment. Children of such families have no alternative but to add to the family income by any means. The phenomenon of child labor occurs in all sectors of the Indian economy. If legally prohibited in one sector, it mushrooms in another. In spite of 12 major acts concerned with the employment of persons, in general the protection of children appears only as a small part of the general legislative scheme, and existing legal machinery only takes care of those children working in organized sectors, whereas the majority of children work in unorganized sectors without any protection. Since the present study is cross-sectional, it is not possible to comment on the long term implications on mental as well as physical well-being of these children. Follow-up studies on the same children may give some answers.
CONCLUSIONS AND R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S This study agrees with the conclusion drawn by the ILO studies that suppressing child labor is unlikely to improve the welfare of many of the children concerned unless substitute sources of income and opportunities for personal development are created. Protection of children, not abolition of child labor, is the need of today. Legal limits for service conditions, minimum wages and controls for length of working hours are required. More and newer approaches need to be developed for the majority of children working in unorganized sectors, who have no protection at all. Arranging for health examinations, facilities for free medical services and treatment of both acute and chronic problems in the vicinity
Child labor in Bombay
11 l
of the child's working place will improve his unfortunate lot. Going one step further, if legal provisions are made, needy children would be made to avail themselves of these facilities. Besides merely enacting laws, the implementation of laws should be strengthened at all levels in government and private sectors. Acknowledgement--We take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Dean L.T.M.M. College for allowing the authors to carry out this study, the doctors, residents and interns who helped and the children as well as their employers and the local social workers, without whose cooperation the study would not have been possible.
REFERENCES 1. Children and Work: An I.L.O. Policy Framework for the International Year of the Child, 1979. International Labour Office, Geneva (1978). 2. Year Book of Local Statistics 1979. International Labour Office, Geneva (1979). 3. An Analysis of the Situation of Children in India (Draft Report). UNICEF, New Delhi (1981). 4. Introduction: National Seminar on Employment of Children in India, November 25 to 28, 1975, Organized by the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, New Delhi 110 024 (1977). 5. SINGH, M., KAIRA, V. D. and KHAN, S. A. Working Children in Bombay: A Study. Delhi University Press, Delhi (1980). 6. ANKLESARIA, S. Child labour: Protection not abolition is the need of the hour. Eve's Weekly, Bombay (August 4, 1979). 7. Work or perish. In: The World's Exploited Children." Growing up Sadly. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Monograph No. 4, Washington, DC (1980). 8. MOZUMDAR, M. Caution: Children at work. In: Future: Development Perspectives on Children. UNICEF, New Delhi (1981). 9. Standard note on child labor, background. Central Advisory Board Meeting on Child Labor. (March 31, 1981).
014%2134/85 $3.00 + .00 Copyright ~ 1985 Pergamon Press Ltd.
CHILD LABOR IN B O M B A Y MEENAKSHI N.
MEHTA,
M.D., D.C.H., S. V.
PRABHU,
M.D., D.C.H.,
M.N.A.M.S. AND H. N. MISTRY, M.B.B.S. L.T.M.M. College and Hospital, Sion, Bombay 400 022, India Abstract--Of the world's largest child labor force in India, Bombay has over 30,000 working children, most of them migrants. In a prospective study of 73 working children from a part of Dharavi, the biggest slum in Asia, 68% were working as hotel boys; 22% had started working before their 10th birthday, a large number doing so to increase the family income, but earning less than Rs. 100 ($11) per month. Forty percent worked more than 12 hours a day and only 16% continued schooling. Two-thirds depended entirely on their employers for food which was adequate and no child in the study was malnourished. Overall incidence of anemia and vitamin deficiency was 10% each. Only 7% had ailments related to their occupation. Because this was a cross-sectional study no conclusions can be drawn regarding long term and residual effects. Preventing children from working is likely to make worse their own as well as their families' problems unless substitute sources of income or welfare are available. Legal protection and other services near their working places are essential for those who have to work. R~sum~--A Bombay (lnde) on estime que 30,000 enfants sont employ6s comme travailleurs. Les auteurs ont tente une ~tude prospective fond~e sur 73 enfants travailleurs vivant dans les taudis de "Dharavi." le plus grand bidonville d'Asie. Le 90% de ces enfants btaient des gar~:ons, 63% de ces enfants 6taient des "boys" d'h6tel ou de cantines, le 22% avaient commenc6 ~ travailler avant 10 ans, une bonne partie d'entre eux le faisaient dans le but d'aider leur famille, dont le revenu 6tait inf6rieur & 11 dollars (100 Rs) par mois. Le 40% travaillaient plus de 12 heures par jour et le 16% seulement continuaient de fr6quenter l'6cole. Les 2/3 d'entre eux d6pendaient totalement de leur employeur pour leur nourriture, laquelle 6tait ad6quate, et ils ne souffraient pas de malnutrition. Dans 10% des cas on trouvait cependant une certaine an6mie et darts 10% 6galement des signes d'avitaminose. Le 7% seulement souffraient d'affections en rapport avec leur occupation industrielle ou artisonale. I1 est 6vident que si I'on interdit ~ ces enfants de travailler on va aggraver leur situation et celle de leurs families, et que si on le fait il faut trouver d'autres ressources et d'autres formes de soutien.
INTRODUCTION I N S P I T E O F T H E U . N . G E N E R A L A S S E M B L Y ' S R E S O L U T I O N a n d the I n t e r n a t i o n a l L a b o u r Office's ( I L O ) p o l i c y for w e l f a r e of w o r k i n g c h i l d r e n [1], child l a b o r exists, o f t e n in e x p l o i t a t i v e c o n d i t i o n s , a n d will h a v e firm r o o t i n g in d a y s to c o m e . A c c o r d i n g to a r e c e n t I L O e s t i m a t e there are 52 m i l l i o n c h i l d r e n u n d e r the age of 15 w o r k i n g in the w o r l d . O f these, a p p r o x i m a t e l y 29 m i l l i o n are f r o m S o u t h Asia, of w h i c h I n d i a has the largest c h i l d l a b o r force of 16.5 m i l l i o n w o r k i n g c h i l d r e n a g e d 5 to 14 [2]. E s t i m a t e s of the n u m b e r of w o r k i n g c h i l d r e n in G r e a t e r B o m b a y r a n g e f r o m a c o n s e r v a t i v e 30,000 to several t i m e s that n u m b e r [3]. C h i l d l a b o r i n v o l v e s the use of l a b o r at its p o i n t of l o w e s t p r o d u c t i v i t y a n d is, t h e r e f o r e , an inefficient u t i l i z a t i o n of l a b o r p o w e r . M o r e i m p o r t a n t , child l a b o r p r e c l u d e s the full realization of the c h i l d ' s p o t e n t i a l i t i e s , d e p r i v i n g h i m of e d u c a t i o n , t r a i n i n g a n d skills w h i c h are n e c e s s a r y p r e r e q u i s i t e s of e a r n i n g p o w e r a n d e c o n o m i c d e v e l o p m e n t . C h i l d r e n are the m o s t v u l n e r a b l e g r o u p in a n y p o p u l a t i o n , a n d b e c a u s e of their v u l n e r a b i l i t y a n d d e p e n d e n c e , t h e y Presented at the Fourth International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, Paris, 1982. 107
108
M.N. Mehta, S. V. Prabhu, and H. N. Mistry
can be exploited, ill treated and directed into undesirable channels by unscrupulous elements in the community [4]. However in spite of the fact that children are overworked and do not have the opportunity to live like "normal" children, it should be stressed that thex are better oft" than the great numbers of children elsewhere who do not work but who do not cal. This report is based on a prospective study undertaken to obtain lirst hand information on various aspects of child labor in Bombay and to help these children as far :is their physical health problems were concerned.
MATERIAl, AND METHODS Matunga Labor Camp, a portion of Dharavi slum, reportedly the largest in Asia, was chosen as the site for study because of proximity, poor living conditions, presence of varied occupations and industries employing children, and ready cooperation of the local social and community leaders. The area is mainly inhabited by Marathi- and Tamil-speaking families. A majority of the children studied belonged to the above area. In addition, 22 children. 12 working in the college canteen and mess and 10 from small tea stalls and restaurants from Fort area were also included. Phase 1 of the study consisted of frequent visits to the area, establishing rapport with the local people, understanding their life style, developing contacts with the local social workers and opinion leaders and locating the local industries, hotels, etc., in which children were working. Phase 2 consisted of interviews, examination and entry' of the data on a predesigned form by a team consisting of the three authors who were present on all occasions, two to three resident doctors and one to two interns by rotation. Working children of either sex under the age of 16 years formed the material. Each working child was individually interviewed and examined. Girls were interviewed and examined by the female doctors in the team. The procedure took about 45 minutes per child. If the child needed to attend the hospital for any investigation, this was explained to the employer and his permission was sought. At no stage were the parents of working children able to be interviewed.
RESULTS Most of the data were collected in four to five weeks. Table 1 summarizes the age and sex of the children. This compares well with figures from Singh's study [5] where only 5.5'7~ of children were less than 9 years old, 28.3% between 9 and 12 years and the rest more than 12 years old. This study contained a survey of 4,962 families of ten slums of Bombay, and revealed that 66% of children who worked were less than 15 years of age [5, 6]. Of the children in the present study, 22% entered the labor force before the age of 10 years as compared to 24.7% before the age of 9 years in a previous study [7], which assumed that the usual age of entry is 8 to 9 years. It is impossible to estimate how many of India's 255 million children work for a living but the National Survey estimates that the figure in 1983 was 17.3 million. In our study boys in
Table 1.
Years Male Female Total
Under 10 3 (4%) -3 (4%)
Age and Sex Distribution of Sample
10-13 22 (30%) 3 (4%) 25 (34~)
14 15 28 (38%) 1 (1%) 29 (40%)
15 16 15 (21%) 1 (1%) 16 (22%)
Total 68 (93%) 5 (7~) 73 (10(1F~)
Child labor in Bombay
109
the work force far outnumber girls. But this does not take into account the large number of girls who do the adult jobs of cooking, scrubbing utensils, cleaning the house, fetching water from wells and collecting firewood. All this does not quite fall into the category of helping with the household chores in the manner in which middle class children may help [8]. Our study, being a biased sample covering only work outside the house, includes only 5 girls of which one girl, though working in a hosiery factory for 8 hours a day, in addition had to help her mother in all domestic work and in looking after six younger siblings. The migration of children was significant with 63% migrating: 47% alone and 16% with their families. Forty-four percent of the working children were school dropouts while 18% continued to attend school; 47% had completed primary education compared to 52% in Singh's 1976 study [5]. More than half of the children started working to increase the family income and 82% of the children interviewed were in their first job. Two-thirds of all children were earning less than Rs. 100 ($11) per month in addition to food on a temporary basis, and one-half of all children were residing at the work place away from their families. In Singh's study also, 71% of the children earned less than Rs. 100 (U.S. $11) per month [5]. It was found that 53% handed over more than 75% of their pay to their parents. Seventy percent of the children interviewed were working in hotels, small tea stalls or canteens, 12~ in manufacturing industry, 3% as motor mechanics in a garage and the rest did miscellaneous jobs such as domestic servants, cobblers, fish or vegetable vendors. The children put in long working hours. Almost 40% worked for more than 12 hours a day and almost 50% had to work for 8-12 hours a day. Singh's study mentions that hotel boys in Bombay worked, on an average, 11.6 hours per day [5]. They had no energy or time left to play, study, or have any hobbies, and were compelled by their fatigue to sleep. In the present study, 51% utilized portions of their leisure time in sleeping; 68% in playing; and only 16% in schooling. At least 15% of the children could not appreciate the meaning of leisure due to their long and monotonous routine at work. Singh also mentions that very few working children had any leisure time, and more than 15% interviewed said that they spent their leisure hours sleeping or resting. Sixty-seven percent of the children in this study depended completely on their employers for all their meals (chiefly those migrants who worked in hotels or canteens and lived at the work place or with families at native place). Only 3% of the children were partly dependent on the employer who supplied one meal while they were on duty; the remaining meals were managed at home. All children who received meals from their employer had adequate food at least 3 to 4 times a day, including tea and occasionally snacks with tea. The amount and type of food appeared to have a direct bearing on the child's health. Since the children got adequate food both in quality and quantity, there was hardly any evidence of malnutrition even in those children who were completely dependent on their employers for food. Not a single child under study had any severe or obvious evidence of malnutrition. Early protein malnutrition was detected in two children apparently due to familial poverty. Vitamin A deficiency was seen in eight children (they were treated on the spot with a single oral dose of 200,000 units); Vitamin B complex deficiency in six children: and nutritional anemia in 8 children. A U.S Department of Labor survey of working children in India revealed over 25% had Vitamin A deficiency, 10% had riboflavin deficiency, and anemia and chronic bronchitis were common [7]. Regarding the physical growth of children, the heights were compared with standard ICMR percentiles: Four children had heights less than 5th percentile, whereas four other children had heights above 95th percentile. Both these groups may represent the variations in the normal physiology of adolescent growth. Physical problems encountered were few and not serious except for mental retardation in one child: Only 17 children had some problems ranging from pyoderma to otitis media. One child working in a garage had scars of a ruptured cold abscess in the neck for which he had
l l0
M . N . Mehta, S. V. Prabhu, and H. N. Mistry
taken and completed a year's course of antituberculous drugs. On examination he was found to be completely free from residual or active infection. Considering the physical problems directly related to the type or duration of work, there was nothing noteworthy detected. Only six children had problems: pigmentation of nails and nail bed (l): rough skin of hands and feet (5). The child with pigmentation worked in a printing press carrying heavy weights and helped in pasting, binding, etc. The five children who had roughened skin on hands and feet were working in hotels and developed this in washing crockery and mopping the floor. Almost 90% of the children had no addictions: seven children smoked 1-10 "bidis" (indigenous cigarette) per day and one 16 year old indulged in smoking, drinking and visiting prostitutes. Another survey in Bombay found 3.3% of working children smoked [6].
SPECULATION, RELEVANCE AND IMPLICATIONS Like most problems in India, child labor emerges out of the socioeconomic issues prevailing in the economy. Children are often forced to work due to economic needs and social conditions. Whatever might be the conditions leading to the children seeking employment, it would appear that children frequently work under conditions detrimental to their welfare and development. Most of these children have never been to school or have dropped out of school at an early age. The perception of child labor as a social problem has become an important feature of activities of trade unions, welfare organizations, social service bodies, and the state [9]. Child labor in the cities falls into three categories: those in the organized sector, the much larger number in the unorganized sector; and the self-employed. Children are employed in hotels and factories: They make bidis, baskets and bangles, polish shoes, hawk newspapers, sell vegetables, are used as aids to weavers, mechanics and traditional craftsmen. They work as domestic servants in urban middle class and rich homes and as child-minders in their own homes [3]. More than 75% of them belong to families who have migrated from rural areas in search of employment. Children of such families have no alternative but to add to the family income by any means. The phenomenon of child labor occurs in all sectors of the Indian economy. If legally prohibited in one sector, it mushrooms in another. In spite of 12 major acts concerned with the employment of persons, in general the protection of children appears only as a small part of the general legislative scheme, and existing legal machinery only takes care of those children working in organized sectors, whereas the majority of children work in unorganized sectors without any protection. Since the present study is cross-sectional, it is not possible to comment on the long term implications on mental as well as physical well-being of these children. Follow-up studies on the same children may give some answers.
CONCLUSIONS AND R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S This study agrees with the conclusion drawn by the ILO studies that suppressing child labor is unlikely to improve the welfare of many of the children concerned unless substitute sources of income and opportunities for personal development are created. Protection of children, not abolition of child labor, is the need of today. Legal limits for service conditions, minimum wages and controls for length of working hours are required. More and newer approaches need to be developed for the majority of children working in unorganized sectors, who have no protection at all. Arranging for health examinations, facilities for free medical services and treatment of both acute and chronic problems in the vicinity
Child labor in Bombay
11 l
of the child's working place will improve his unfortunate lot. Going one step further, if legal provisions are made, needy children would be made to avail themselves of these facilities. Besides merely enacting laws, the implementation of laws should be strengthened at all levels in government and private sectors. Acknowledgement--We take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Dean L.T.M.M. College for allowing the authors to carry out this study, the doctors, residents and interns who helped and the children as well as their employers and the local social workers, without whose cooperation the study would not have been possible.
REFERENCES 1. Children and Work: An I.L.O. Policy Framework for the International Year of the Child, 1979. International Labour Office, Geneva (1978). 2. Year Book of Local Statistics 1979. International Labour Office, Geneva (1979). 3. An Analysis of the Situation of Children in India (Draft Report). UNICEF, New Delhi (1981). 4. Introduction: National Seminar on Employment of Children in India, November 25 to 28, 1975, Organized by the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, New Delhi 110 024 (1977). 5. SINGH, M., KAIRA, V. D. and KHAN, S. A. Working Children in Bombay: A Study. Delhi University Press, Delhi (1980). 6. ANKLESARIA, S. Child labour: Protection not abolition is the need of the hour. Eve's Weekly, Bombay (August 4, 1979). 7. Work or perish. In: The World's Exploited Children." Growing up Sadly. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Monograph No. 4, Washington, DC (1980). 8. MOZUMDAR, M. Caution: Children at work. In: Future: Development Perspectives on Children. UNICEF, New Delhi (1981). 9. Standard note on child labor, background. Central Advisory Board Meeting on Child Labor. (March 31, 1981).