AN INCREASE in child labour, with more than a million children engaged in hazardous work, shows the emptiness of the government鈥檚 pledge to eliminate child labour in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals aimed at ending all forms of child labour by 2025. The government is also reported to have prepared a national plan of action to eliminate child labour by 2025, but no improvement has been as yet visible. The National Child Labour Survey 2022 and the Establishment-Based Sector-Wise Working Children Survey 2023 paint a bleak picture of child labour. The Child Labour Survey shows an increase in the number of children engaged in child labour, to 17.76 lakh in 2022 from 16.98 lakh in 2013. The number of working children, however, is more than double the number engaged in child labour, which is defined based on age and working hours. The survey also says that 1.07 million children are engaged in hazardous work. It shows that 99 per cent of child workers are employed informally, which makes child labourers more vulnerable to exploitation. The sector-wise working children survey finds that 38,006 engaged in five out of 43 hazardous sectors.
The survey conducted in June 2023 shows that at least 24,923 children work in automobile workshops, 5,281 in leather shoe industries, 4,099 in welding or gas burner mechanic shops, 2,805 in local tailoring or garment stitching and 898 in dry fish production. It also shows that 20.2 per cent of children engaged in five hazardous sectors are exposed to conditions involving fire, hot machinery or dangerous electric equipment while 31.1 per cent of others work in settings where dust, sand, smoke or fumes can hinder their breathing and visibility and 14.8 per cent of children work for extended hours in the sun without break. Child labourers in the sectors work on an average for 9.4 hours every day amid a lack of safety measures and for a pittance. More than a half of the establishments in the five sectors pay child workers a monthly wage of Tk 5,000 or less. The shocking state of child labour is also portrayed in reports by UNICEF and the United States labour department. Such a situation questions the government鈥檚 commitment to eliminating child labour, especially in hazardous sectors. It also questions the failure of the government鈥檚 poverty reduction measures as poverty remains the biggest reason for child labour.
The government must, therefore, show that its commitment to eliminating child labour is not rhetorical. The government must implement the laws, adopt short-, medium- and long-term plans, take rehabilitation plans and enhance the scope of the plans to take child labourers out of hazardous jobs. The authorities must prioritise the issue in social security and poverty reduction.
