Is child labor hampering education for millennium development goals in India?

The term “child labor” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that which is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling by: depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work. In its most extreme forms, child labor involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age. Whether or not particular forms of “work” can be called “child labor” depends on the child's age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries. Working so early in life can have a very catastrophic damaging impact on a child's physical, social, mental and emotional wellbeing. Isn't it too early for the young children who should be studying and playing rather to be a part of work and isn't it too much too soon for the small children to be working so early in life? Is it right that these children be exposed to early working and its hazards rather than safe guarding them and their future life? Children are often exposed to unsuitable conditions, dangerous operational hazards and situations.

It is widely accepted by many organizations, including UNICEF, the World Bank, UNESCO and the G8 Education Task Force, that education - and in particular, free and compulsory education of good quality up to the minimum age of entering into employment as defined by ILO Convention 138 - is a key element in the prevention of child labor. The Millennium Development Goal is to provide all children with access to education. This is an important goal because it is believed that through education, future generations will have the ability to reduce or put an end to world poverty and help to achieve worldwide peace and security. The ILO estimates that there are 152 million child laborers between the ages of 5 and 14. Most of these children belong to the most marginalized groups in society and come from families living in poverty. At the same time some 67 million children are not enrolled in primary school and a similar number are not enrolled in junior secondary school level. In India there are about Over 60 million child labourers. The country has the shameful distinction of being home to the largest child labour force in the world, with an estimated 30 per cent of the world's working Children living here. This paper is an effort to analyse some of the factors which lead to child labour in India and the harmful effects it is having on the children thereby failing to meet the Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015.