Covid-19 Hits Indian Economy Hard, Rise of Child Labor in India Raises Concerns | Indian economy | epidemic | India_Sina technology

Original title: The epidemic hits the Indian economy hard and the increase of child labor in India raises concern

According to a Reuters report on the 21st, Indian Nobel Peace Prize winner Satyaalti expressed in an interview recently that he was concerned that his efforts to save children from illegal slavery and human trafficking for more than 40 years would be destroyed by the new corona pneumonia epidemic. The report says that as the epidemic hits India’s economy hard and millions of people live in poverty, many families may be forced to let their children work just to make ends meet.

[Mapa de datos: niños indios en el trabajo]

Since the 1990s, Satyaalti has been committed to the movement against child labor in India. So far, the “Save the Childhood Campaign” she organized has helped more than 80,000 children to avoid various forms of slavery. The report cited data from UNICEF that although the rate of child labor has decreased in recent years, there are still around 10.1 million children in India “living in some form of work”.

Child labor in India reportedly extends to all walks of life, including brick kilns, carpet weaving, clothing, cleaning, agriculture, fishing and mining. With the help of the police earlier this month, Satyarty rescued more than 10 working girls who worked at a seafood processing plant in western India. He said: “Once children fall into the trap, they can be forced into prostitution or even sold outright. This is another crisis that the government must address.” In addition, she also believes that during the epidemic, cases of sexual assault on children are also increasing.

Coincidentally, previous UNICEF research found that Indian children have become the “most tragic victims” of the epidemic, and the national lockdown has caused many child laborers to lose their jobs. After returning to her hometown, in order to reduce the number of people eating at home, her parents sold child labor as “girlfriends” in exchange for living expenses. It is estimated that the proportion of child marriages in India during the epidemic was higher than in previous years.

In fact, the Indian Parliament passed a child labor bill as early as 2016, which tightened sanctions and restrictions on the use of child labor, but the bill also allowed children to perform certain jobs, which once caused a great controversy. Local correspondent Jyoti told the Global Times reporter that behind this measure are also the difficulties of the government. He said Indian parents often rely on their children to help them in agriculture or handicraft making to get rid of poverty or inherit family crafts. Therefore, allowing children to participate in part of the work is to strike a balance between children’s education and the national economy. However, when the journalist saw a boy carrying a leather shoe box and shouting “shoeshine” in central Delhi, he still found it difficult to hide his pain.

(Global times)