Shiva, an eight-year old orphan was reported dead on June 29, 1993, after he was caught escaping and then beaten and scorched to death by his employer.
In another incident, 446 children were rescued from over 200 zari shops in the glamorous city of Mumbai, while 25 children were rescued from an ill-lit small room converted into a zari factory in the national capital, New Delhi.
The 1991 Census carried out by Government of India states that there are 11.28 million working children under the age of fourteen years in India. Advocacy groups suggest the real figure could be as high as 60 million.
With figures from varied sources giving verdict, India is known to have the largest number of working children in the world. A research carried out by Save the Children, shows that 74 percent of child domestic workers in India are between the ages of 12 and 16, most of them working at measly wages.
Toiling in the heat of stone quarries, working in the fields for long hours, picking rags in city streets or stashed away as domestic servants, these children are sentenced to a life of misery, suffering and horrors.
In most of the Indian industries, girls are recognized as unrecognized laborers because they are seen as Help & Supporters and not workers. Hence, this section remains almost totally unprotected by law. |
