The Collegian

Issue date: 10/31/06 Section: Opinion

Everybody lies about their age at some point. Kids usually do it to gain access to adult things like smoking and R-rated movies. Children in India, on the other hand, lie about their age so that they can work in terrible conditions and receive very low pay.

Earlier this month, the Indian government placed a ban on child labor. Children under the age of 14 are not allowed to work as helpers at homes, hotels, or restaurants. Indian government officials say the ban will be strictly enforced and employers who violate it will be imprisoned and fined. Ideally, the millions of working children in India should be celebrating their freedom from exploitation. In reality, however, these kids are unhappy with the new law. Employers unwilling to risk imprisonment will not find it hard to obey officials, leaving the children jobless and penniless. With no money to take home, children are worried that the law will force their poverty-stricken families to starvation.

Indian government officials reason that banning child labor will put more children in school. Yet children are not flocking to schools as a result of the ban. Instead, underage children are lying about their age so that they can continue to work and provide for their families. These children don't even have enough money for food, let alone school supplies.

Like most administrations, the Indian government fails to see the underlying causes. Child labor cannot be eliminated with a ban. The government needs to go to the root of the problem-poverty. If these children are working because they are poor, then help them out of poverty; don't take away their only source of income. As in most developing countries, a huge gap exists between the poor and the rich of India. Over 300 million live on less than $1 a day, while a privileged few have millions and, sometimes, billions of dollars. As an extreme example, consider the richest Indian alive: Lakshmi Mittal, who, has an estimated fortune of $27.7 billion.

In order to effectively stop child labor, the government needs to take steps to alleviate poverty, and to close the gap between the rich and the poor.

The government can, and should, start the change themselves by bringing corruption to an end. Instead of pocketing the money, use it to give land to poor rural families, create jobs for the unemployed, and eradicate caste discrimination.

Stop letting the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

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