Informatics Publishing Limited

Satwant Singh ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Social Work, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, IN

Abstract

India has passed a number of constitutional protections and laws on child labour, before and after its independence from colonial rule. The Constitution of India in the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy prohibits child labour below the age of 14 years in any factory, mine, restaurant or engagement in any other hazardous employment. But every form of child labour including ragpicking is prevalent in almost all the regions of the country. The practice of child ragpicking is a worst form of child labour that has not been duly recognized by law makers in India. Therefore, the present study aims at the investigation of the legislative provisions for child labour in India with special reference to child ragpicking there of.

Keywords

Child Labour, Child Ragpickers, Child Labour Legislations.

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Ritu Bala ¹, Satwant Singh ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Social Work, Punjabi University Patiala-147002, IN

Abstract

Rag picking is known for hazardous work and people involved in it usually live in filthy conditions with no basic amenities such as running water, bathrooms, toilets and drainage. As a result rag pickers constitute the most vulnerable section of the society particularly more so children under the age of 14 years. Apart from dirty living and working conditions, these children are exploited socially and morally due to nature of their work. They are more involved in anti-social activities viz. prostitution, drug abuse and robbing due to their work environment. Poor living and working conditions, lack of basic amenities and social and moral exploitation lead to various psychological complexities. Therefore, socio-demographic conditions, behavioral and work characteristics of 150 child rag pickers were studied profoundly to know the relationship of these characteristics with minor psychological disorders (MPD) with the help of Self Reporting Questionnaire-20 a user’s guide developed by world health organization (WHO) for screening the psychological disorders in developing countries. The study reached at the outcome that poor demographic conditions, deviant behavioral attitude and bad working conditions of child rag pickers have negative influence on their mental health. Prevalence of MPD among the respondents has been reported to be 42.7 percent that is very high as compared to general population due to their adverse/hazardous working and living conditions and unorganized social life.

Keywords

Minor Psychological Disorders, Child Rag Pickers, Child Labor.

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