|
World Food Programme - India the food aid arm of the United Nations |
||||||||
|
Food Insecurity and Child Work
in Rural India March 15-17, 2001 The
World Food Programme of the United Nations and Institute for Human Development
jointly organised a consultative workshop, 'Food Insecurity and Child Work
in Rural India' from 15 to17 March, 2001 at the India International Centre
(IIC), New Delhi. The context of the workshop Government
estimates place the number of working children in the country at 20.15
million (2000). However, unofficial estimates place these figures as high as
114 million (5-14 age group). Regardless of the exact figures, in the rural
situation, a child who does not go to school is practically synonymous with a
working child. Farm and household chores such as herding animals, collecting
fodder and fuel, fetching water, cleaning the house and looking after younger
siblings are all an intrinsic part of the rural child’s life. While the
chores allocated to the child may be gender differentiated, the fact remains
that both the boy and the girl child are regularly engaged in work. While the
type of work engaged in may not be hazardous, it does interfere with their
normal cognitive development and denies them the opportunity to reach their
full potential. As such, it constitutes exploitation of the child. In the
context of rural India, therefore, the concept of a non-working, non-school
going child simply does not exist. Thus, any effort to deal with child work
has to, necessarily take schooling into account. While
food insecurity and malnutrition emerge as important determinants of lower
than average enrolment ,high drop-out incidence and child work, the complex
inter-relationships between other explanatory variables such as adult
illiteracy, lack of awareness, high dependence on agriculture, family size,
social constraints, etc., do not allow for simple solutions to the issue. Despite
the breakthrough on the food front and concerted efforts of the Government
and other agencies, backed by huge subsidies, the threat of food insecurity,
either chronic or seasonal, still controls the lives of over two hundred
million people. Repercussions lie not only, in under nourishment, ill health
and a diminished ability to learn and to work, but a denial of access, in
terms of purchasing power, to subsidised food, health care and education
programmes instituted for the very same target groups. What is perhaps, of
greater significance, is that children from such households become from early
childhood, paid or unpaid workers, some engaged in hazardous occupations, and
all deprived of the right to schooling, thus perpetuating the poverty
syndrome. This holds particularly true of the girl child. The
Workshop thus attempted to assess the dimensions and typology of child work
and food insecurity in selected regions, review the generally accepted
explanatory factors and variables, discuss the WFP hypothesis of the
existence of a strong causal link between food insecurity and high incidence
of child work, and learn from the experience of food based interventions for
school children, both at National and International levels. The
workshop was attended by senior government of India officers, state government
officers , international and national NGOs , international
agencies, authorities dealing with child labour and experts from the field of
child labour.
|
|||
|
World Food Programme 2 Poorvi Marg, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi - 110057India Tel:91-11-26150000, Fax:91-11-26150019
Contact:
|