By Maitreyee Boruah
Bangalore, July 1 (IANS) Around 50 percent of child labourers in Karnataka are working as domestic helps in defiance of law, say activists. But now comes another push to end the practice, this time targeting poverty-stricken villages that send their young ones to work.

The Karnataka chapter of CRY (Child Rights and You) has decided to embark upon a special campaign to end child labour at home that will involve interactions with rural households.

“Our campaign will be part of the government-initiated step last year. But our focus will be more at the grassroots, as most of the child labourers come from poverty-stricken villages,” said Padma Koppa, member of the Karnataka CRY chapter.

CRY and its partners working at the grassroots have also formed groups of local residents and workers’ unions to monitor their neighbourhoods and ensure that no household, apartment or restaurant employs child labourers.

The state government was the first in the country to prohibit the employment of children in the domestic sector. Fourteen Karnataka districts last year opened 42 special schools with 1,855 child labourers currently enrolled in it.

“CRY’s experience has shown that irreversible change is possible when children, parents, community groups and local government come together to identify, address and resolve the issues that constrain children,” said Koppa.

“Thus in order to deal with the menace of child labour in the domestic sector, CRY is again planning to take the help of the community to address the issue.”

India has the largest number of child labourers in the world today even though there is a law against it that stipulates two years in jail and a fine of Rs.20,000 for the violator.

According to the 2001 census, there were 12.7 million working children (age group 5 to 14) in India, with Uttar Pradesh recording the highest number at 1.93 million, closely followed by Andhra Pradesh at 1.36 million.

Karnataka has 0.82 million of them, making it the state with the seventh highest number of child labourers - following Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. It has been more than two years since child labour was banned in India. But the practice is still on.

According to NGOs working in the field, children working as domestic helps in the state are not only underpaid but also endure long hours of work and physical and sexual abuse.

“The issue of child labour cuts across policy boundaries and is the consequence of poverty, displacement, migration, illiteracy and adult unemployment. This implies that child labour cannot be addressed in isolation and what is important is to address the root causes that result in child labour,” said V. Susheela, convener of the Karnataka chapter of the Campaign Against Child Labour.

(Maitreyee Boruah can be contacted at m.boruah@ians.in)