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Children below 14 earning wages to support their family, and doing so at the cost of their own growth and education, are child labourers. Today, there are 250 million child labourers in developing countries, of which 61% are in Asia (153,000,000) 32% in Africa (82,000,000) and 7% (17,500,000) in Latin America.

These figures are shocking. In India, despite our hi- tech pretensions, our export of software personnel, our experimenting with nuclear weapons and space flights, we have not done anywhere near enough in the most crucial sector: the welfare of children. There were 10.7 million child labourers in 1971; by 1994, that number had increased to 13.5 million. Government statisticians may say that in percentage terms that is an improvement, as our population growth has been significantly higher than that of child labourers. Such arguments are pathetic. These figures represent real children and a real increase in the actual numbers suffering. The sheer scale of the problem should frighten us, not lead us to find excuses.

During 1995–96, out of a total of 173 million children between 6 and 14 years of age in the country, 110 million (63.5%) were out of school. The Government’s narrow definitions actually mean that many of these are not included as child labourers, though almost all are toiling away in fields, factories, and as domestic help. Even by government statistics, 14.7% of child labourers are in Andhra Pradesh and these 1.66 million children represent 5% of the total labour force in the state. Agricultural labour accounts for 79% of child labour in the state.

No child becomes a labourer voluntarily. Children are led into it by poverty, parental illiteracy, and caste traditions handed down early in life. Many children come from the so-called “untouchable” families – scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Social apathy and the fact that they form cheap labour seals the fate of these unfortunate children.

My position as President of the Andhra Pradesh Seed Growers Association gave me an opportunity to undertake some initiatives, as most children in the state are employed in agriculture. Working with other employers’ associations, and with guidance from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), we formed a Consortium of Employers’ Associations for the Elimination of Child Labour (CEASE-Child Labour).

Being associated with the IHEU-affiliated Rationalist Association of India as its Treasurer for the past five years has given me a unique opportunity to put Humanist principles into practice in our social work. Many traditional obstacles to bringing children to school are those posed by religion and orthodoxy. Our caste- ridden society already traditionally denied the right to education to the vast majority of Hindus. While this is no longer legal, in an illiterate country with so many disparities, tradition and orthodoxy influence people’s attitudes at every step. Many do not feel empowered enough to take control of their own lives.

We need to address the social situation through education. We try, through familiar folk music and theatre, to inform, eradicate superstition, and inculcate rational thinking among villagers, and to persuade them to send their children to school. The children also need proper health care. We have negotiated with hospitals like the LV Prasad Eye Institute to perform eye tests on all the children.

At an institutional level, we have developed a model clause for inclusion in the agreements between employers and workers to the effect that their establishments would employ no child labour. Many seminars have been run and books published in Telugu to mobilize the public and create revulsion against the practice. Through these means, we have succeeded in getting 450 children admitted to regular schooling. But we quickly realized that some children needed training first in order to cope with school. So we started two residential “bridge schools” of 100 children each, where children of carpenters, potters, farm labourers, and nomadic tribes can receive basic education, enabling them to integrate easily within the school system.

All our work is inspired by Humanist principles, even though some of those who cooperate with us are religious people who respect human rights. We do not convert or influence any of the children we recruit with ideas of any particular life philosophy, but believe that by encouraging them to think for themselves and to question social injustice, and by empowering them to combat superstition we have laid the foundations for their turning to Humanism at some point in life.

Kotapati Murahari Rao is Treasurer of the Rationalist Association of India, a full member of IHEU. He is the main force behind the CEASE-Child Labour consortium in Andhra Pradesh, the success of which is spawning similar efforts in neighbouring states.