Childhood lost in sugarcane fields

* School enrolment of children is a poor 46% at their place of origin. Opportunity to continue education of those children,who are enrolled in schools at their places of origin,is extremely limited at the place of work. As many as 97% of them do not go to school at the workplace.

A study conducted jointly by Save the Children and Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) gives an overview of children engaged in sugarcane farms in Maharashtra.

“Child Rights Situational Analysis of Children of Families engaged in the Sugarcane Farming in Maharashtra” by Dr Debasish Nandy,GIPE,focuses on the situation of children of migrant labourers who travel with their families from eastern and northern parts (mostly backward/ lagging regions in terms of human development and structural transformation) to the prosperous western parts of Maharashtra. Data was collected at the household level and at the level of children themselves.

Information about 773 children was collected and their corresponding families numbered 638. The study was carried in districts of Ahmednagar,Satara and Pune where four sugarcane factories were selected in each district.

Nandy said the analysis of data reveals that the situation of the children is poor,not only in the terms of quality of life but also in terms of rights they are supposed to enjoy. While the majority of male children gets engaged in sugarcane cutting,or loading,girls mainly collect the sugarcane and tie it for transportation. Furthermore the girls have household responsibilities including taking care of their younger siblings.

Children enrolled in school in their native villages also have to migrate for sugarcane harvesting,and can go to school only for six months from April-May to September-October resulting in higher probability in discontinuation in scholastic attainment. Children working in sugarcane farms are also at a risk of health hazards. Most of them have suffered from cough and cold,diarrhoea,vector-borne diseases (chikungunia,malaria,flu,etc),muscle pain,skin infection while children of the migrant labourers are at a higher risk of verbal,physical and sexual abuse.

The study points out important gaps in existing institutional facility and highlights welfare programmes and legal provisions that can bridge these gaps even within the existing framework. The study recommended strengthening the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act,1986.