DIMAPUR, MARCH 19 (MExN): Child trafficking for forced labour remains to be a serious problem in the Northeast of India. Despite the government’s commitments, under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989, the national Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 and the Juvenile Justice Act 2000, Shillong based ‘Impulse NGO Network’ estimates that there are an estimated 70,000 Nepalese and Bangladeshi child workers in bonded labour in the coal mines of Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya.
Government fails to address child labour in Meghalaya
It is estimated that about 40,000 children are from Bangladesh, while 30,000 are from Nepal. Under the 6th Schedule of the Indian Constitution the tribal and native communities residing in Meghalaya have exclusive rights over their land which includes the right to operate mines on these lands. This situation means that thousands of privately owned mines are operating in the Jaintia Hills and although this is a legal use of the land, child labour and bondage labour is prevalent.
As the trucks cross the border to Bangladesh with their cargo of coal they return with children who have been lured by false promises, purchased by middlemen or abducted from their homes. Such children are eventually forced into bonded labour. The large numbers of children trafficked for forced labour indicates that corruption must exist within the border authorities.
According to ‘Impulse’ estimates the children are bought for anywhere between 50 to 75 US dollars. Then they are forced to work for free in the horrendous working conditions of the coal mines. Their work is considered repayment of the debt they owe, which is nothing more than the price at which they were bought. The mines are infamously known as the ‘rat mines’ of Meghalaya after the narrow and crude holes dug into the hills where the children risk their lives daily. There is lack of safe drinking water, proper sewage system and no medical facilities available.
Union Minister of Labour & Employment, Mallikarjun Kharge had said that India is making every effort to eliminate the child labour but ‘Impulse’ states that the region of Meghalaya where the Janitia Hills are located has only two assigned labour inspectors. Between October 2006 and April 2008 just 24 inspections were carried out in the whole region of Meghalaya, the Shillong based NGO claimed. This lack of vigilance demonstrates a failure by the government to uphold its legal obligations on child labour.
The labour department of Meghalaya have been criticised by the NCPRC stating “there needs to be a system to register cases against employers of children in domestic work, hotels, eateries and other establishments, mining and other sectors where child labour is prohibited and coordinate with the police and revenue departments for enforcement of the laws”. Despite, there continue to be only 10 labour inspectors who cannot possibly enforce all of India’s labour laws in the state. The lack of comprehensive system of labour registration and inspections allows child trafficking to carry on in the region.
The situation is not just confined to Meghalaya alone. There have been only 39 inspections between the aforementioned period in Manipur, where there are five labour inspectors and 28 rural labour inspectors. In Sikkim 60 inspections were carried out where they have five inspectors. In Mizoram and Nagaland there was no information given in official reports on the number of inspections.
This either suggests that none have taken place or that proper procedure is not being followed in documenting these inspections. The negligible number of inspections speaks of the government’s lack of commitment to combating child labour, despite political assurances to the contrary.
Following a national press release by ‘Impulse’ and the Asian Human Rights Commission about the issue in November 2009, the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on behalf of the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons has taken an interest. Additionally, ‘Impulse’ has reported the information to the Social Welfare Department and also the Labor department but no action has been taken. The National Commission for Protection for Child Right was also informed on their visit to Meghalaya but no follow up response has taken place, so far. Although encouragingly Arindam Som, Commissioner & Secretary of Mining and Geology, Power, Social Welfare and Industries at a ‘CHILDLINE’ meeting on the February 16, 2010 agreed to include a child labour clause in the Meghalaya Mining Policy to be completed this year.

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