After a lot of uproar a notification was issued by the Labour Ministry on October 10, 2006, under the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, that children will not be employed as domestic servants or as helps in dhabas, restaurants, hotels, motels, tea shops, resorts, spas or in other recreational centres. But one year down the line, one can very easily witness children working in all the above said places, that too in miserable conditions. “Perhaps rehabilitation of such deprived children is the most important aspect that is missing in the Act. It has to be done in an institutionalised way than in sporadic fashion,” says Shantha Sinha, Raman Magsaysay Awardee and Chairperson of National Commission for protection of Child Rights.

However Advocate Ashok Aggarwal who has been working on Child Rights opines that children as such cannot be rehabilitated, rather their parents can be employed under schemes like National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. Elaborating on why one should encourage rehabilitating children Aggarwal said, “Take the example of Lajpat Nagar Institutional Care Home where the children are treated as prisoners. Even when they go to school 3-4 guards escort them. Children dwelling there don’t even have the right to walk freely.”

So if there is an Act, which has been brought for the betterment of the society, is the Act successful even on a single front? “Where ever NGOs are active they have rescued children. If the ban were not enacted, these children would have continued to work. But, still there are some pitfalls which needs rectification.” says Shantha Sinha. One path-breaking job, which the Act has accomplished within a year, is that it has spread awareness regarding the illegality of child labour. Deliberating on the same Ashok Aggarwal said, “Government propaganda fueled the fire. People are at least aware that employing children is illegal.”

On its part, the government is yet to come up with a data about how many children have been rescued till now, and a track record of the children who were rescued in past one year. As per the records in Census 2001, the figures of child labour in the country touched 1.26 crore. However, the advocacy groups put the figure to as high as 6 crore. According to M L Dhar, former spokesperson of the Union Labour Ministry, under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP), three lakh children have been rehabilitated. NCLP is presently operational in 13 child labour endemic states and in Eleventh Five Year Plan there is a proposal to cover all the districts under NCLP.

Shantha Sinha says, “The number of rescued children is very low. The issue of child labour must become a priority for the concerned ministry; in fact for the country and should be dealt as an emergency situation.” So what can be the solution to curb child labour. “ The only way to eliminate the menace is to educate children, which is anyway a fundamental right of every child as enshrined in the Constitution. Article- 21 (A) guarantees free and compulsory education to every child in the age group of 6-14,” opines Sinha. “The government must set up coordination between Labour Ministry, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and Social Welfare Department to work out on a protocol of activities. There should not be any excuse. The Labour Ministry must incorporate some changes in labour laws to ensure that every child enjoys their fundamental right to education,” Shantha Sinha adds.

Ashok Aggarwal emphasizes, “Government needs to play a big role from what its doing now, schools need to play a significant role. Teachers need to be regular so that children do not get de-motivated to dropout, otherwise the apathy of the government schools in a way or the other promote what is called recycling of child labour.”

A new parent will be diligent about questioning any ailment a child displays through a facial expression. Some are so concerned about the health of the child that they miss out on the enjoyment of seeing a child discover new things. Every movement with a jerky motion is cause for alarm in new parents, but a parent who has had several children would know that there was no cause for alarm. The emotions and behaviors that parents come to know as babies might blind them to changes that would be considered abnormal for a toddler.

To help guide new parents in the right path for tracking emotions and behaviors in an infant, many pediatricians have created wall maps with the age ranges listed for each developmental phase of the baby’s life. The charts will also offer helpful recommendations on the feeding needs for an infant and toddler to help alleviate parent’s health concerns for a child that they think is not eating enough, and in some cases, is displaying an appetite that is considered large at times.

Parents health concerns for a child might lead them to enroll in first aid classes that teach the artificial respiration techniques used on a baby and a small child. Parents will usually child-proof the home to keep the child safe by using plugs on light receptacles and child gates on stairwells and other areas where a child might tumble while toddling about. A parent’s health concerns will notice if the child is off balance too because they were taught to recognize the signs of an ear infection in the parenting classes that they attended.

Some children might display medical problems shortly after birth such as trouble breathing and this problem is generally attributed to an early birth or a low birth weight. This medical problem might resurface later in life in the form of asthma and parents health concerns for a child will be quelled some when the physician grants a reassurance that the child will probably outgrow the breathing difficulties as they age. Parents with asthmatic children will often quit using household sprays and certain cleansers on clothes and prohibit smoking in the home.

Some medical problems can serve justice to health concerns because the problems are life threatening. Certain sleep disorders will cause a child to forget to breathe but doctor’s offer parents some help by authorizing a sleep alarm as a safety device which will alert parents to any breathing problems that occur during the night. Heart problems occur in children too and there are pacemakers, which can be placed in the child’s chest so that an electric charge can regulate the pace at which the heart beats and parents can rest knowing it is there.

Love - love you child unconditionally. Weather he dose his homework or not, cleans his room or not. Your love should be way beyond these things. Your child will notice that.

Tell them you love them - Just tell them “I love you”, a few times a day. If you find that difficult, you only need it more.

Believe - have faith in your child’s abilities and potential. Tell him that you do believe in him and his ability. There is no better way to grow a potent adult than believing in him totally.

Set an example - This way your child can learn about the right and wrong straight from your behavior. Always remember that a child will learn weather you set a good or a dab example.

Commend your child every time he acts in a way you find to be a good way. Commending him insures he will act that way the nest time, too.

Tell them what you see as good features - if you think that generosity is a good feature to have, tell that to your child, and commend them each time they act in a generous way.

Remember that each child is different - let every child develop in his unique way and remember that an approach that is good for one child is not suitable for the other one.

Stay positive - Tell your child what’s good, not what’s bad. For example, tell them that “being polite will bring you better results in life” instead of telling them that : “being rude will get you no where in life”

Take a few seconds before you say something to your child. - especially when they did something wrong, pay closer attention to what you’re saying to your child. What’s the smartest thing you can tell him right now?

Tell you child a story that has a positive message for life. I still remember the stories I was told when I was a child and the effect they had on me!

Try to establish a peaceful environment in your home - this will have a lasting effect on the kind of person your child will grow to be.

Look at other parents and learn - take the good things and think how you can implement them with your child. Take the bad things and beware not to do that to your child.

Ask yourself each day - how can I be a better parent?

Being a better parent is not always easy but it have a lasting effect on how your child will grow and develop. Most parents just go with the flow. Don’t be like that. Make an effort to being a better parent. The rewards are priceless.