2006年VOA标准英语-India Tightens Child Labor Laws, Activists Ques

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
06 August 2006

 
Child laborers² who were rescued from small-scale industrial units wait to get themselves registered at a police station, in Bombay, India (File photo) 
  
India has announced it will ban the employment of children under the age of 14 years old in households and restaurants beginning in October.  Social activists³ are skeptical⁴ if the move will dent⁵ the massive problem of child labor¹ in the country.

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Thirteen-year-old Reena Chander spends the day cleaning homes in an up market Delhi neighborhood. She returns home in the evening to cook and clean for her family. Reena says she began working two years ago.

She says her mother is sick, and she has no choice but to work both outside and at home.

Life may be about to change for Reena and millions of young girls and boys like her, who work as domestic help or in eateries and shops in India's burgeoning⁶ cities.

The Labor Ministry⁷ announced this month that starting in October anyone employing children under the age of 14 years old in homes, roadside eateries, restaurants and motels could face a two-year prison term or a fine of up to $425.

The government says the ban aims to help millions of children who are often subjected to physical violence, psychological trauma⁸ and sexual abuse as they work in homes and food stalls. It says those working in highway eateries are the most vulnerable to sex and drug abuse.

Social activists welcome the ban, but question whether it will eliminate child labor or improve life for youngsters like Reena.

India has already banned young workers from hazardous⁹ industries. But tens of thousands of children remain at work in factories making firecrackers, matches or glass.

Neera Burra, the author of a book on child labor, says the new labor ban is not likely to show results until it is coupled with a broader strategy to address why children go to work.

"What are you going to do with these children? After all, a lot of children who work as domestic servants come from villages, they are brought by labor contractors¹⁰ through their own networks, they'll go somewhere else because there is no blanket ban on child labor," said Burra. "The right strategy is really to strengthen the formal school system and make sure there is schooling¹¹ available across the country for every child."

Victoria Rialp, with the United Nation's children's fund, UNICEF, agrees the issue is complex and cannot be fixed¹² with a simple ban.

"Sometimes they end up worse than before they were rescued, we know that. We will want to remind everybody about taking a very focused child's rights approach to this. You are looking at child's right to be with family, child's right to education, child's right to play," she said. "What we will be supporting and what we'll be doing is engaging open discussion with government, with employers, with families."

Social activists say the key is giving children access to free primary education and mid-day meals in school.

Millions of children in India never attend school, and tens of thousands drop out. Schools are often far away from villages, the teaching is of poor quality, and students get little help with books, lessons and meals.

Reena's father, Mahesh Chander, says the ban will do little to help families like his who need money brought in by children to supplement meager¹³ earnings¹⁴. He works as a street cleaner.

Mahesh says his monthly income of $50 barely feeds and clothes his four children. He says he has never been able to afford schooling for them because he has no money to buy books and uniforms.

The government says there are almost 13 million child laborers in India. Child activists say the figure is much higher.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

5 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

6 burgeoning   

adj.迅速成长的，迅速发展的v.发芽，抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 )；迅速发展；发（芽），抽（枝）

参考例句：

• Our company's business is burgeoning now. 我们公司的业务现在发展很迅速。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These efforts were insufficient to contain the burgeoning crisis. 这些努力不足以抑制迅速扩散的危机。 来自辞典例句

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

9 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

10 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

12 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

13 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

14 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。