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http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/10/news/child.php
In India, child labor barred in name only
By Amelia Gentleman International Herald Tribune
Published: October 10, 2006
[...]
Just hours after the Indian government introduced new legislation banning the employment of children under the age of 14 in roadside cafés, hotels and as maids in domestic service, the enormous challenge facing officials trying to enforce the law is visible on every street corner.
[...]
"Did they change the law? I heard something about it," he said, only mildly interested in the subject. "If the police come here, then we'll have to sack most of our boys. It will be bad for business because we don't pay the children as much as adults. The children will lose their jobs and prices will go up."
[...]
Child labor is an unregulated, opaque area of the labor market, so statistics illustrating the scale of the phenomenon vary enormously. Government estimates suggest there are more than 12 million child workers, of whom nearly 185,000 are employed in the home, and 70,000 work in cafés and restaurants. Charities working in the field argue the real figure is much higher.
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Ban on child labor begins in India
By NIRMALA GEORGE, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 10, 1:58 PM ET
A ban on child labor took effect Tuesday, but at roadside food stalls across New Delhi, many of the boys and girls who serve glasses of piping hot tea, wash dishes, mop floors and take out trash were not celebrating.
The children of India's tens of millions of poor families are expected to work, and in many cases they are the sole breadwinners.
"As it is, I barely make enough to survive," said 12-year-old Dinesh Kumar, who has been doing odd jobs since coming to New Delhi three years ago from a village in eastern India. "This will be a bad blow. I really don't know what I'll do."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061010/ap_on_re_as/india_child_labor_ban