Without data or statistics, it was difficult to establish the exact number of children working and also assess the extent of child labour. However, it was concluded based on the attendance of children, assuming that a high proportion of children above the age of 10 who were not attending school as working.

A 2004 National Labour Force Survey reveals that about 24 percent of the children between 15 and 19 years, were economically active - a larger portion of them working in rural areas.

Most children in rural Bhutan worked predominantly in the fields, and young girls, looked after siblings and did domestic chores. Some children also worked on the roadside, often breaking and carrying stones, especially during school breaks or after school hours.

The common practice of young children, some as young as seven years, helping out with household chores, or carrying out light tasks in the fields was fine, even described as ‘positive contribution to their development’, as long as it did not interfere with the child’s basic needs like education, leisure time and an environment to ensure healthy growth.

“But parents need to know the limits to what children should be expected to do,” the report states.

The major concern arose when children, mostly school dropouts, involving the vulnerable segment of the population, came to the urban towns to find employment.

Viewed as a ‘socio-economic phenomenon’ arising essentially out of poverty, an overwhelming majority of working children worked, in often inhospitable conditions in places like automobile workshops, restaurants, hotels, in private enterprises, on the streets as parking fee collectors and largely as domestic help or ‘baby-sitters’.

A survey of baby-sitters in 2004 revealed that young girls, between 11 and 20 years, came from poor rural families with little or no education. Some lived with their relatives, with the understanding that the children would be looked after them in exchange for their work at home.

This group of children, working as domestic workers, was the most vulnerable, according to a Child Protection Study by NCWC that surveyed 29 domestic workers. Most worked for an average of 12 hours a day for Nu. 30, some were subjected to sexual abuse and one had become pregnant.

The executive director of NCWC, Dr. Rinchen Chophel, highlights the plight of these children as a phenomenon which requires more attention and focus. “We must look beyond the numbers revealed and try and put faces to these figures to actually address the issue,” he said.

While the newly enacted Labour and Employment Act which addresses the issue of child labour is welcomed as a boon, most observers feel a strong and a dynamic regulatory mechanism need to be in place. “Or the Act will remain without any action,” an observer said.

Dr. Rinchen Chophel added that with the Act, it should be able to put in place ‘clear cut’ rules and regulations for monitoring and establishing institutions that will ensure proper monitoring. “Children work under various circumstances and to make work environment better for them, their employment should be constantly monitored and scrutinised,” he said.

Bhutan is not a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and, hence not a party to its Convention 182 on the prohibition and elimination of child labour, Bhutan has a moral responsibility to cater to every child’s need and rights, said Dr. Rinchen Chophel. “We are signatory to the Convention of Rights of the Child (CRC), and human rights principle says that all rights of children are indivisible, and are interdependent and interrelated, to which states have accountability,” he said.

An effective tool to sever child labour, states the situation analysis report, was to introduce and enforce compulsory primary education. “Even if there is no 100 percent school enrollment, the compulsory law would give the government a tool to monitor children,” said Dr. Rinchen Chophel.