CHILD LABOUR

INTRODUCTION:-Child labour takes place when children are forced to work at an age
when they are expected to work, study and enjoy their phase of innocence. It implies lost or
deprived childhood that leads to exploitation of children in various forms: mental, physical,
social, sexual and so on. Not all children in India are lucky to enjoy their childhood. Many of
them are forced to work under inhuman conditions where their miseries know no
end. Though there are laws banning child labour, still children continue to be exploited as
cheap labour. It is because the authorities are unable to implement the laws meant to protect
children from being engaged as labourers. Unfortunately, the actual number of child
labourers in India goes un-detected. Children are forced to work is completely unregulated
condition without adequate food, proper wages, and rest. They are subjected to physical,
sexual and emotional abuse. The term 'child labour', suggests ILO, is best defined as work
that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful
to physical and mental development. Interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the
opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to
attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
DEFINITIONS:- UNICEF defines child labour differently. A child, suggests UNICEF, is
involved in child labour activities if between 5 and 11 years of age, he or she did at least one
hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work in a week, and in case of
children between 12 and 14 years of age, he or she did at least 14 hours of economic activity
or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work per week. UNICEF in another
report suggests, "Children’s work needs to be seen as happening along a continuum, with
destructive or exploitative work at one end and beneficial work – promoting or enhancing
children’s development without interfering with their schooling, recreation and rest – at the
other. And between these two poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a
child’s development."
India's Census 2001 office, defines. child labour as participation of a child less than 17 years
of age in any economically productive activity with or without compensation, wages or
profit. Such participation could be physical or mental or both. This work includes part-time
help or unpaid work on the farm, family enterprise or in any other economic activity such as
cultivation and milk production for sale or domestic consumption. Indian government
classifies child labourers into two groups: Main workers are those who work 6 months or
more per year. And marginal child workers are those who work at any time during the year
but less than 6 months in a year.
After its independence from colonial rule, India has passed a number of constitutional
protections and laws on child labour. The Constitution of India in the Fundamental Rights
and the Directive Principles of State Policy prohibits child labour below the age of 14 years
in any factory or mine or castle or engaged in any other hazardous employment (Article 24).
The constitution also envisioned that India shall, by 1960, provide infrastructure and
resources for free and compulsory education to all children of the age six to 14 years. (Article
21-A and Article 45). India has a federal form of government, and labour being a subject in
the Concurrent List, both the central and state governments can and have legislated on child
labour. The major national legislative developments include the following.
The Factories Act of 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of
14 years in any factory. The law also placed rules on who, when and how long can pre-adults
aged 15–18 years be employed in any factory.
The Mines Act of 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18 years of age
in a mine.
The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986: A "Child"
is defined as any person below the age of 14 and the CLPR Act prohibits employment of a
Child in any employment including as a domestic help (except helping own family in non-
hazardous occupations). It is a cognizable criminal offence to employ a Child for any work.
Children between age of 14 and 18 are defined as "Adolescent" and the law allows
Adolescent to be employed except in the listed hazardous occupation and processes which
include mining, inflammable substance and explosives related work and any other hazardous
process as per the Factories Act, 1948.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2015: This law made it a
crime, punishable with a prison term, for anyone to keep a child in bondage for the purpose
of employment.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009: The law
mandates free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years. This legislation
also mandated that 25 percent of seats in every private school must be allocated for children
from disadvantaged groups and physically challenged children.(It is not applied through)
India formulated a National Policy on Child Labour in 1987. This Policy seeks to adopt a
gradual & sequential approach with a focus on rehabilitation of children working in
hazardous occupations. It envisioned strict enforcement of Indian laws on child labour
combined with development programs to address the root causes of child labour such as
poverty. In 1988, this led to the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) initiative. This legal
and development initiative continues, with a current central government funding of Rs.
6 billion, targeted solely to eliminate child labour in India. Despite these efforts, child labour
remains a major challenge for India. No, child below age of 14 years shall be employed to
work in any factory or mine or engaged in any hazardous employment
There are many inter-linked factors contributing to the prevalence of child labour. Child
labour is both a cause and consequence of poverty. Household poverty forces children into the
labour market to earn money. Some perform child labour to supplement family income while
many also are in it for survival. They miss out on an opportunity to gain an education, further
perpetuating household poverty across generations, slowing the economic growth and social
development.
Child labour impedes children from gaining the skills and education they need to have
opportunities of decent work as an adult. Inequality, lack of educational opportunities, slow
demographic transition, traditions and cultural expectations all contribute to the persistence
of child labour in India. Age, sex, ethnicity, caste and deprivation affect the type and
intensity of work that children perform.
Agriculture and informal sector employment continue to be sectors where children end up
working.
The ILO experience is that stable economic growth, respect for labour standards, decent
work, universal education, social protection, recognizing the needs and rights of the children
—together help tackle the root causes of child labour.

Child labour has existed to varying extents throughout history. During the 19th and early 20th
centuries, many children aged 5–14 from poorer families worked in Western nations and their
colonies alike. These children mainly worked in agriculture, home-based assembly
operations, factories, mining, and services such as news boys—some worked night shifts
lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of
child labour laws, the incidence rates of child labour fell.
In the world's poorest countries, around 1 in 4 children are engaged in child labour, the
highest number of whom (29 percent) live in sub -saharan Africa. In 2017, four African
nations (Mali, Benin, Chad and Guinea-Bissau) witnessed over 50 percent of children aged
5–14 working. Worldwide agriculture is the largest employer of child labour. The vast
majority of child labour is found in rural settings and informal urban economies; children are
predominantly employed by their parents, rather than factories. Poverty and lack of schools
are considered the primary cause of child labour.

As per Census 2011, the total child population in India in the age group (5-14) years is 259.6
million. Of these, 10.1 million (3.9% of total child population) are working, either as
‘main worker’ or as ‘marginal worker’. In addition, more than 42.7 million children in India
are out of school.
However, the good news is that the incidence of child labour has decreased in India by 2.6
million between 2001 and 2011. However, the decline was more visible in rural areas, while
the number of child workers has increased in urban areas, indicating the growing demand for
child workers in menial jobs. Child labour has different ramifications in both rural and urban
India.
 Year Percentage of working children (5- Total number of working
14) children
(5-14) (in millions)
Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total
2001 5.9 2.1 5.0 11.4 1.3 12.7
2011 4.3 2.9 3.9 8.1 2.0 10.1

Together, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Madhya

Pradesh constitute nearly 55% of total working children in India.
States Percentage Numbers (In million)
Uttar Pradesh 21.5 2.18
Bihar 10.7 1.09
Rajasthan 8.4 0.85
Maharashtra 7.2 0.73
Madhya Pradesh 6.9 0.70
*Source – Census 2011

The enactment of the Child Labour Amendment (Prohibition and

Regulation) Act, 2016 and The Right to Education Act 2009 have
paved the way for ratification of ILO’s two core conventions

Convention No 138 stipulates that the minimum age at which children can
start work should not be below the age of compulsory schooling and in any
case not less than 15 years; with a possible exception for developing
countries.
Convention No. 182 prohibits hazardous work which is likely to jeopardize
children’s physical, mental or moral health. It aims at immediate elimination
of the worst forms of child labour for children below 18 years.

CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR:- Factors such as poverty, lack of social

security, the increasing gap between the rich and the poor have adversely
affected children more than any other group. We have failed to provide
universal education, which results in children dropping out of school and
entering the labour force.
Loss of jobs of parents in a slowdown, farmers’ suicide, armed conflicts and
high costs of healthcare are other factors contributing to child labour.

CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD LABOUR

The presence of a large number of child labourers is regarded as a serious issue in terms of
economic welfare. Children who work fail to get necessary education. They do not get the
opportunity to develop physically, intellectually, emotionally and psychologically. In terms
of the physical condition of children, children are not ready for long monotonous work
because they become exhausted more quickly than adults. This reduces their physical
conditions and makes the children more vulnerable to disease.
Children in hazardous working conditions are even in worse condition. Children who work,
instead of going to school, will remain illiterate which limits their ability to contribute to their
own well-being as well as to community they live in. Child labour has long term adverse
effects for India.
To keep an economy prospering, a vital criterion is to have an educated workforce equipped
with relevant skills for the needs of the industries. The young labourers today, will be part of
India’s human capital tomorrow. Child labour undoubtedly results in a trade-off with human
capital accumulation.
Child labour in India are employed with the majority (70%) in agriculture .some in low-
skilled labour-intensive sectors such as sari weaving or as domestic helpers, which require
neither formal education nor training, but some in heavy industry such as coal mining.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are tremendous economic
benefits for developing nations by sending children to school instead of work. Without
education, children do not gain the necessary skills such as English literacy and technical
aptitude that will increase their productivity to enable them to secure higher-skilled jobs in
future with higher wages that will lift them out of poverty.

INITIATIVES AGAINST CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA

In 1979, the Indian government formed the Gurupadswamy Committee to find about child
labour and means to tackle it. The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act was
enacted based on the recommendations of the committee in 1986. A National Policy on
Child Labour was formulated in 1987 to focus on rehabilitating children working in
hazardous occupations. The Ministry of Labour and Employment had implemented
around 100 industry-specific National Child Labour Projects to rehabilitate the child
workers since 1988.
The Indian government has enacted a plethora of acts, laws, organizations, and institutions to
combat the overwhelming prominence of child labour. Some of the initiatives include the
Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act which is a piece of legislation that prohibits the
engagement of children in certain employment (mostly in dangerous conditions) and
regulates the conditions of work of children; the National Policy on Child Labour seeks to
adopt a sequential approach with focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous
occupations & processes in the first instance; and the Ministry of Labour and employment
functions to provide and supervise a range of policies concerning child labor in India.
Furthermore, as reported by Osment, NGOs such as Care India, Child Rights and You,
Global March against Child Labour have been implemented to combat child labour through
education and accessibility to resources. However, these efforts have been largely
unsuccessful.
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS
Many NGOs like Bachpan Bachao Andolan , ChildFund, CARE India, Talaash
Association, Child Rights and You, Global march against child labour, Bundelkhand
Matra Bhumi Samaj Sevi Sansthan Project Stop Working With Child Labour In India,
RIDE India, Childline etc. have been working to eradicate child labour in India.
Child labour has also been a subject of public interest litigations in Indian courts.
CONCLUSION:-Government authorities and civil society organizations need to work in
tandem to free children engaged in labour under abysmal conditions. They need to be rescued
from exploitative working conditions and supported with adequate education. Above all,
there is a need to mobilize public opinion with an aim to bring about an effective policy
initiative to abolish child labour in all its forms.