CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA

207 International Jurisprudence on Child Rights

Submitted by

Name – Nitul Borah

UID- SM0121036

1st Year & 2nd Semester

Submitted to

Dr. Gitanjali Ghosh

Assistant Professor of Law

National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam

Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3

Categories of Child Labour.....................................................................................................................4

Reasons behind Child Labour................................................................................................................5

Reasons behind the same as reported to Census..................................................................................7

Child labour and Constitutional Provisions............................................................................................7

Legislation for Child Labour in India......................................................................................................8

Rehabilitation Measure.......................................................................................................................10

Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................11

References...........................................................................................................................................12
 Introduction

Child labour has got a serious problem which has a great deep social and Economical
implication. Children are the future of the nation and represent its greatest resource- that
being human capital. In order to foment an environment under which the children of the
country attain the desire levels of growth and development, they need an environment with
love, care and attention. This mandate to provide children with aforementioned is given to us
through not only given by our constitution or religion but also through human consent. Child
Labour, is whole incompatible with our goals. Tragically child labour remains to be a major
social evil inside India, child labour at times shows us ugly face of industrialization. *- 1.

Child Labour can be said to be any child who is out of the school and the child who has been
engaged in wage or non-wage work or the child who may be a boy or girl who has been
working for the family others. Any child who has been employed in any factory whether
hazardous or not is considered to be a child labour. It is irrelevant whether the child has been
temporarily or permanently contracted for labour. Any child whose age is less than 14 years
old and unable to work either forcibly or willingly in an organized or unorganized industry is
considered child labour. The Child Labour Act of 1986 and the National Child Labour Project
address child labour in India. A staggering 10.12 million children in India presently spend
their youth studying carpet weaving, beedi rolling, household labour, agriculture, the
production of fireworks and clothing, among myriad other jobs, rather than attending school
and acquiring a proper education. Every year on June 12th, the World Day Against Child

1 O. P. Maurya, Child Labour in India, Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, Apr.,
2001, Vol. 36, No. 4 (Apr., 2001), pp. 492-498
Labor is observed to raise awareness of the problems and obstacles associated with child
labour. "Protect children from child labour, now more than ever" was the day's theme.

All these make obligatory to everyone to protect the child and we need to provide various
safeguards to the children. The children are so innocent that they don’t have the sound mind
in that age where we may say that it is right or wrong in this society. To prevent that we need
to have adequate measures for the child to get prevented from the child labour. In reality there
are various social evils in the present society but child labour is considered as one of the most
important social evils. Finally, society as a whole is ethically accountable for maintaining an
appropriate environment. At the age of study where they were push to the society where they
have to work whole day where they were being tortured both physically and mentally for a
sum of money where family person is main evil who send them to work for them2.

Categories of Child Labour

The primary categories of child labour in India are as follows. It may be said that over 10
million children, mostly between the ages of five and fourteen, who work in tiny companies,
notably over 4.5 million girls, fall under the category of industrial child labour. Industries
including the textile, fireworks, brick, and diamond industries, among others, are among the
biggest employers of children in India.

Domestic child labour, which accounts for more than ten percent of child labour in India
today, might be considered an entirely distinct group. When children are forced to work for
their families' necessities at a young age when they deserve to be in school getting a decent
foundational education and having fun with their friends, this is known as domestic child
labour. Families should provide their children with a suitable atmosphere so they may grow
up calmly rather than sending them out on the job to maintain the safety of their homes,
which is sometimes the only option available to parents3.
2 Problems of Child Labour in India by Raj Kumar Sen and Asis Das Gupta (Editors), 2003

3 STC, G. (2016, September 19). 5 Types of Industries Where Child Labour are Employed in India | Bal Raksha
Bharat. Bal Raksha Bharat. https://balrakshabharat.org/blog/child-protection/5-sectors-where-child-labour-
canbe-found-majorly-in-india/
The final type, known as "bonded child labour," refers to when a youngster is compelled to
work in order to satisfy a debt owed by his or her parents or guardians. Due to strong
restrictions and government regulation in the regions where the custom was once prevalent
but is now virtually non-existent, there have been significant decreases in the overall number
of bonded child laborers in recent years.

Reasons behind Child Labour

The child labour in India is so deep because the root of cause is various. India is the most
populated country in the world with 1.46 billion inhabitants. In such a country there will be
various issues where some causes for that are Over population, illiteracy, poverty, debt trap
for which the child faces various problems in their daily life which forced them to work in the
industries in the time when they need to go the school for the education. Poverty is the main
reason which is pushing into child labour.

Hunger is the major cause of child labour in India. India is a country similar to other
emerging economies in that it has a high rate of population growth, which causes poverty
among the populace. Those with money get richer while the poor get poorer, and poverty is
the primary driver of child labour because it causes the child to experience a variety of
problems. This lack of resources also prevents the child from affording an education. In our
nation, there are countless communities without adequate educational infrastructure. And if
there is something there, it is fairly far from where they live. India's elevated rate of child
labour is a result of such organizational negligence. Due to financial constraints that compel
children to exist without education, education is a desire for impoverished families to provide
for their children. In certain cases, I may claim that this is the reason and the circumstance
that drives children to child labour in India. Social and economic illiteracy is another major
cause of child labour. Parents who lack knowledge are socially backward and do not take
their kids to school. Because of this, many kids are forced into child labour. A lot of families
are unaware of different resources and opportunities for children's education because of
illiteracy. Lack of understanding causes parents frequently to be ignorant of numerous
education-related information and programs. Intelligent parents, it is claimed, are unaware of
the effects child labour has on their kids. In actuality, India's child labour issue is still
perpetuated by the remains of the feudal zamindari system. Due to addiction, illness, and
handicap, families like those in India must rely solely on the labour of the children to support
the household. Additionally, when the population grows, unemployment rises, which has a
negative effect on efforts to avoid child labour. In order to boost the family's income, parents
are prepared to send their kids to work instead of enrolling them in school.

In the new India, the judiciary and the parliament have so graciously stated that the citizens of
the country have a right to receive free basic education and healthcare. The supreme court in a
recent judgement once again reaffirmed right to education entails good education. Although
in India there are various regions where some industries, shopkeeper and in some families
where they are in search of cheap labour to save the money for the purpose where they keep
child for the work at a very low cost and child are also helpless because the parent of the
child also wanted that their child should go to the work and they may contribute some money
to the family to run smoothly4.

Another reason can be said to be gender discrimination in Child labour which is present
among themselves. At time where elder children who may discriminate against younger
children, minority or a child who is from a different caste. We may say that gender is different
from sex where biological differences of male and female do not change just only the way of
treatment of boy and girls where the behaviour based on gender differences. The way of roles
in boys and girls are suppose be changed in the gender. We can say that in India where a
family where there is a girl child who had been taught for needle work and art of cooking in
our culture.

Children acquire knowledge about how to behave through socialization, which is not gender-
neutral and influences the various roles and responsibilities that are given to boys and girls
according to their sex. Children imitate the behaviour of others around them, including
parents, relatives, neighbours, and teachers, and as a result, they perpetuate the gender
differences that already exist in society. For instance, a boy will typically act similarly to how
similar boys and men surrounding him have been behaving. We may claim that there is still a
gender disparity in child labour. The main variables influencing gender differences include
cultural factors, family history, and traditions of the labour cultures allotted to boys and girls.
Between boys and girls, there has been workplace discrimination. Boys may frequently work

4 (PDF) "A Critical Analysis of Child Labour in India" (researchgate.net)

We may make a general remark about the interaction of boys and girls in various occupations,
such as household work, where girls are more involved than boys, and Dhaba, restaurants,
and stalls selling Paan, bidi, or cigarettes, where guys are more engaged than girls. Boys
worked on the brick-Klin, jewellery, and automotive services, as opposed to girls.

Reasons behind the same as reported to Census

According to the census 2011, the total number of child labour in India like country has been
reduced by 65 percent. According to government they said that their first priority is to
eliminate the child labour in India. As per census 1971 there was active child labourers in
India was about 10753985 number of children which gets declined up to 45.53 lakh as per
census 2011 which shows 65-percent of reduction.

Child labour and Constitutional Provisions

The makers of Indian Constitution were deemed it necessary to include special provisions in
the Indian Constitution for the protection of the rights of working children.

1. In Article 21A of Right to Education– “where the state shall provide free and
compulsory education to the children at age of 6 to 14 years in such as by state, by
law, may determine.”
2. In Article 24 of Prohibition of Employment of Children’s in Factories- “where no
child below the age fourteen years shall be employed in work in any factory or mine
or engaged in any hazardous employment.”
3. In Article 39 of the state shall in particular direct its policy towards securing where the
health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of the children are
not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations
unsuited to their age or strength.6

5 Satya Sundaram, "Plight of Child Labourers", Financial Express 27 May 1991

In India, the first laws protecting child labour appeared in 1881. The law took the shape of the
Indian Factories Act, which expressly states that it is against the law to employ children under
the compulsory age of seven. There was a legal restriction on how long people may work,
which was around nine hours per day, as well as four monthly vacations and rest periods. This
law was originally created by the British authorities while it was in power to reduce
production in Indian industries through various legal constraints.

Labour legislations for children in India was submitted including protective legislations
which has influenced with a result of various Conventions and Recommendations which was
adopted by International Labour Organisation. Besides these constitutional provisions, there
are several legislative enactments which provide legal protection to children in various
occupations8

• The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act,1933

• The Employment of Children Act, 1938

• The Minimum Wages, Act 1948 and rules made there by the government

• The Factories Act, 1948

• The Plantations Labour Act, 1951

• The Mines Act, 1952

• The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958

• The Motor Transport Workers’ Act, 1961

• The Apprentices Act, 1961

• The Atomic Energy Act, 1962

• The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966

• Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986

The Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 was the culmination of the
struggles and conflicting suggestions made by the numerous committees on child labor
throughout their discussions and recommendations. The National Commission on Labor
(1966–1969), the Gurupadaswamy Committee on Child Labor (1979), and the Sanat Mehta
Committee (1984) were among the significant committees. The law tries to protect children
by outlawing dangerous occupations and regulating the employment of kids in jobs that aren't
hazardous. It is targeted in particular towards

i. Ban on children for employment who have not attain the age of fourteen year, in 18
specified occupations and 65 processes;
ii. Laying down a procedure to make additions for banned occupations or processes

iii. Regulations made for the children where they are not prohibited from the occupations

iv. Impose of penalties for employment of children for violation of the provisions of this

act

v. Definition of child in regard to the child`

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation Amendment Bill, 2012 was introduced in
Rajya Sabha on 4 December, 2012 further to amend the child labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act, 1986. The amendment also banned on employing children who is below 18
years in hazardous industries like mining. This bill also referred to the standing Committee on
Labour and Employment.7

Rehabilitation Measure
In order to rehabilitate child labour, the Indian government launched the National Child
Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme in 1988. The program's primary area of concentration is the

7 https://labour.gov.in/sites/default/files/act_2.pdf
rehabilitation of working children from the nation's 12 endemic regions. Within a few years,
this program is expected to encompass more than 200 districts. Children are taken out of the
workforce and placed in particular schools under the NCLP Scheme, where they receive a
decent education, vocational training, a midday meal, a stipend, access to health care, etc.
before being integrated back into the traditional educational system. In order to help the
Central and State Governments develop policies and programs aimed at ending child labour
in the nation, the Ministry of Labour, Government of India, established the National Resource
Centre on Child Labor (NRCCL) at the V.V.Giri National Labour Institute, Noida, in 1933. In
India, the Union Ministry of Labour (NAECL) created a program called “elimination of child
labour” with the primary purpose of removing any child laborers who were discovered
working in dangerous jobs and rehabilitating them via special education.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched yet another worldwide initiative in
December 1991. The National Sterring Committee, which chairman is the secretary of labour,
was established by India in 1992 to implement child labour projects related to designing and
evaluating programs for eliminating child labour. The committee considers issues at the local,
state, and federal levels while promoting social mobilization to ensure the elimination of child
labour. India was the first country to sign the MOU.

A girl whose name was Shanta where her age was six years who was the youngest of the little
girls where there was up to thirteen years who was rescued from Faridabad in the state of
Harayana. The girl was badly beaten and bruised where her hands are swollen, chapped and
grey and she can barely walk. She also had a wound on her head who was rescued from
Delhi, capital of India where she worked for domestic help. In October, the government
enacted a law banning children under 14 from working as domestic servant.8

Conclusion

In 2011, the country of India where the number of children regarding child labour reduced by
65 percent who are working illegally in various industrial industries but in 2015 the situation
8 Bhatt, S., & Singh, A. P. (n.d.). Rehabilitation of Rescued Children from Worksites in India. Social
Development Issues. https://doi.org/10.3998/sdi.1824
had been completely changed according to ILO report on child labour in India drastically
gained where the largest sector like agriculture where many of the children go to the work to
support the family. We can say that children were forced to work due to various issues of
family like most important factors is unemployment. Another issue can be said to be a large
number of family members, poverty and lack of parental education. As government and non-
profit organization play a great role where they have done extensive research on the number
figures of child labour in India. Due to large number of illegal employers of children in India,
the Indian government began to take extensive actions to reduce the number of children
working in India and focus on the importance of facilitating the growth of the children and
development of children. Child labour remains a prevalent and persistent problem in the
country. Although it aimed at prohibiting and regulating child labour, has several drawbacks
that hinder its effectiveness in combating this issue.

Reduction of child labour will be only possible when every area of families knows about the
importance of education in life. What is the value of study by how it will remove the poverty,
unemployment and the next generation can get a better future for their well-being. It is very
important for the government to impose a heavy fine to the owner of the factories or any
other domestic services where they keep child for illegal work which is completely wrong at
nature and violation of this should be heavily punished. The way of treatment should be
changed in manner to equalise the equality among boy and girl to give them a better way of
lifestyle. Although India has undoubtedly made significant strides in its overall social
development and has implemented policies to protect children who work, more needs to be
done to build the enforcement infrastructure necessary to uphold the nation's various child
labour laws. If this is done, it will undoubtedly go a long way toward the nation's
advancement as well as rescuing and nourishing the future of the millions of youngsters who
work in India's legal and informal labour markets.

Efforts should also be directed towards raising awareness, improving access to education, and
addressing the socio-economic factors that contribute to child labour. By adopting a
comprehensive approach that combines legal reforms, social interventions, and concerted
efforts from various stakeholders, India can make significant strides in eradicating child
labour and ensuring a better future for its children.
 References

1. Dyuthi-T1118 (1).pdf

2. Case-Studies-Child-Labour.pdf

3. World_Report_on_Child_Labour_EN_Final_Web.pdf

4. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sronew_delhi/
documents/publication/wcms_440166.pdf
5. https://garph.co.uk/IJARMSS/July2015/8.pdf

6. https://loksabhadocs.nic.in/Refinput/New_Reference_Notes/English/childlabour.pdf

7. https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-92-child-labour-in-india.html 8.
https://labour.gov.in/childlabour/census-data-child-labour