PROJECT REPORT ON:

CHILD LABOUR – A STIGMA ON SOCIETY.

LAW HEALTH AND TECHNOLOGY.

SUBMITTED TO : SUBMITTED BY: KAMYA CHANDOK

DR. JAIMALA ROLL NUMBER: 1952
DR. ANJU BERWAL BATCH: L.L.M.(one year)
MISS ATAMBIR

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

I have put my sincere efforts in this project. However, it would not have been possible without
the kind of support and help of many individuals. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all
of them.

I m highly indebted to Dr. Jaimala , Dr. Anju Berwal & Miss Atambir for their guidance and
constant supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the project, also
for your support in completing this project.

I would also like to express my gratitude towards my parents, my friends and my classmates for
their kind co-operation and encouragement which helped me in completion of this project. My
thanks and appreciations to all the department library staff for their constant cooperation.

KAMYA CHANDOK

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 INDEX:

SERIAL NO. TOPIC PAGE NO.

1. INTRODUCTION 4

2. MEANING & DEFINITION 5

3. CATEGORIES OF CHILD LABOUR 6

4. CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR 8

5. CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD LABOUR 10

6. GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES 11

7. JUDICIAL EFFORTS TOWARDS PROBLEM OF CHILD 15

LABOUR

8. SCHEMES & PROGRAMMES 17

9. FLAWS OF ENACTED LAW 19

10. CONCLUSION 21

11. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBLIOGRAPHY 22

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 INTRODUCTION:

Today, throughout the world, around 215 million children work, many full-time. They do not go
to school and have little or no time to play. Many do not receive proper nutrition or care. They
are denied the chance to be children. More than half of them are exposed to the worst forms of
child labour such as work in hazardous environments, slavery, or other forms of forced labour,
illicit activities including drug trafficking and prostitution, as well as involvement in armed
conflict.

Child labour refers to the exploitation of the labor of children who are either too young to work,
or are of working age but work under conditions that subject them to risk. It is an unfortunate
reality that children worldwide are often forced to undertake work that is physically,
psychologically and morally damaging to them. Nonetheless, not all work performed by children
is classified as child labour. In fact, some light work that does not interfere with the child’s
development, their education, or health, such as helping parents around the home, or earning
pocket money outside of school hours or on holidays, can be a positive experience for children.2
The term child labour therefore does not generally apply to children between the ages of 12-14
that engage in light work or to children between the ages of 15-17 who work in non-hazardous
conditions. Child labour is a cause and consequence of poverty and education and training is
crucial to breaking this cycle.1 At the same time, interventions on education and training must be
integrated with other interventions to effectively remove children from hazardous work. This
includes measures which address poverty and underdevelopment, inadequate health and social
policies, weak labour market institutions, inadequate legislation and an inadequate enforcement
of laws. Both supply side factors such as the role of poverty in compelling parents to send their
children to work, and demand side factors such as the way a society organizes its production
processes help determine the extent to which children engage in child labour. Social exclusion
mechanisms are another strong factor that keep children out of school leading them to work. In
many cases, children in the worst forms of child labour belong to the most discriminated strata of
society in terms of ethnicity and culture.

1
Meenu Paul, Labour and Industrial laws, p.12,Allahabad Law Agency,Faridabad,ed.tenth,2017.

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 MEANING & DEFINITION:

Child” as defined by the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 is a person who
has not completed the age of fourteen years. A child of such tender age, is expected to play,
study and be carefree about his life. But as a fact of nature, expectations hardly meet reality.
Children, by will or by force are employed to work in the harsh conditions and atmosphere
which becomes a threat to their life. Child labour leads to underdevelopment, incomplete mental
and physical development, which in turn results in retarded growth of children.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines the term child labour as, “work that
deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to
physical and mental development. It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or
morally dangerous and harmful to children, or work whose schedule interferes with their ability
to attend regular school, or work that affects in any manner their ability to focus during school or
experience a healthy childhood.”

India’s Census 2001 office defines child labor 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 laborers
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.”

UNICEF2 defines child labour differently. A child, suggests UNICEF, is involved in child
labour activities if between 5 to 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 to 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.

2
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/285/Children-Rights-under-the-Constitution.html(visited on14th
November2019 at 10:00 A.M.)

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 CATEGORIES OF CHILD LABOUR:

Child labour is a term that needs to be unpacked: it cannot be used in a sweeping manner but
covers a range and variety of circumstances in which children work.

• Child Labour: Those children who are doing paid or unpaid work in factories, workshops,
establishments, mines and in the service sector such as domestic labour. The Ministry of Labour,
Government of India has employed the term ‘child labour’ only in the context of children doing
‘hazardous’ work. By implication, children who are not doing ’hazardous’ work are not
considered to be child labourers and are said to be doing child work. The consequence of this
narrow definition of child labour is that the Labour Ministry’s definition only includes a very
small percentage of children who are in the work-force and leaves out millions of children who
require policy and programmatic support from the Government.

• Street Children: Children living on and off the streets, such as shoeshine boys, rag pickers,
newspaper-vendors, beggars, etc. The problem of street children is somewhat different from that
of child labour in factories and workshops. For one thing, most children have some sort of home
to go back to in the evenings or nights, while street children are completely alone and are at the
mercy of their employers. They live on the pavements, in the bus stations and railway stations.
They are at the mercy of urban predators as also the police. They have no permanent base and
are often on the move. So their problem is more acute than that of children working in a factory
and living at home3.

• Bonded Children: Children who have either been pledged by their parents for paltry sums of
money or those working to pay off the inherited debts of their fathers. Bonded child labour is an
acute problem in some states. Bonded children are in many ways the most difficult to assist
because they are inaccessible. If the carpet owner has bought them, they cannot escape. If the
middle-class housewife has paid for them, they cannot run away. If the landlord in the village
owns them, they will spend their life in servitude till they get married and can, in turn, sell their
children.

3
S.K.Puri,Introduction to Labour and Industrial laws,p.15,Allahabad Law Agency ,Faridabad,2015

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• Working Children: Children who are working as part of family labour in agriculture and in
home-based work. If children are working 12-14 hours a day along with their parents at the cost
of their education, their situation is similar to that of children working for other employers. In
fact children, particularly girls, are expected to take on work burdens by parents in complete
disproportion to their strengths and abilities. This is the largest category of children who are out-
of-school and are working full time. And it is here that we find the largest percentage of girls
working at the cost of education.

• Children used for sexual exploitation: Many thousands of young girls and boys serve the
sexual appetites of men from all social and economic backgrounds. Direct links between the
commercial sexual exploitation of children and other forms of exploitative child labour are
numerous. Factories, workshops, street corners, railway stations, bus stops and homes where
children work are common sites of sexual exploitation. Children are especially powerless to
resist abuse by employers, either as perpetrators or intermediaries. Village loan sharks often act
as procurers for city brothels, lending money to the family which must be paid back through the
daughter’s work. Almost all such children are betrayed by those they trust and end up with their
trust abused. The physical (health, danger of HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases) and
psycho-social damage inflicted by commercial sexual exploitation makes it one of the most
hazardous forms of child labour.

• Migrant children: India faces a huge challenge with “distress seasonal migration”. Millions of
families are being forced to leave their homes and villages for several months every year in
search of livelihoods. These migrations mean that families are forced to drop out of schools,
something that closes up the only available opportunity to break the vicious cycle generation
after generation. At worksites migrant children are inevitably put to work. All evidence indicates
that migrations are large and growing. The number of children below 14 years of age thus
affected, may already be in the order of 9 million. Migrant populations overwhelmingly belong
to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Castes. They comprise the landless
and land poor who possess the least amount of assets, skills or education.

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 CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR:

 PRIMARY CAUSES:

International Labour Organization (ILO) suggests poverty is the greatest single cause behind
child labour. The curse of poverty: The main reason for child labour in India is poverty. Most
of the country’s population suffers from poverty. Due to poverty, parents cannot afford the
studies of their children and make them earn their wages from a tender age. In fact, they are
well aware of the grief of losing their loved ones to poverty many times. They send their small
children to work in factories, homes, and shops. They are made to work to increase the income of
their poor families at the earliest.

 CULTURAL CAUSES :

Lack of educational resources: Even after 72 years of our country's independence, there are
instances where children are deprived of their fundamental right to education. There are
thousands of villages in our country where there are no proper facilities for education. And if
there is any, it is miles away. Such administrative laxity is also responsible for child labour in
India. The worst sufferers are the poor families for whom getting their educated is a children
dream. Sometimes the lack of affordable school for the education of poor children leaves
them illiterate and helpless. Children are forced to live without studying. And sometimes such
compulsions push them into the trap of child labour in India.

Social and economic backwardness: Social and economic backwardness is also the main
reason for child labour in India. Socially backward parents do not send their children to receive
an education. Consequently, their children are trapped in child labour. Due to illiteracy, many
times parents are not aware of various information and schemes for child education. Lack of
education, illiteracy and consequently the lack of awareness of their rights among them
have encouraged child labour.4 Also, uneducated parents do not know about the impact of child
labour on their children. The conditions of poverty and unemployment give rural families a

4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour(Visited on 14th November,2019 at 11:00 A.M.)

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compulsive basis for engaging children in various tasks. In fact, feudal, zamindari system and its
existing remnants continue to perpetuate the problem of child labour in India.

Addiction, disease or disability: In many families, due to alcohol addiction, disease or

disability, there is no earning, and the child's wages are the sole means of family's
sustenance. Population growth is also increasing unemployment, which has an adverse impact
on child labour prevention. So, parents, instead of sending their children to school, are willing to
send them to work to increase family income.

Family tradition: It is a shocking but bitter truth that in our society it is very easy to give
child labour the name of tradition or custom in many families. The cultural and
traditional family values play their role in increasing the problem of child labour in India at
the voluntary level. Many families believe that a good life is not their destiny, and the age-old
tradition of labour is the only source of their earning and livelihood.

 MACROECONOMIC CAUSES :

Biggeri and Mehrotra have studied the macroeconomic factors that encourage child labour. They
focus their study on five Asian nations including India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and
Philippines. They suggest that child labour is a serious problem in all five, but it is not a new
problem. Macroeconomic causes encouraged widespread child labour across the world, over
most of human history. They suggest that the causes for child labour include both the demand
and the supply side5. While poverty and unavailability of good schools explain the child labour
supply side, they suggest that the growth of low paying informal economy rather than higher
paying formal economy is amongst the causes of the demand side. Other scholars too suggest
that inflexible labour market, size of informal economy, inability of industries to scale up and
lack of modern manufacturing technologies are major macroeconomic factors affecting demand
and acceptability of child labour.

5
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/118783/14/14_chapter%204.pdf (Visited on 14th November
2019, at 12:00A.m.)

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 CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD LABOUR :

 General child injuries and abuses like cuts Children are exposed to accidental and other
injuries at work. They should thus be protected to prevent social, economic and physical
harm, which persist to affect them during their lifetime. Such injuries include. Burns, and
lacerations, fractures, tiredness and dizziness, excessive fears and nightmares.
 Sexual abuse, particularly sexual exploitation of girls by adults, rape, prostitution, early and
unwanted pregnancy, abortion, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS,
drugs and alcoholism.
 Physical abuse that involves corporal punishment, emotional maltreatment such as
blaming, belittling, verbal attacks, rejection, humiliation and bad remarks.
 Emotional neglect such as deprivation of family love and affection, resulting in loneliness,
and hopelessness6.
 Physical neglect like lack of adequate provision of food, clothing, shelter and medical
treatment.
 Lack of schooling results in missing educational qualifications and higher skills thus
perpetuating their life in poverty.
 Competition of children with adult workers leads to depressing wages and salaries.

6
S.N. Mishra, Labour and Induatrial Laws,p.23,Central Law Publications,Allahabad,27th edition, 2014

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 GOVERNMENT INITIVATES:

 LEGISTLATIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS :

 The first protective legislation for child labour in India was seen in 1881 in the form of
Indian factories Act which had the provisions prohibiting employment of children below 7
years, limiting the working hours for children to 9 hours a day and providing 4 holidays in a
month and rest hours. This was actually made by the ruling British Government to decrease
the production in Indian industries through some legal restrictions. It may be submitted that
the labour legislations in India including protective legislation for children have been greatly
influenced with the result of various Conventions and Recommendations adopted by
International Labour Organization.

 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986) was the culmination of efforts and
ideas that emerged from the deliberations and recommendations of various committees on
child labour.. The Act aims to prohibit the entry of children into hazardous occupations and
to regulate the services of children in non-hazardous occupations. In particular it is aimed at
(i) the banning of the employment of children, i.e. those who have not completed their 14th
year, in 18 specified occupations and 65 processes; (ii) laying down a procedure to make
additions to the schedule of banned occupations or processes; (iii) regulating the working
conditions of children in occupations where they are not prohibited from working; (iv)
laying down penalties for employment of children in violation of the provisions of this Act
and other Acts which forbid the employment of children; (v)bringing uniformity in the
definition of the child in related laws.

 'Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 2016. A complete
prohibition has been imposed on employment of child labour (i.e. a person below the age of
14 years) in any establishment whether hazardous or not. A child is permitted to work only to
help family, in family enterprise or as child artist after school hours or during vacations. The
amendment has introduced the concept of adolescent labour for the first time. An adolescent

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 has been defined as a person between the ages of 14-18 years. The amendment permits
employment of adolescent labour except in hazardous processes or occupation. The number
of hazardous occupations and processes has been reduced from 83 to only 3. The offences
under the Act have now been made compoundable and cognizable notwithstanding the
provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. The Child labour Act provides for rehabilitation
of children and adolescent who have been victims under the provisions of the Child labour
Act. It provides for setting up of the Child and Adolescent Labour Rehabilitation Fund in
which all the amounts of penalty have to be realized. Liability has been affixed upon the
parents and guardian of the affected child/children separately from the employers. The Act
provides for increased penalty and imprisonment which shall not be less than 6 months and
may extend upto 2 years and fine which may vary between Rs.20, 000 to Rs. 50,000.
Previously, the violations under the Child labour Act were punishable with imprisonment of
not less than three months which could extend to one year or/and with fine of ten thousand
rupees which could extend to twenty thousand rupees.

 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. Mining being one of the most dangerous occuptions, which in the past has led
to many major accidents taking life of children is completely banned for them. But the
apprentices and other trainees not below sixteen years of age , may be allowed to work, under
proper supervision , in a mine or part thereof, by the manager and the trainees have to obtain
the prior approval of the Chief Inspector or an Inspector before they are allowed to work.

 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.

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 The Indian Constitution ensures the right of all children 6-14 years to free and
compulsory education; prohibits forced labour; prohibits the employment of children
below 14 years in hazardous occupations; and promotes policies protecting children from
exploitation.
 ARTICLE 21: Right to Education: The State shall provide free and compulsory education to
all children of the age of 6 to 14 years in such manner as the State, by law, may determine.
 ARTICLE 23 and ARTICLE24: The Right Against Exploitation: As provided under Articles 23 and
24 has much importance which aims at recognition of restoration of the dignity of a person and
crystallises the philosophy of child welfare. Prohibition of Employment of Children’s in
Factories: No child below the age fourteen years shall be employed in work in any factory or
mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
 ARTICLE 39: The state shall in Particular direct its policy towards securing: That the health
and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and
that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or
strength.
Article 43: Seeks that the State shall endeavour to secure by suitable legislation etc. to all
workers ( which also includes child labourers) , not only work, but living wages, conditions
of work ensuring a decent standard of life and full enjoyment of leisure and social as well as
cultural opportunities. Further under Article 45, the State is obliged to provide free and
compulsory education to the children until they complete the age of fourteen years. The main
aim of this Article is to provide compulsory education along with eradication of illiteracy.
Therefore, to achieve this goal, a greater attention is to be paid on primary education than on
higher education in the present context.

OTHER LAWS RELATED TO CHILD LABOUR :

Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 This Act was passed with a view to preventing
the economic and physical exploitation of the weaker sections of the people. Bonded labour is
generally one type of 'forced labour' where a debtor (worker) enters in to an agreement with the
creditor (employer) in consideration of an advance taken by him or by any of his family
members, or in pursuance of any customary or social obligation etc. to render labour or service to

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the creditor by the debtor himself or through any member of his family, or any person dependant
on him for a specified or for an unspecified period, either without wages or for nominal wages.
Thus, it not only implies that the children of the debtor's family are even forced to do bonded
labour as bonded child workers for the debts made by their parents, but the system itself implies
the infringement of the basic human rights and destruction of the dignity of human labour. The
Act, therefore, strictly prohibits the system of bonded labour under section 47.

The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act,1956 This Act was primarily known as the Suppression
of Immoral Traffic in Women and Birls Act, 1956 and after its 202 amendment in 1986 its title
has been changed to the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. This Act provides punishment
whoever engages or employs a child or a minor for the purpose of prostitution.

7
S.N. Mishra, Labour and Induatrial Laws,p.29,Central Law Pubicatlions,Allahabad,27th edition, 2014

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  JUDICIAL EFFORTS TOWARDS PROBLEM OF CHILD LABOUR :

 In Peoples Union for Democratic Rights vs. Union of India8: Commonly known as ‘Asian
workers case’, it was escorted to the notice of the Supreme Court that children under 14 years
of age employed in the construction activity. It was said that construction activity is plainly a
dangerous work and it is definitely important that the employment of children above the age
of 14 years must be restricted in every kind of construction task. Cite to Article 24, Justice
P.N. Bhagavathi and Justice Bahrul have held that “apart from the need of International
Labour Organization Convention No.59, we have Article 24 of the Constitution which even
if not attend up by suitable legislation, must “Proprio vigour” and construction act plainly
and absolutely a hazardous employment, it is open that by ground of constitutional
prohibition no child under 14 years can be allowed to be unavailable in construction work”.

 In Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India and others9, Justice Bhagwati remarked that
“it is a problem which needs urgent attention of the Government of India and the State
Governments and when the Directive Principles of State Policy have obligated the Central
and State Government to take steps and adopt measures for the purpose of ensuring social
justice to the have-nots and the handicapped. It is not right on the part of the concerned
governments to shut their eyes to the inhuman exploitation to which the bonded labourers are
subjected”. It is therefore essential that whichever be the State Government it should, where
there is bonded labour, admit the existence of such bonded labour, and make all possible
efforts to eradicate it. By doing so, it will not only be performing a humanitarian function but
also discharging a constitutional obligation and strengthening the foundations of participatory
democracy in the country”.

 In M.C. Mehta vs State Of Tamil Nadu And Others,10 a bench of Kuldip Singh, B.L.
Hansaria, S.B. Majmudar observed, “Taking advice therefrom, we are of the vision that the

8
AIR 1982 ,SC 1473
9
AIR1984 ,SC 802
10 AIR 1997 SC 699

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 affront employer must be demand to pay compensation for every child employed in violation
of the provisions of the Act a sum of Rs. 20,000 and the inspectors, whose arrangement is
envisioned by Section 17 to secure consent with provisions of the Act, should do this task.
Under Section 17 inspector scheduled to examine that each child employed under violation
of this act, each concerned employer will pay Rs. 20,000 given amount will be deposited in a
fund to be known as “Child Labour Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund”.

 In Bachpan Bachao & Ors. vs Union Of India & Others 11, “Delhi High Court decides
upon the duties of the Commission and the Committee. The Bench and the Jury shall
entertain complaints made by the domestic workers herself/himself of through her/his
guardian, NGOs managing Child line services, the employer or the police in appropriate
cases. The Commission and the Jury may hear the following types of cases:
1. Abusive working conditions which are after the physical extent of the child in
situations where persons between the ages of 14 and 18 are employed;
2. Long hours of work;
3. Absence of principal services including medical care and food.

The Bench or the Committee shall determine the objection build within a duration of 30 days”

 In Court On Its Own Motion vs The State Of Jharkhand12, “Petitioner said nothing has
been done with regard to settlement of the child labour and further the State has also not
disclosed anything as to how they will cope with this horrifying situation of child labour
where Jharkhand High Court directs to file an affidavit about the stage of investigation which
will also indicate that how many schemes have been implemented in the State of Jharkhand
by the Child Welfare Department to combat and rehabilitate child labour”.

11
W.P. (PIL) No. 139 of 2011
12
W.P.(PIL) No. 1325 of 2011

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  PROGRAMMES & SCHEMES

 National Child Labour Policy: Constitutional and legislative provisions providing

protection to children against employment has been elaborated in the National Child Labour
Policy announced in 1987. The policy addresses the complex issue of child labour in a
comprehensive, holistic and integrated manner. The action plan under this policy is multi-
pronged and mainly consists of: 1) A legislative action plan; 2) Focuses on general
development programmes for the benefit of the families of children; and 3) Project-based
action plan in areas of high concentration of child labour.

 National Child Labour Project Scheme : For rehabilitation of child labour, Government
had initiated the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme in 1988 to rehabilitate
working children in 12 child labour endemic districts of the country. Its coverage has
increased progressively to cover 271 districts in the country presently. As on date the Scheme
is in operation in 266 districts. Under the NCLP Scheme, children are withdrawn from work
and put into special schools, where they are provided with bridging education, vocational
training, mid-day meal, stipend, health-care facilities etc. and finally mainstreamed to the
formal education system. At present, there are around 7,000 NCLP schools being run in the
country with an enrolment of three lakh children. Till date more than 9 lakh working children
have already been mainstreamed to regular education under the NCLP Scheme. The NCLP
scheme is a Central Sector scheme. Under the scheme, project societies are set up at the
district level under the Chairpersonship of the Collector/ District Magistrate for overseeing
the implementation of the project. Instructions to involve civil society and NGOs have also
been issued.

 Department of Education:

-- Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA): Education is a national level programme from Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan Trust of India which focuses on basic education for underprivileged children and youth
as it is both the means as well as the end to a better life. It increases one's awareness on a range
of issues – from healthcare to appropriate social behaviour to understanding one's rights.

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--Midday Meal Scheme: The Mid-day Meal Scheme is a school meal programme of
the Government of India designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children
nationwide. The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and
upper primary classes in government, government aided, local body

 Ministry of Women & Child Development: The Integrated Child Protection Scheme
(ICPS) is a governmental program implemented by the Government of India to help secure
the safety of children, with a special emphasis on children in need of care and protection,
juveniles in conflict or contact with the law and other vulnerable children. Its primary
purpose is to create a central structure to provide oversight and standardization for pre-
existing and evolving child protection schemes in India.

 Elimination of Child Labour in India – Coordination with ILO: The International Labour
Organisation (ILO) launched the International Programme for Elimination of Child Labour
(IPEC) in the year 1991 with the objective to end child labour globally. India was the first
country to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the year 1992. During the 11th
Plan Period, three Projects viz., INDUS Project, Andhra Pradesh Phase-II &Karnataka
Project were implemented in the country under ILO-IPEC.The project adopted a
participatory method to identify beneficiaries and enrolling child workers in schools,
transitional education centres and vocational training centres was seen as a key strategy for
rehabilitation of child and adolescent workers withdrawn from work. The project was
instrumental in the operationalising the public education component in the field. The Project
also developed income generation strategies for child labour elimination by linking child
labour families with the ongoing government schemes that provide access to micro credit and
subsidies A variety of tools have been developed to aid awareness raising efforts at the field
level. Through its Action Programmes, the INDUS project worked towards sensitizing and
building capacities of key government agencies and civil society partners in project states on
child labour.

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 FLAWS IN ENACTED LAWS:

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 :

The first drawback of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 is that, instead of
abolition of child labour problem it aims at achieving two contradictory goals like prohibition
and regulation at the same time. In certain occupations it prohibits the employment of children
where as in some others it allows children to work, but provides certain regulations. This
contravenes the provision of Article 24 of Indian Constitution which prohibits the employment
of children under fourteen years of age in all factories and mines irrespective of their hazardous
nature.

Secondly, the Act of 1986 does not cover all the occupations in which children are employed.
Children working in the agricultural sector constitute a remarkable percentage of juvenile
employment, but the Act is totally silent in this regard13.

ext major omission of the said Act is not specifying the minimum age of employment- While in
specified permissible occupations the minimum age of employment has been prescribed as
fourteen years, it directly contravenes the ILO standard according to which this age should be
eighteen years and thus, the onus of proving the age of the employed child rests on the
prosecuting agencies.

he punishment as contained in the Act of 1986 in respect of violation of the provisions by the
employers is not deterrent as it may be imposed either in terms of imprisonment or fine and thus
the employers have a chance to escape from imprisonment by just paying some fine.

While the new amendments appear to be progressive in nature but they have down side also.14
Like the new amendments put a complete prohibition on employment of children, but at the same
time it allows them to be employed in family enterprises/businesses. Considering that majority of

14

http://www.mondaq.com/india/x/602434/employee+rights+labour+relations/Child+Labour+Prohibition+And+Regul
ation+Amendment+Act+2016+Of+India(Visited on 14th November 2019 , at 3:00 P.M.)

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child labour activities happen in economically weaker section of the society which is highly
unregulated, no proper mechanism has been provided to keep the same in check with the new
amendments. Further, the list of hazardous industries has been drastically decreased, this may
allow the employers in industries like chemical mixing units, cotton farms, battery recycling
units, and brick kilns etc. (which are actually hazardous) to employ adolescent labour, which
they may even get at a much cheaper price.

It is therefore more important now for the government to keep a check on the working conditions
for adolescent labour as well as the working conditions for children in family run businesses.
This would require more personnel deployment which currently is in shortage. The government,
in order to effective monitor the ground realities involve and empower the non-governmental
organizations and individuals who are actively involved and are working for the said cause.

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 CONCLUSION:

Child labour is a serious hindrance to the social and economic development of the nation.
Children employed in various sectors fail to get the necessary education, virtually forced to lead
a life of hardship and poverty. It also affects the overall health of a child, as children get
exhausted easily and are not physically fit to work for longer durations under difficult conditions.
Children employed in glass and firecracker industries work not only for longer hours but also
under hazardous conditions, seriously compromising their health. They are continuously
exposed to toxic gases and substances leading to various skin and respiratory ailments. We
suggest for a new approach that puts people and the work they do at the center of economic and
social policy and business practice: a human-centered agenda for the future of work. This agenda
focuses on three pillars of action. First, it means investing in people’s capabilities, enabling
them to acquire skills, reskill and upskill and supporting them through the various
transitions they will face over their life course. Second, investing in the institutions of work
to ensure a future of work with freedom, dignity, economic security, and equality. Third,
investing in decent and sustainable work and shaping rules and incentives so as to align
economic and social policy and business practice with this agenda. By harnessing
transformative technologies, demographic opportunities, and the green economy, these
investments can be powerful drivers of equity and sustainability for the present and future
generations.

Government has accordingly been taking proactive steps to tackle this problem through strict
enforcement of legislative provisions along with simultaneous rehabilitative measures. State
Governments, which are the appropriate implementing authorities, have been conducting regular
inspections and raids to detect cases of violations. Since poverty is the root cause of this
problem, and enforcement alone cannot help solve it, Government has been laying a lot of
emphasis on the rehabilitation of these children and on improving the economic conditions of
their families.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 Mishra S.N., Labour and Industrial Laws, Central Law Publications, Allahabad, 27th edition,
2014
 Paul Meenu, Labour and Industrial Laws , Allahabad Law Agency ,Ed. Tenth,Faridabad
,2017
 Puri S.K.,An Introduction to Labour and Industrial Laws, Allahabad Law Agecny,
Faridabad, 2014.
WEBLIOGRAPHY:

 http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/285/Children-Rights-under-the-
Constitution.htm
 http://www.mondaq.com/india/x/602434/employee+rights+labour+relations/Child+Labo
ur+Prohibition+And+Regulation+Amendment+Act+2016+Of+India
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour
 https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/118783/14/14_chapter%204.pdf

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