Child Labour

Role Name Affiliation

Principal Investigator Dr.Gyanendra Kumar sahu Asst.Professor Utkal
University
Content Reviewer Dr.Gyanendra Kumar sahu Asst.Professor Utkal
University
Description of Module

Items Description of Module

Subject Name Law

Paper Name Social Transformation and Social

Engineering
Module Name /Title Child Labour

Module No. X

Child Labour:
Introduction:
Children are an important component of the social structure and the potential future
careers of the culture. Unfortunately, the problem of child labour (especially, age group of 5-
14 years) exists in our country. Children receive a rude and unpleasant introduction to life.
They not only lack the basic necessities of life, but are also forced to spend a major part of
the day working in inhuman and unhealthy conditions for a miserable pittance. As per an
estimate of ILO, there are between 190.7 million child labourers in the world. Out of these
million, half may be found in South and East Asia. By employing children we are denying
their right to education, which is crucial for development. 40% of female sex workers are
forced into prostitution before the age of 18. Nearly 60% of the girls who are employed as
child labourers live in rural areas.
Concept of Child Labour:
Child labour occurs when children under the age of fourteen are used to do labour.
Children are usually forced to do adult work to help provide for their families. The working
conditions are poor and children usually suffer physical, emotional and sexual abuse. They
work long hours every day and are unable to attend school, which is their fundamental right.
But, for understanding of concept of “child labour” let us examine some of the important
definitions.
 Encyclopedia of Social Science : “When the business of wage earning or
participation in itself or family support conflicts directly or indirectly with the business of
growth and education, the result is child labour”.
International Labour Organization: “Child labour includes children prematurely
leading adult lives, working long hours for low wages under conditions damaging to their
health and to their physical and mental development, sometimes separated from their
families, frequently deprived of meaningful educational and training opportunities that could
open up for them a better future”.
Second National Law Commission on Labour: “Children out of home, away from
family, working for wages and the place of work unfriendly and unsuitable for their well-
being are child labour”.
Census of India: “Any child engaged in productive work is child labour”.
Operation Research Group, Baroda: “A child falling within the five to fifteen age
bracket and who is at remuneration work, may be paid or unpaid, and busy in any hour of the
day within outside the family.
Government of Andhra Pradesh: “All children out of school are child labour. Being
out of school is equal to worst form of child labour “hazardous”, “intolerable circumstances”
and “harmful to the overall growth and development of the child”.
Gujarat State Action Plan for Elimination of Child Labour, 2009: “All children
deprived of their fundamental right to education between the age of six to fourteen years are
child labour”.
Magnitude of the Problem:
The problem of child labour is not limited to India but is an international issue. If, we
look at a glance, the magnitude of the problem at international level, it reveals that in 1950,
27.57% children of the world were working children, which declined in 2000 to 11.32%. The
figures in Europe and China have declined faster than in Africa, Asia and India, which
attracted the attention of international organizations, researchers and policy makers to
eliminate child labour.
After a look at global scenario, let us focus on India. The Census of India, 2001 has
revealed that there are 12.67 million child labourers between the ages of 6-14, whereas, they
were 11.29 million in 1991. Uttar Pradesh is on the top, followed by Andhra Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh in employing children. These five States had half of
the child labour force in the country. There is disagreement regarding the size of the children
working in India.
International Commitments:
The international commitments may be divided into two categories namely, with ILO
and United Nations as India is the member of the Organizations. The International Labour
 Organizations (ILO) was established on April 19,1919 with the object of the improvement of
the conditions of the labourers. India is the founder member of the ILO.
Sl. No. of ILO Contents of ILO Convention Status of India
No. Convention
1 5 of 1919 Prohibits the employment of person below Ratified on 9th Sep, 1955
14 years of age.
2 6 of 1919 Prohibits the employment during night of Ratified on 14th July, 1921
person below 18 years of age.
3 15 of 1921 Prohibits a person who is below 18 years Ratified on 20th Nov, 1922
of age from being employed on Vessels as
Toimmer or Stockers
4 16 of 1921 Compulsory medical examination of child Ratified on 20th Nov, 1922
being employed on Vessel as Toimmer or
Stockers
5 90 of 1948 Revised the Convention 6 of 1919 and put Ratified on 27th Feb 1950
12 consecutive hours.
6 123 of 1965 Prohibits the employment in mines of a Ratified on 20th Mar 1975
child below the age of 16 years.
7 124 of 1965 Compulsory medical examination of child Not ratified
working in mines.
8 138 of 1973 Prohibits employment of a child below the Not ratified
age of 15 years but allows after obtaining
permission up t the age of 14 years.

The Constitutional Provisions:

Our Constitution framers were aware about the problem of child labour and
compulsory education of children, so they made prohibition of children in certain
employment as a fundamental right under Article 24 and issued many Directive Principles of
State Policies in Part IV. They made provisions under Article 45, by stating that State will
make the provisions for free and compulsory education for every child below the age of 14
years within 10 years from the implementation of the Constitution. Unfortunately, it took 52
years to make it a fundamental right under the Constitution. 86 th Constitutional Amendment
ha inserted it as fundamental right and fundamental duty of the parents to send their ward to
school. The Constitutional Provisions may be described as follows:-
Article 15 (3) : The Article provides guarantee of right to equality without any
discrimination ; but, on the other hand, empowers the State to make the special provisions
relating to child, which will not be violative of right to equality.
Article 21: No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty, except
according to procedure established by law. The Supreme Court held that “life” includes free
from exploitation and to live a dignified life.
Article 21A: The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of
the age of six to fourteen years, in such manner as the State may, by law, determine. The
Supreme Court directed that where children are allowed to work, in such establishment, it is
the duty of the employer to make provisions for the education of child labourers.
Article 23: Traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of forced
labour are prohibited and any contravention of this prohibition shall be an offence punishable
in accordance with law.
Article 24: No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any
factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. The Supreme Court held that
“hazardous employment” includes construction work, match boxes and fireworks. Therefore,
no child below the age of 14 years can be employed. Positive steps should be taken for the
welfare of such children as well as for improving the quality of their life.
Article 39 (e) : The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing the
health and strength of the tender age of children so that they are not abused and that citizens
are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength.
Article 39(f): The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing that
children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in
conditions of freedom and dignity, and that childhood and youth are protected against
exploitation and against moral and material abandonment.
Article 45 : The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education
for all children until they complete the age of six years.
Article 51A (k): It shall be the duty of every citizen of India, who is a parent or
guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or ward, as the case may be,
between the age of six to fourteen years.