Child labor in India

Child labour definition

Child labour is a global phenomenon, it is not restricted to only one country.
“Child labour” is defined as the employment of children in any manual work.
According to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, a
“child” is a person who has not yet attained the age of 14 years. In this
tender age where a child is expected to grow, enjoy his or her childhood to
the fullest, seek education, gain a strong value system, he/she is forced to
work and earn a living for himself/herself and his/her family. It not only
affects his/her physical and mental development but it also puts a very heavy
burden of responsibility on the child to support his/her family. It is frequently
observed that the children are forced to become labour due to some
hardships like lack of strong financial support, lack of proper food, clothing,
shelter, livelihood etc.

International Labour Organisation [ILO] defines child labour as a work

that not only affects their childhood but also doesn’t let the children attend
the school regularly, or have a proper education. Child labour also deprives
children of their dignity, potential and childhood. Children working below the
age of 14 years are not able to develop mentally, socially, physically or
morally[1].

A different definition of child labour is given by the United Nation’s Children’s

Fund [UNICEF]. According to it, a child is considered as labour when:

1. His/her age is between 5 to 11 years, and

2. At least 1 hour of economic activity is performed by him/her or
he/she is doing at least 28 hours of domestic work in a week.
If the children are between 12 to 14 years of age then either they should be
doing at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of domestic
work per week to be considered as child labour[

Types of child labour in India

There is an increasing involvement of children in home-based work and in the
informal sector. Children are involved in the domestic, manual, agricultural
sector, in hazardous factories, rag-picking, beedi-rolling, matchbox, brick
kilns etc.

According to ILO, the worst types of child labour are:

1. Slavery: Slavery is when one person works for another person.

Slaves don’t have the power to demand anything. They have to work
according to the commands of their master.
 2. Child Trafficking: Buying and selling of children either for labour or
for sexual exploitation.
3. Debt Bondage: When people cannot pay off their loans with their
money and belongings they are often forced to work as a labour.
4. Serfdom: When a person works on land that belongs to another
person, it is known as serfdom. The labour will either be provided
with some pay or no pay will be given.
5. Forced Labour: When a child works against his/her will then it is
termed as forced labour.
6. Beggary: When poor parents don’t have any other way to earn a
living they often beg on roads. They also cut their child’s body part
in order to gain sympathy and to get more money. Small children
are seen on red lights asking for money for their treatments.

Child labour laws in India

As compared to other countries, child labour in India is more prevalent. Out of
179 million children, 90 million who are in the age group of 6 to 14 years are
employed and they don’t go to school. It contributes to 50% of children in our
country who are involved in child labour. Since 1933, various laws have been
made in India to control child labour. These laws include:

1. Minimum Wages Act, 1948: The State Government fixes minimum

wages that are to be provided to the workers/labourers including the
child labourers. The government fixed wages according to the type
of work and according to the class of workers.
2. The Plantation Labour Act, 1951: This Act prohibits the employment
of children below the age of 12 years, but a child above the age of
12 years can be employed only when the appointed doctor issues a
fitness certificate to that child.
3. The Mines Act, 1952: This Act provides that no child should be
present where the work of mining is going on and no child should be
employed for such work.
4. The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 : Except for a training ship, this Act
does not allow the employment of children below the age of 14
years in a ship. Also, a person under the age of 18 years cannot be
appointed as trimmers under this Act. They can only be appointed
under some specific conditions mentioned in this Act.
5. The Apprentices Act, 1961: Unless a child attains the age of 14 years
and satisfy the standard of education and physical fitness test, he
cannot undergo an apprenticeship training.
6. The Indian Factories Act, 1948 : No child below the age of 14 years
shall be employed in a factory. Also, there are rules that a factory
has to follow if they employ pre-adults that are between 15-18 years
of age.
 7. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 : No child
who is less than 14 years of age shall be employed in any hazardous
occupations that are provided in a list by law. This list is explained
further in the article. This list was amended not only in 2006 but also
in 2008.
8. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act, 2000 : If
any person employs a child in any of the hazardous work or use the
child as a bonded labour then that person will be punishable under
this Act.
9. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009 :
Free and compulsory education must be provided to each and every
children below 14 years of age. In fact, to follow this Act efficiently,
25% of seats are also reserved in every private school for children
who belongs to the disadvantaged group and for children who are
physically challenged.
10. Other Acts are:

 Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933.

 Employment of Child Act, 1938.
 The Bombay Shop and Establishment Act, 1948 .
 The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961.
 The Atomic Energy Act, 1962.
 Bidi and Cigar Workers (Condition and Regulation) Act, 1986 .
 State Shops and Establishment Acts
Children below the age of 14 years are not allowed to work in a factory and it
is expressly provided in Article 24 of the Indian Constitution and Section 67 of
the Factories Act, 1948.

Free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14 years is
provided by the Directive Principle of State Policy under Article 45 of the
Indian Constitution.

Obstacles in the proper implementation of child

labour laws
The big obstacle in the proper implementation of child labour laws are as
follows:

1. Non-awareness: Non-awareness among people about the labour

laws in India is a cause for its poor implementation.
2. Poverty: There is a vicious circle of poverty. Many families live below
the poverty line and they cannot support their living so they send
their children to work.
 3. Illiteracy: People who are illiterate are not aware of the rules and
regulations due to lack of education.
4. Lack of political will: Another obstacle is lack of political will as well
as the ineffective role played by the government in removing child
labour.
5. Lack of efficiency: Due to inefficient administrative machinery the
labour laws are not implemented properly.
6. Unemployment: People are not able to earn due to unemployment
so they send their children to work in order to earn more.
7. Will of parents: Some parents don’t wish to send their children to
school rather than they send them to fields to work for them.
8. Lack of educational and health facilities: Due to the lack of these
facilities labour laws are not implemented properly.

Child labour (Prohibition and Regulation)

Amendment Rules, 2017With the consultation of the
stakeholders, the Government of India amended the Child Labour (Prohibition
and Regulation) Central Rules, 1986. Broad rules were provided on
prevention, protection, prohibition, rescue and rehabilitation of child and
adolescent workers. Artists have been provided with safeguards like working
hours or working conditions. These safeguards are provided to those who
have been given permission to work under this act. It also gives the definition
of family with respect to the child. It lays down the duties and responsibilities

of enforcement agencies so that all work is done according to the Child

Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,
1986 This Act provides the definition of a child. It states that a child is a
person who has not yet completed 14 years of age. This Act not only
regulates the hours of work but also the working conditions of child labourers
and prohibit employment of child labour in hazardous industries. Article 24 of
the Indian Constitution provides that no child who is less than 14 years of age
should be employed in any hazardous industries.

Child Labour Act, 1986 The employment of children who are

less than 14 years of age is prohibited by various acts but neither a
procedure was laid down for this nor there were provisions made to regulate
the working conditions of the child labourers who were employed in
exploitative conditions. So, for this, a comprehensive Act was enacted known
as the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. For this, a bill was
introduced in the Parliament called the Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Bill to achieve these objectives. After the recommendation made
by Gurupadswamy Committee 1976, the Child Labour Act 1986 was passed
on 23 December 1986. It was the Act number 61 of 1986.
This Act is divided into four parts which include 26 Sections and two Articles
A&B. The act is as follows:

1. Part I: Preliminary. It includes Section 1 which talks about the short

title, extent and commencement of this Act and Section 2 talks
about the various definitions that are included in this Act.
2. Part II: Prohibition of Employment of Children in Certain
Occupations and Processes. It includes Section 3,4,5 of this Act.
There are two Articles A&B that are concerned with Section
3. Section 3 lists down various occupations and processes that are
already mentioned whereas Section 4 talks about the power to
amend this Act and Section 5 states that the Central Government is
empowered to form a Child Labour Technical Advisory Body.
3. Part III: Regulation of Conditions of Work of Children. It
includes Section 6 to 13 in it. Section 6 includes an application that
can be filed, Section 7 talks about the hours and period of work
whereas Section 8 talks about the weekly holidays. Section 8 states
that how can a notice to the inspector is filed and Section 10 talks
about what to do when there is a dispute as related to the age.
According to Section 11 maintenance of register is compulsory
and Section 12 and 13 talks about other formalities.
4. Part IV: Miscellaneous consists of Section 14 to Section 28 of the
Act. This part talks about provisions related to penalties, the
appointment of inspectors, the power to make rules, the power to
remove difficulties etc.

Child Labour Act, 2016 The Child Labour (Prohibition and

Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 was passed by the Parliament in July 2016.
This Act not only amends the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act,
1986 but also widen its scope and provides for strict punishments in case of
its violation. The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986 ban the
employment in 83 hazardous occupations and processes for the children who
are less than 14 years of age. The salient provisions of this Act are as follows:

1. In every occupations and enterprise, this Act completely prohibits

the employment of children who are less than 14 years of age. But if
the child is employed in a family business and his/her education is
not hampered then he/she can continue to be employed.
2. A new category of persons is added in this act which is known as
“adolescent”. These are the children who are more than 14 years of
age but less than 18 years. They are prohibited to take employment
in any hazardous occupations.
3. Child labour is made a cognizable offence through this Act. If a child
is employed when he/she is less than 14 years of age then the
employer will be liable for imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years or
he/she will be liable for a penalty of twenty thousand or fifty
thousand or both for the first time. But in the case of a habitual
 offender, the employer is liable for jail between 1 year to 3 years. If
the parent is the offender then a sum of Rs.10,000 is made payable
as a fine and the parents are subject to relaxed penal provisions.
4. Rehabilitation Fund for the purpose of rehabilitation of children is
created under this Act.
5. The hazardous occupation is brought down from 83 to 3. The Union
Government is empowered under this act to add or delete any
occupation from the list that is provided in this act. The three
occupations that are considered as hazardous are mining,
inflammable substances and hazardous processes that are provided
in the Factories Act, 1948.
6. This Act provides power to the Government to make a periodic
inspection to areas where the employment of children is banned.
7. In order to ensure that the provisions of the law are properly
implemented, for this, the Government can give power to the
District Magistrate.
After the passing of this Act, now, the Indian law is also aligned with the
convention of ILO. A complete ban on child labour is put so that under the
Right to Education every child can get a compulsory education. The Act also
realised and allowed children to help their families and run their family
business. The penalty for violating the provisions of this act is also increased
and it is made as a cognizable offence.

provisions that are provided in this act.