Ragini Pandey

“CHILD LABOUR IN FACTORIES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
ARTICLE 24 OF THE CONSTITUTION”
DISSERTATION SUBMITTED
IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF COMMERCE AND LAW INTEGRATED
B.COM.LL.B (H)
TO
FACULTY OF LAW
DR SHAKUNTALA MISRA NATIONAL REHABILITATION UNVERSITY
LUCKNOW
SUPERVISOR SUBMITTED BY
Prof. (Dr.) SHEPHALI YADAV ABHISHEK VERMA
HEAD & DEAN ROLL. NO 143070005
FACULTY OF LAW
DR. SHAKUNTALA MISRA NATIONAL REHABILITATION UNIVERSITY,
LUCKNOW
2019
Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation
University, Lucknow
Faculty of Law
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Abhishek Verma (Enrolment No: BComLLB/14-

15/31), student of B.Com.LL.B (H) during the academic session 2018-19; of the Dr.
Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University, Lucknow has completed his
dissertation titled “Child Labour In Factories With Special Reference To Article
24 Of The Constitution” under my supervision and guidance.
The dissertation is complete and fit for submission.
Date: (Dr.) Shephali Yadav
Head & Dean
Faculty of law, DSMNRU,
Lucknow
University, Lucknow
DECELARATION
I, Abhishek Verma, do hereby declare that the dissertation titled “Child

Labour In Factories With Special Reference To Article 24 Of The Constitution”
submitted for the partial fulfilment of the degree of B.Com.LL.B (H) is the result of
bonafide research work carried out by me under the supervision and guidance of Prof.
(Dr.) Shephali Yadav, Head & Dean, Faculty of Law, Dr. Shakuntala Misra National
Rehabilitation University, Lucknow.
The study is not submitted anywhere earlier in full or any part for any purpose.
I also declare that no part of dissertation is/are a reproduction from any other source,
published or unpublished without acknowledgement.
Place: Lucknow Abhishek Verma
Date: Student,
B.Com.LL.B (H)
Roll No. 143070005
Enrolment No: BComLLB/14-15/31

University, Lucknow
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My sincere thanks to my research supervisor, Prof. (Dr.) Shephali Yadav,

Head & Dean, Faculty of Law, Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation
University, Lucknow for her support and timely guidance. She was a source of
inspiration.
I would also like to take the opportunity of acknowledging the assistance of all
other ‘Faculty Members’ & the staff at DSMNRU, Lucknow, who have in some way,
helped in carrying out the research work in time.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to my parents and friends especially

Utkarsh Mishra, Shivam Tiwari, Adarsh Verma and Aditya Singh, who have always
encouraged me to pursue the research work with dedication. I would like to thank god
for giving me this opportunity to undergo research in the esteemed of all
acknowledged above.
It is to acknowledge that this dissertation would never have been possible

without the inestimable assistance and contribution of all of the above.
Place: Lucknow Abhishek Verma
Date: Student,
B.Com.LL.B (H)
Roll No. 143070005
Enrolment No: BComLLB/14-15/31

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AIR : All India Reporter
AP : Andhra Pradesh
Art. : Article
CJI : Chief Justice of India
Co. : Company
CBI : Crime Beuro Investigation
Ed. : Edition
etc. : Etcetera
FIR : First Information Report
HC : High Court
i.e. : That is
IPC : Indian penal court
Ibid. : Ibidem (in the same place)
J. : Justice
M.P : Madhya Pradesh
No. : Number
NIC : National integration council
Pvt. : Private
SC : Supreme Court
Sec. : Section
SCC : Supreme Court Case

S.C.R : Supreme court report
Supra : As above
Ltd : Limited
UDHR : Universal Declaration of Human Right
U,P : Uttar Pradesh
U/A : Under article
v. : versus
viz. : Namely
Vol. : volume
WWW : World Wide Web

List of referred cases
 M.C.MEHTA V STATE OF TAMIL NADU,AIR 1997 SC 699
 BANDHUA MUKTI MORCHA V UNION OF INDIA,AIR 1997 SC 2218
 PUDR V UNION OF INDIA ,AIR 1982 1480
 LABOURERS WORKING ON SALAL HYDRO PROJECT V STATE OF

J&K ,AIR 1984 SC177
 L.K.PANDEY V UNION OF INDIA ,(1984)2 SCC 244
 MANEKA GANDHI V UNION OF INDIA ,AIR 1978 SC 597
 NEELABATI BEHERA V STATE OF ORISSA ,AIR 1983 1960
 NEERJA CHOUDHARY V STATE OF M.P.,(1984)3 SCC 24
 SEELA BARSE V UNION OF INDIA ,AIR 1986 SC 1773

CONTENTS
Introduction
 Review of literature
 Analysis of problem
 Research methodology
 Research question?
 Objective of the study
 Hypothesis
CHAPTER -1
(i) Introduction
(ii) POSITION OF CHILDREN IN INDIA
(iii) Status Of Child
(iv) Magnitude Of The Child Labour Problem
CHAPTER -2
(i) Concept And Definition Of Child
(ii) Inadequacy In Definition Of Child
CHAPTER -3
(i) Problem Of Child Labour-Nature of work,working
conditions of child labourers
(ii) Causes
(iii) Effect
CHAPTER -4
Child LabourIn Organized Sectors
CHAPTER -5
(i) International Concern For Protecting Child From

Hazardous Employment
(ii) National concern
(iii) Constitutional Mandate
(iv) Legislative Measures
(v) Government Measures and National Policy of
Amelioration
(vi) Judicial Attitude And Responses In Child Labour
Cases
CHAPTER -6
Major Findings Of The Study
CHAPTER -7
Conclusion ,suggestions,Recommendations
BIBLIOGRAPHY
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Chapter– I: introduce that the Children are the greatest gift of GOD to man, our
most precious and very important asset. They are tiny apostles of pears and we
should not forget that they are at first, very much human being – though young.
They are not a commodity. They are not from other galaxy. This chapter also throws
a flash light on the position of chidren in India ,the status possessed by them and the
magnitude of child labour problem .
Chapter–2: depicts the concept of child and its definition given in various Acts,
national and international conventions,the issue of inadequacy of definition of child
is also raised.
Chapter–3: discloses the trauma of child labouri.e.Nature of work,working

conditions of child labourers,Causes,Effect….
Chapter -4: dealt with the child labourlabour in organized sectors and present the real
scenario.
Chapter-5: highlighted the International Concern For Protecting Child From

Employment ,National concern,Constitutional Mandate , Legislative Measures
Government Measures and National Policy of AmeliorationAnd Judicial Attitude And
Responses In Child Labour Cases .Several decisions of Supreme Court which are
supportive of the child rights and prohibition of child labour in hazardous works was
reffered.
Chapter - 6: major findings of study find out during research.
Chapter -7: concludes the entire study and prescribe some general and specific
suggestions with the help of which the child labour can be tackled and eliminated.
ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM
Childlbour constitute a significant percentage of labour force in India

Practically there is no industry in which children do not work .It is also true that they
have to work in exploitative and hazardous conditions . A large number of children
are found working in organized industries such as Bidi manufacturing, Glass and
Bangles industries etc…….I focused on the childlabour in factories situated at
Lucknow ,Kanpur ,Unnao and Firozabad in the district Uttar Pradesh given below:
1. Fireworks factories in Kanpur

2. Liquor factory in Unnao
3. Paint and Cement Factories in Lucknow
4. Glass and Bangles factories in Firozabad etc…
5. 5.Pesticide Factory in Aishbagh ,Lucknow
I analysed during research in these factories that children still work hard
and for long hours in hazardous factories for earning minimal wages to provide their
family for two time meal.Children working in these factories mentioned above inhale
toxic fumes .they have no facility of transportation though on papers it is
provided.They are treated like animals.When I asked the factory manager for taking
interview of those workers he did not allow me .then I decided to talk to them after
their working hours .I talked with them and realize that though there are a lot of
statutory and constitutional provisions but reality is totally different .It shows the dark
side of society where we live .
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In different types of methodological approach that can be employed in a

research work, i adopted qualitative research method. The reason why the qualitative
research method is chosen in this research work is because of its nature of flexibility.
It gives room for interaction between the researchers and the participants hence
providing in-depth understanding of the issue that is been investigated.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF DATAUSED
Data was sourced through primary and secondary means. Documentations, direct
observations, participants’ observations, and interviews questionnaire are means
through which qualitative approach was utilized by me .
 PRIMARY DATA
 SECONDARY DATA
DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Based on the research methodology approach chosen in this research work
which is qualitative research methodology, I collected data from both primary and
secondary, sources. Secondary data was sourced from related literatures such as
books, journals-AIR, SCC,CR LJ,AIHC…, articles, past research works and
electronic databases so as to be well enlightened on what has been studied on the
subject matter under review. Primary data was gathered through Interviews and
questionnaire method which also includes mailed questionnaire. Different approaches
to conducting an interview was adopted it was face-to-face, through telephone and e-
mail. An interview allowed a deeper probe into the question under investigation and it
has the highest response rate compare to other primary means of gathering data.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
During my research I found in theoratical study and the study of data

collected thatinspite of several legislative measures by enactment of statutory
provisions to curb employment of children in hazardous employment and those
injurious to health, the exploitation of children by different profit makers for their
personal gains continued unabated in utter disregard of constitutional injunction and
statutory prohibition. From the analysis of the relevant statutory provisions of the
Indian laws relating to child labour, it has become abundantly clear that the statutes
vary as to the age limit of a child employed or permitted to work in various
occupations.
There is no law fixing minimum age for employment of children in griculture.

The Factories Act, 1948, fixes minimum age of 14 whereas the International Labour
Organisation Convention prescribes minimum age for any employment to be 15. In
the case of plantations, the age of employment has been fixed at 12 years but in the
case of non-industrial employment the minimum age varies from 12 to 14 years.
Thus, Indian Laws relating to child labour are deficient from the international
standards as laid down by the International Labour Organisation but even then they
can be considered satisfactory in view of the prevalent economic conditions of the
country. There are plethora of statutes142 to prevent the misuse of children in
hazardous employment and to protect the general rights of the children. But
sociological studies have revealed either the ineffective nature of these laws or their
blatant violations. Major findings in the study –I visited in a firework factory in
Kanpur a large number of children were working in that factory .Children working in
fire work factories inhale toxic vumes while mixing chemicals .They also suffer high
degrees of intense heat and run the risk of awefully burnt and injured in fire accidents
.Children who stamp frames on the metal sheets also suffer heat ,toxic fumes and
excessive strains on the arm and shoulders ,while they remove and place the heavy
fringes with great rapidity. Delay of a second can cause the entire frames to grip in
roaring flames resulting in instant death of the child .Such type of news we read
today. A large number of children who were working in glass bangle industries ,work
with furnaces with temperature 1400 degree Centigrade .They are usually employed
in jurai (jointing the end ),chhatai(sorting),kotai etc..
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The spiritual basis of our constitutional order is “human dignity” and “social
justice” not the sadistic cruelty and hard work.Though the reality is totally different
.Children still work hard and for long hours in hazardous factories for earning
minimal wages to provide their family for two time meal.The object of this study is to
have first hand information from the children working in factories regarding their
working hour s,transport facilities ,education facelities ,entertainment ,playing ,meals
and medical facilities etc…
HYPOTHESIS
The hypothesis of this research study is to make a critical study of the pains
and pleasures of children working in factories with special reference to constitutional
mandates under Article 24 of the Constitution.
CHAPTER -1
(i) INTRODUCTION
“Bestow blessings on those Little, innocent lives Bloomed on Earth,
Who have brought the message of joy from heavenly garden”.
-Rabindranath Tagore
The Children are called as the greatest gift of GOD to man, our most precious
and very important asset. They are tiny apostles of pears but we forget that they are at
first, very much human being – though young. They are not a commodity. They are
not from other galaxy.
“The child shows the man as morning shows the day. “ Milton.
The children are very important for any nation. Their needs and right should
not be attended merely as a bye product of progress. They should be attended as an
end and means of progress. Unless this change is achieved all investments in food
production, community service and human resource development would remain less
effective because the children constitute a significant proportion of the people and
they would not be able to contribute fully to them nor benefit full from them. WE
must not forget that the children are the ultimate goal for development and also the
most effective tool for development. WE must also realize that the efforts for advance
in the human condition must start as early as possible beginning with the child and
with the mother well before the child is born. Protecting the health and education of
today’s children is the first and foremost right of those children but it is also the most
basic and wisest of all investments and therefore in social and economic development
of society.
The welfare and development of any community depends largely on the health
and well-being of its children. It has been said that ‘who holds the souls of children
holds the nation’.
The physical and mental health of a nation is determined largely in the manner
in which it is shaped in the early stages. A generation which fails to recognize that the
baggy is its first charge is lost in barbarity and the hall mark of culture and advance of
civilization consists in the fulfilment of our obligation of the young generation by
opening up all opportunities for every child to unfold its personality and rise to its full
stature physical, moral and spiritual says Justice V.R. Krishna Iyerand adds that is
the birth right of every child that cries for justice from the world as a whole.
During world war II Winston Churchill said:
“There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into
babies”.
This deep appeal to the people everywhere, this fundamental faith in juvenile
justice, this recognition of the worth of the infants born and unborn, is the beginning
of juvenile justice says Justice Krishna Iyer.
Children are a human resources, invaluable but vulnerable, yet developing
with a potentially to bloom with joy in an atmosphere of a caring society.’ They are
great promises of tomorrow, the dawn of humanity and buds of social development.
Legal policy towards then has undergone a sea change from a position where children
were treated as non-entity and mere material objects to a position of human dignity
where they are not only made free from exploitation and abuses but also enabled to
develop their full potentiality with fair access to food, health and education. Social
change towards better world for children to enjoy their right to be child is an inspiring
objective beneath this policy. Growth of human rights perception regarding child
spearhead the movement of creating child friendly environment for them.
As stated in above lines children are the greatest gift to humanity and
Childhood is an important and impressionable stage of human development as it
holds the potential to the future development of any society. Children who are
brought up in an environment, which is conducive to their intellectual, physical and
social health, grow up to be responsible and productive members of society. Every
nation links its future with the present status of its children. By performing work
when they are too young for the task, children unduly reduce their present welfare or
their future income earning capabilities, either by shrinking their future external
choice sets or by reducing their own future individual productive capabilities. Under
extreme economic distress, children are forced to forego educational opportunities
and take up jobs which are mostly exploitative as they are usually underpaid and
engaged in hazardous conditions. Parents decide to send their child for engaging in a
job as a desperate measure due to poor economic conditions. It is, therefore, no
wonder that the poor households predominantly send their children to work in early
ages of their life.
One of the disconcerting aspects of child labour is that children are sent to
work at the expense of education. There is a strong effect of child labour on school
attendance rates and the length of a child’s work day is negatively associated with his
or her capacity to attend school.
Child labour restricts the right of children to access and benefit from
education and denies the fundamental opportunity to attend school. Child labour,
thus, prejudices children’s education and adversely affects their health and safety.
India currently has an estimated 2.4 mn child workers as per the 68th NSS
survey. If we include the part time workers, this number shoots up to 3.22 mn. The
working children are primarily boys who carry the burden of the patriarchal social
construct in their roles as protectors/ providers of the family and at that young age
have to shoulder the responsibilities of the family. Still India has for education and
development of a girl child and not for a boy child. Child Labour, consisting of
children below 14 years of age, is defined by the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) as the type of work performed by children that deprives them of their childhood
and their dignity, which hampers their access to education and acquisition of skills
and which is performed under conditions harmful to their health and their
development. Children are the greatest gift to humanity and the same gift is being
misused for personal gains as child labour. They constitute 36% of India population
but a large majority of children in the age group of 5-14 years continue to remain in
distress and turmoil. One in every five children below the age of 14 is a labourer.
The flower (Child) withers before it blossoms. Child labour is more a rural
phenomenon than an urban phenomenon. Due to acute poverty poor families residing
in rural areas send their children to urban areas for bread and butter. In urban areas, to
survive in a cutthroat competition, manufacturers have lowered the real wages for
adult workers in order to employ child workers on low wages. The problem is very
much vast in its dimension. Children are forced to work in the most hazardous,
unhygienic conditions, where they are vulnerable to many severe health problems.
(ii) POSITION OF CHILDREN IN INDIA
Despite hectic planning welfare programmes, legislation and administrative
action in the past five decades, a large majority of the Indian children continue to
remain in distress and turmoil. In most families, the parents neglect them, caretakers
better then and in work places employers sexually abuse them. Though this problem
of emotional physical and the sexual abuse of children in India is increasing, it has
failed to capture the attention of sociologists and psychiatrists in our country. The
public and the government also are yet to recognize it as a serious problem. Public
indignation and professional concern is yet to be translated into positive and realistic
action. In Our Country, traditionally the responsibility for care and protection of
children lies with the parents (family). Children were the recipient of welfare
measures in the patriarchal society and while looking after their children, there was
no realization that children are also individuals with their own rights. Even the
constitutional guarantee of fundamental rights of children is more need based rather
than the rights based. Children in most sections of the Indian society are traditionally
and conventionally not consulted in matters and decisions affecting their lives. In the
family and household, the neighbourhood and wider community, in school or at work
place and across the social and cultural setup in our country, children’s views are not
given much importance. If they speak out, they are not normally heard. The
imposition of restrictive norms is especially true for girl children. This limits their
access to information and to choice, and reduces the possibility of seeking help
outside their immediate circle.
It was during the twentieth century that the concept of Children’s Rights
emerged and the focus shifted from the welfare to the rights based approach and this
transition from welfare to right based approach in the Government and civil society is
evolving with time. This shift in approach is primarily concerned with issues of social
justice, non-discrimination, equity and empowerment. In the right based approach,
children are viewed as citizens, entitled to all that has been promised to then under the
Constitution of India and United Nations Child Rights Charter 1989. The
consciousness relating to child welfare is also reflected under various provisions of
Indian Constitution. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child 1989,
which is a landmark in International Child Rights Legislation, also embodies rights
perspective.
Article 15(3). Nothing in this article shall prevent the state from making any
special provision for women and children.
Article 21A: right to free and compulsory education for children between the
age group of six to fourteen years.
Article 23, Prohibition of trafficking in human beings and forced labour.
Article 24: No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to
work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
Article 45: Provision for early childhood care and education to children below
the age of six years.
Articles 47: Duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of
living and to improve public health.
Articles 51A(k): Fundamental duty of parents or guardian to provide
opportunities for education to his child between the age of six to fourteen years.
The Preamble of the Child Rights Convention, conceived that the family is a
fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and the
well-being of all its members and particularly children should be afforded the
necessary protection and assistance so that the child can fully assume its
responsibilities within the community.
Nineteen per cent of the world’s children live in India. The child population in
India is a large percentage as per the National census. According to the 2001 Census
around 440 million people in the country were aged below eighteen years and
constituted 42 per cent of India’s total population. This means for out of every ten
persons is a child. This is an enormous number of children that the country has to take
care of, while articulating its vision of progress, development and equity. India has
expressed its recognition of the fact that when its children are educated, healthy and
happy with access to opportunities, they are the country’s greatest human resource.
But children are vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and neglect. In our country the
problem of child abuse has not received enough attention through it is widely
prevalent and there is a need to understand its dimensions and complexities.
In India infant and child mortality rates are far higher as compared to those in
developed countries of the world. Female foeticide is widely rampant in certain states
like Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, U.P. Etc. Despite various National and
International Legislation, National Policy for children and a variety of other
programmes designed for promoting child development, the conditions of children
has not been improved. Child malnutrition is distinctly visible especially among
children coming from poor families, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. A large
number of children remain deprived of immunization and health check-ups. Much
lower percentage of children is enrolled in schools, despite right to education being a
fundamental right and Government’s drive for Sarv-Shisha-Abhiyaan.
Every year in India, 2.1 million children die before their fifth birthday.
Half of these children die even before they are 28 days.
Shelter, food, health and education. According to an estimate, there are around
340 million deprived children in India. The vulnerable group of Deprived children
can be categorized as orphans, abandoned and Destitute children, working and street
children, victims of disasters and calamities, juvenile offenders, children in conflict
with law, migrants and construction worker, children of prisoners and single parents.
Among the vulnerable group of children, India has the largest population of
street children in the world. At least 18 million children live or work on the streets in
urban India. Next category of vulnerable children is that of child labourers. Today,
India has the largest population of employed children. Children are the easiest and
weakest to be victimized and they are also the cheapest source of labour. These
children are exposed to physical and mental abuse, besides hazardous work and
unsafe working conditions.
Though child is an important segment of human society but they have been
abused and exploited in every period and every society. As discussed earlier, India ia
a home to almost 19 per cent of the total population of the world. Children between
the ages of Zero to eighteen years constitute 44 per cent of the total population of the
country, out of which 40 per cent do not have actual access to basic needs, i.e. food,
shelter, health, education, care and other early opportunities. In India, the problem of
Child Rights violation has not received enough attention. There have been few and
sporadic efforts to understand and address the problem. The problem of Child abuse
and Child Rights violation is prevalent in India as in many other countries and there is
an urgent need to understand its dimensions and complexities.
Various reasons for the Child Rights violation include lack of education,
unemployment, poverty, big families, divorced parents, parental power, parental
incapacity to control impulses, prescribed stigma about the sex of the child and
commercial motives. The problem of child abuse is not an isolated problem.
The basic course of this problem is poverty and economic backwardness of
the country. Generally, the children of poor families are the victim of child abuse, and
resultantly, also suffer from various other problems in childhood; they always have a
negative approach towards life.
A study conducted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development along
with Prayas (an NGO) observed, that child abuse in India, as in other developing
societies, is a phenomenon which is widespread and cuts across ethnic, social and
economic boundaries. There are children who are particularly disadvantaged because
of their social, economic, physical or mental condition. In fat, a large number of
children of tender age are exposed to labour and are abused in many ways.
Sometimes children are abused by their own parents, who want their children to seek
employment to augment the income of their families and expose them to the work
which is not suitable to their age. Sometimes when the parents themselves are unable
to seek a job and the family income is very limited they are frustrated and instead of
giving anything to their children, they eat them and harass them in many other ways.
These children are placed under the category of children under special or
difficult circumstances. The following groups of children have further been included
in this category by the Government of India. Child labour, street children, neglected
children, juvenile offender, physically and mentally challenged children, destitute,
children in need to adoption, drug addicts, children in prostitution, children of
prostitutes, children of prisoners, refugee children, slum and migrated children,
missing children etc.
(iii) STATUS OF THE CHILD
It is widely accepted facts that the children are most important asset of any nation. In
fact, a nation’s future primarily depends upon what are children become when they grow up
as citizens. And this depends upon what priority is accorded to children’s healthy and holistic
development and what kind of education and care are given to them right from their
conception up to the stage of their education and training, and finally their placement in some
suitable economically gainful and professionally attractive job.
As discussed earlier, in our country traditionally the responsibility of care and
protection of children has been with families and communities. A strong knit patriarchal
family that is meant to look after its children well has seldom realized that children are
individuals with their own rights. While the Constitution of India guarantees many
fundamental rights to the children, the approach to ensure the fulfilment of these rights was
more needs based rather than rights based. With the adoption of right based approach, the
issues that were earlier peripheral came to the forefront. It is then, that the gap between child
abuse and Child Right protection became more obvious.
It emerges from the above discussion that on the one hand there were large number of
children in need of care and protection while on the other hand there are not enough schemes
or sufficient budget allocation to deal with the problem of Child rights violation. It is also
observed that to carry the issue of Child Rights protection forward, there is a need to create
and enabling environment through legislation which can address the issues of child abuse and
Child rights exhaustively make a policy on child protection, formulate intervention and
outreach services
Today there is growing concern about the rights of children and recognition of the
need to protect them from neglect and abuse as Child abuse has become one of the major
problems all over the world. The Indian legal system has some relevant provision for Child
Right’s Protection. However at present, there is no single legislation to dial exclusively with
the problem of child exploitation and abuse. Most of the existing legal provisions are merely
idealized postulates and are far from reality, due to the peculiar socio-economic structure of
our country. It is only a dream to provide necessary facilities and protection to the children.
Our Constitution incorporates many commitments for protection of Human Rights
for Children even without specific references to Child Rights. It is the Fundamental Right of
the children to have a happy and healthy childhood free from abuse and exploitation. The
word life occurring in article in article 21 of the Constitution of India includes education and
thus right to education upto the age of 14 years is a fundamental right. Recently the
government passed the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act with the object of
providing free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years.
This legislation is anchored in the belief that the values of equality, social justice, democracy
and the creation of a just and humane society can be achieved only through provision of
inclusive elementary education to all. To provide free ad compulsory education is not merely
the responsibility of school or supported but the appropriate governments but also of school
which are not dependent on Government funds
Article 23 of the constitution prohibits trafficking in human beings and beggar and
other forms of forced labour. Article 24, provides that , no child below the age of fourteen
years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous
employment. Further Article 39(e) provides that the states shall direct its policy towards
securing its health and strength of workers, men and women and tender age of children are
not abused and the citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocation unsuited
to their age or strength. Article 39(f) casts a duty on the State to declare that children are
given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in condition of freedom
and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral
and material abandonment. Article 45 provides that the state shall endeavour to provide
within a period of ten years from the commencement of the Constitution, for free and
compulsory education for all the children until they complete the age of fourteen years.
All international conventions including the united Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child (UNCRC) adopted the recommendations hereunder, plan and programmes
unconditionally recognize that children have the first charge on the resources howsoever
limited they may be India ratified the United Nations Conventions on the rights of Child 1989
(UNCRC), in 1992. tofulfil its international obligations, later in 2000 in 2005 laws such as
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 and National Commission for the Protection
of Child Rights Act, 2005 have been enacted by the Indian Legislature. Ratification and
enactments are certainly a step forward, but other actions and agencies are equally important.
Right holder should assess demand for realization of rights. The best interest of the child as a
guiding principle is not reflected in Government policies. Development of Children should be
grounded on linkage between development and rights, accountability, empowerment,
participation and non-discrimination.
Despite all these efforts, the conditions of the children in general let alone female and
disabled ones, is far from the satisfactory. In a male dominated society this gender
discrimination began from womb and continues after birth. Resultantly the female child gets
double exploited.
Despite Article 21 A, which provide for free and compulsory education for children
from six to fourteen years of age, there are around 35 million children who are out of school.
Even those who are in school are deprived fo quality education. This means that children are
deprived of quantitative as well as qualitative education. As per the constitutional guarantee
under Article 21 A, all the children (including 1-50 million child labourers) should be
provided with free and compulsory education.
The Indian Penal Code too, deplores child exploitation and considers exposing a
child below twelve years of age to physical risk, or deserting the child immediately after
birth, as child abuse and Child Rights violation. Kidnapping or maiming a child for begging
or for prostitution is an offence. There are various other legislations, such as Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 Factories Act, 1948 etc. which prohibit the
employment of children in certain sectors and regulate the conditions of working children in
certain other sectors and employment.
In addition to this, and important piece of legislation relating to child welfare is the
juvenile justice (Care & Protection of Children)Act, 2000 which is an Act to Consolidate and
amend the laws relating to juveniles in conflict with law, and children in need of care and
protection, by providing for proper care, protection and treatment by catering to their
development needs, and by adopting a child-friendly approach in adjudication and disposition
of matter in the best interest of children and for their ultimate rehabilitation through various
institutions established under this enactment.
Section 125 CrP.C. imposes a responsibility on parents, to maintain their children,
who having sufficient means, neglect or refuse to maintain his legitimate or illegitimate
minor child, whether married or not, unable to maintain themselves, and also the
responsibility to maintain, his legitimate or illegitimate minor child (not being a married
daughter) who has attained majority where such child is, by reason of any physical or mental
abnormality or injury unable to maintain itself.
(iv) MAGNITUDE OF THE CHILD LABOUR PROBLEM
The children as work force participate in several economic activities where
they are paid extremely low wages. They clean clothes and floors, cook food and take
care of children in houses. They also work in non-domestic but non-monetary sectors
which include working at forms, fuel and water collection. Sometimes they have also
go to markets for purchasing. The children have also to work as bonded labour which
arises from perceived obligations to landlords or money lenders whereby the
provision of child labour is part of a family ‘s rent or debt settlement. As many 90 per
cent of children in the carpet industry in Mirzapur in U.P. have been bonded i.e. sold
into virtual slavery. Then for wages they work in agriculture, manufacturing or
service industries on piece rate of time rate basis as regular or casual workers.
In India, the problem of child abuse and child right violation is prevailing on a
large scale. Everyday large numbers of children are abused in the sphere of their own
family. Abuse of female child and illegitimate child starts even before birth, Female
foeticide by amniocentesis is a very common form of abuse and is widely prevailing
in India. A large number of children are abandoned, by their own parents and in-loco-
parentis. Abuse by beating, burning and sexually exploiting little girls is very
common among parents. Illiteracy, backward social conditions and poor economic
conditions are the most common reason of all kinds of Child Right Violations
especially among parents.
A large number of children are exploited by employers by employing for
hazardous work. Children are also used for immoral proposes, such as selling them to
big gangsters, indulging them for the supply of narcotic drugs and other prohibited
substances. Because of poverty, large numbers of children are suffering from
malnutrition, ill health and are dying. Crimes of kidnapping and abduction are very
common in our country. Children are kidnapped for the purpose of making them
beggars, prostitutes, selling them to circuses, tamashes, organ trade, eating their flesh
etc. Large numbers of children are killed and organs of children are used for various
trades and experiments. Child abandonment and child prostitution is widespread and
brazenly advertised and is closely linked to the systematic promotion of tourism.
The magnitude of child abuse and neglect can be expressed in terms of
prevalent and incident rates. The time when usually abuse and neglect begins is hard
to establish. An incidence rate which measures the occurrence of new cases are highly
questionable. One of the major problems in understanding the scope of the subject of
Child Right violation is that it is extremely difficult to get responses from children on
such a sensitive subject because of their inability to fully understand the different
dimensions of Child Right violation and to talk about them. It is therefore difficult to
gather data on abused children. Further definition of abuse and Child Right violation
is not yet consistent within the countries. It varies from country to country and from
region to region.
How much child labour is there in the world” The answer to this question
depends, of course, on what one means by child labour. At one extreme, all non-
educational, non-leisure time of individuals below a certain age can be counted as
child labour. At the other extreme, only full-time employment in economic activity
would be counted. The former includes light work after school or in school holidays,
which helps in skill acquisition, while the latter excludes part-time engagement in
such horrendous activities as child prostitution. Part of the definitional problem arises
because when most people talk of child labour they mean “bad” child labour such as
prostitution, or scavenging, or backbreaking work on a construction site, or long
hours in a carpet factory, etc. Such “bad” child labour can be part-time or full-time,
and a child can both engage in schooling and in “bad” child labour. Getting
comparable estimates for such child labour is impossible, not least because what
constitutes “bad” child labour is itself in dispute.
The term child labour covers a wide range of situations, to which the ethical,
economic and legal response could be very different. To begin with, it is not clear
how to define “child”. In the West, it is customary to do so by chronological age, but
in many societies cultural and social factors enter as well (Rodgers and Standing,
1981). The evolution of a child to adulthood passes through socially and biologically
defined life phases, over which the degree of dependence and the need for protection
of the child gradually declines, e.g., in many societies an apprentice even if only eight
or nine years old is often not considered a child - a determination based on social
status rather than age (Morice, 1981). In that sense too, many societies, especially
poor rural ones, do not view child work as “bad”. Rather, it is part of the socialization
process which gradually introduces the child into work activities and teaches the child
survival skills.
LITERATURE REVIEW:
There is no law fixing minimum age for employment of children in griculture. The
Factories Act, 1948, fixes minimum age of 14 whereas the International Labour
fire work factories inhale toxic fumes while mixing chemicals .They also suffer high
degrees of intense heat and run the risk of awfully burnt and injured in fire accidents
fringes with great rapidity. Delay of a second can cause the entire frames to grip in
today. A large number of children who were working in glass bangle industries ,work
in jurai (jointing the end ),chhatai(sorting),kotai etc.
4. JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY:
Every child who works takes away the job of an adult and every child who works for
lower wages reduces the possibility of fair wages to adults. This fact also proves that
profit motivation of the factory owners and poor living condition o millions of people
have of course, threatened the perpetuation of the problem of child labour. Article 32
of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 which has already been
acceded to by the government of India calls for elimination of child labour. However,
the poverty issue in developing states has made the implementation of this article a
challenging task. The practical enforcement of the Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act 1986 belies the expectations of law-maker. Despite the hope aroused
of some improvement in the lot of bonded child workers, enactment of the Child
Labour Act has not activated either the state or Central government to any sort of
purposive action. The ‘enactment is ineffective in protecting children from
exploitation. The serious omission in the legislation relates to enforcement
machinery, the laxity of which has enabled employers to circumvent provision of the
law with impunity. In the absence of an efficient and rigrous impaction machinery
nothing prevents employers from flouting legal provision in the full knowledge that
child workers themselves will become willing accomplices in covering it up.
5. OBJECTVES & HYPOTHESIS:
The spiritual basis of our constitutional order is “human dignity” and “social justice”
not the sadistic cruelty and hard work. Though the reality is totally different .Children
still work hard and for long hours in hazardous factories for earning minimal wages to
provide their family for two time meal. The object of this study is to have first hand
information from the children working in factories regarding their working hours,
transport facilities ,education facilities ,entertainment ,playing ,meals and medical
facilities etc.
The hypothesis of this research study is to make a critical study of the pains and
pleasures of children working in factories with special reference to constitutional
mandates under Article 24 of the Constitution.
6. LIMITATION & SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

In India, the problem of child abuse and child right violation is prevailing on a large
scale. Everyday large numbers of children are abused in the sphere of their own
family. Abuse of female child and illegitimate child starts even before birth, Female
foeticide by amniocentesis is a very common form of abuse and is widely prevailing
in India. A large number of children are abandoned, by their own parents and in-loco-
parentis. Abuse by beating, burning and sexually exploiting little girls is very
common among parents. Illiteracy, backward social conditions and poor economic
conditions are the most common reason of all kinds of Child Right Violations
especially among parents.
7. METHODOLOGY:
In different types of methodological approach that can be employed in a research
work, i adopted qualitative research method. The reason why the qualitative research
method is chosen in this research work is because of its nature of flexibility. It gives
room for interaction between the researchers and the participants hence providing in-
depth understanding of the issue that is been investigated.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF DATAUSED
Data was sourced through primary and secondary means. Documentations, direct
observations, participants’ observations, and interviews questionnaire are means
through which qualitative approach was utilized by me .
 PRIMARY DATA
 SECONDARY DATA
DATA COLLECTION METHODS
Based on the research methodology approach chosen in this research work which is
qualitative research methodology, I collected data from both primary and secondary,
sources. Secondary data was sourced from related literatures such as books, journals-
AIR, SCC,CR LJ,AIHC…, articles, past research works and electronic databases so
as to be well enlightened on what has been studied on the subject matter under
review. Primary data was gathered through Interviews and questionnaire method
which also includes mailed questionnaire. Different approaches to conducting an
interview was adopted it was face-to-face, through telephone and e-mail. An
interview allowed a deeper probe into the question under investigation and it has the
highest response rate compare to other primary means of gathering data.
TENTATIVE CHAPTERIZATION:
The study has been conducted under the following chapter scheme:
Chapter– 1: introduce that the Children are the greatest gift of GOD to man, our
most precious and very important asset. They are tiny apostles of pears and we should
not forget that they are at first, very much human being – though young. They are not
a commodity. They are not from other galaxy. This chapter also throws a flash light
on the position of children in India , the status possessed by them and the magnitude
of child labour problem .
Chapter–2: depicts the concept of child and its definition given in various Acts,
national and international conventions, the issue of inadequacy of definition of child
is also raised.
Chapter–3: discloses the trauma of child labour i.e. Nature of work, working
conditions of child labourers, Causes, Effect….
Chapter -4: dealt with the child labour in organized sectors and present the real
scenario.
Chapter-5: highlighted the International Concern For Protecting Child From
Employment ,National concern, Constitutional Mandate , Legislative Measures
Government Measures and National Policy of Amelioration And Judicial Attitude
And Responses In Child Labour Cases .Several decisions of Supreme Court which
are supportive of the child rights and prohibition of child labour in hazardous works
was referred.
Chapter - 6: major findings of study find out during research.
Chapter -7: concludes the entire study and prescribe some general and specific
suggestions with the help of which the child labour can be tackled and eliminated.
CHAPTER- 2
(i) Concept And Definition Of Child
In our country we have multiple variation in the definitions of the age of the child.
Almost in every sphere, age limits formally regulate children’s activities, such as age for
chool admission, age for marriage, age for casting vote, age for adulthood, age for joining
services, and age to enter into employment. Generally the age limits differ from activity to
activity and from country to country. The census of India defines persons below the age of
fourteen as children. The age at which a person ceases to be child also varies under different
laws. The word Child has been used in various specific protection.
Following are some of the legislative provisions relating to age of the child under
various legislations.
The Indian majority Act, 1875was enacted basically to bring about uniformity in
the applicability of laws to person of different religions. It provides, unless a particular
personal law specifies otherwise, every person domiciled in India is deemed to have attained
majority upon completion of eighteen years of age. But in case of a minor for whose person
or property or for both, a guardian has been appointed or declared by any Court of Justice the
majority may be attained before the age of eighteen years.
The word ‘child’ has not been defined under the Constitution of India or under the
General Clauses Act, 1873. However the word child cannot be said to be identical with the
word minor.
Under Indian Contract Act, 1870a person below the age of eighteen years has to
capacity to contract.
The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 (HMGA) defines a minor,
as a person who has not completed the age of eighteen years.
Under Muslim Law also the age of Majority is completion of eighteen years. Even
under the Christian Law and Parsi Law the age of majority is eighteen years. However the of
marriage under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006 is twenty one years for males and
eighteen years for females.
The mines (Amendment) Act, 1952 defines the age at which a person can enter
in employment. It says, no person below eighteen years of age shall be allowed to work in
any mine or any part thereof. Further, the Factories Act, 1948 lays down that a child below
fourteen years of age is not allowed the work in any factory. Any adolescent between fifteen
and eighteen years can be employed in a factory only if he obtains a certificate of fitness from
an authorized medical doctor. A child between fourteen from an authorized years of age
cannot be employed for more than four and a half hours.
The Apprentices Act, 1961states that a person is qualified to be engaged as an
apprentice only if he is not less than fourteen years of age an satisfied such standards of
education and physical fitness as may be prescribed.
Under the Indian Penal Code, 1860, there are various age limits for various
purposes. Such as for the purposes of criminal liability the age limit is seven years and in
certain cases twelve years, for the purpose of protecting a child from defines child to mean a
male or female child of the age of six to fourteen years.
Thus, it can be observed that various Acts do not have a uniform definition of the tem
child. All the status varies the upper age limit between fourteen, sixteen and eighteen years.
The variation goes further, as Article 445 of the Constitution specifies that the State shall
endeavour to provide an early childhood specifies that the state shall endeavour provide an
early childhood care and protection for all children until they complete the age of six years.
Fundamental Right to Education under Article 21 A of the Constitution is restricted the age
limit for compulsory education up the fourteen years. Keeping the view the aforesaid
flexibility and variation, it is strongly felt that the age for a person to be a child should be
increased to eighteen years. Even the drafted Bill of the new Prevention of Offences against
the Children Act, 2009 is subject to criticism on age issues. According to this law, a sexual
offence can only be called so it is committed with or without the consent of a child below
fourteen years of age or without the consent of a child below fourteen years of age or without
the consent of a child above sixteen years.
But whereas this draft sets sixteen years this draft sets sixteen years as the definite
age of children, voting and marriage laws set the age at eighteen years and twenty-one years
for girls and boys respectively. Clearly, there is disparity and the fact that Indian law does not
recognize a uniform age for children, often leads to complications. Under these alternative
specifications, the term child as provide in various statutes, is viewed as burden who invokes
right to maintenance and support.
(ii) INADEQUANCY OF THE DEFINTION OF CHILD
Constitutionally children are recognized as resources for the country’s

development necessitating their nurturing and advancement. It seems that there does
not appear to be any criterion or scientific parameter regarding the definition of child.
Keeping this in view it is necessary that the age of the children should be brought in
conformity to the Child Right Convention, 1989 i.e. below eighteen years of age. The
idea of review of the definition of Child in the light of Article 1 of the Convention of
the Child Rights has been under consideration with the Law Commission of India.
CHAPTER -3
(i) Problem of Child Labour
Child labourers are exploited, exposed to hazardous work conditions and paid
a pittance for their long hours of work. Forced to forego education, shouldering
responsibilities far beyond their years, becoming worldly- wise when their peers have
yet to leave the cocoons of parental protection, these children never know what
childhood is. The Indian Constitution enshrines that:
 No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory
or in any hazardous employment (Article 24).
 Childhood and youth are to be protected against exploitation and against
moral and material abandonment (Article 39(1)).
 The state shall endeavour to provide within a period of 10 years from the
commencement of the Constitution free and compulsory education for all
children until they complete the age of 14 years (Article 45).
Nature of Child Work

A majority of the working children are concentrated in the rural areas. About
60 per cent of them are below the age of 10 years. Business and trade absorb 23 per
cent while work in households covers 36 per cent. The number of children in urban
areas who work in canteens and restaurants, or those engaged in picking rags and
hawking goods, is vast but unrecorded. Among the more unfortunate ones are those
who are employed in hazardous industries: For instance, the fireworks and match box
units, in Sivakasi in Ramanathpuram district in Tamil Nadu employ 45,000. children:
In the slate pencil industry of Mandsaur. in Madhya Pradesh, out of a total workforce
of 12,000 workers, 1000 are children below the age of 14 years, making up 8.3 per
cent of the total workforce. In the slate industry of Markapur in Andhra Pradesh,
about 3,750 child workers are involved in a total workforce of 15,000 workers. The
lock making industry of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh employs between 7,000 and 10,000
children below the age of 14 years, accounting for 9 per cent to II per cent of all
workers. In the brassware industry of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, about 40,000-
50,000 children are working and comprise 27 per cent to 30 per cent of the total
workforce. In the glass industry of Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, 50,000 children are
working with a total workforce of 2 lakh workers.
In a study on the impact of development on the rural women in western Uttar
Pradesh, as many as 83 out of 245 girls in 6-11 age group (about 33.5%) were found
to be engaged in some economic activity. Over 52 per cent of the girls in the age
group 11-18 were similarly engaged. It was estimated that around Bhadohi in Uttar
Pradesh, 25 percent of the 50,000 workers engaged in carpet-weaving were children,
while in Mirzapur 8,000 of the 20,000 workers were children. In Kashmir, the carpet
weaving industry employs small girls in back-breaking work. in another flourishing
craft of this region—the fine hand embroidery—children are required to maintain the
same posture for long hours and strain their eyes on intricate designs. This often leads
to permanent physical deformities and eye damage. In and around Surat (Gujarat),
boys in their early teens are engaged in large numbers in diamond-cutting operations
which causes irreparable damage to the eyes.
The surveys of the metropolitan and mega cities make shocking revelations.
Mumbai has the largest number of child labourers. In Saharanpur, 10,000 child
workers are engaged in the wood carving industry, working for 14 hours a day and
getting just seven to eight rupees a day. In Varanasi, 5,000 children work in the silk
weaving industry. Even in Delhi, 60,000 children work in dhabas, tea-stalls and
restaurants on a daily wage of Rs. 8 or Rs. 10. In the mining sector, 56 percent of
workers are children below 15. In most cases, children are lavoured as they are docile
and hence can be exploited.
Child labour is inextricably linked to bonded labour. In Andhra Pradesh, 21
per cent of the bonded labourers are under sixteen. In Karnataka, 10.3 per cent and in
Tamil Nadu 8.7 per cent belong to this age group. A study shows that at the time of
entering bondage, many labourers are as young as five years old. in Orissa, one
common way of clearing debt is to sell daughters, eight to 10 years old, as maid
servants to the creditor. In several parts of the country, bonded fathers, over 40 years
old, free themselves by deputing their sons into bondage.
In the tea gardens of Assam where employment of children below 12 years is
prohibited, girls who bring food to their working mothers are encouraged to stay back
and help with the work. Children, mostly boys, have an important role to play in
mining operations. While men do the digging inside the pits, boys carry coal to the
surface. Children below 12 are preferred because their height allows them to walk
without bending in the tunnels. Preference for child workers is most common in the
unorganized sector because here it is relatively easy for employers to circumvent
laws. Children are concealed from factory inspectors during inspection, their ages are
raised arbitrarily to make them eligible for employment, or those eligible for adult
wages are denied their legitimate share because the employers lower their age in the
forms.
Working conditions of Child Labourers
Children work in dangerously polluted factories whose brick walls are scarred
with soot (black powder in smoke) and there is an oppressive smell in the air. They
work near furnaces which bum at a temperature of 1400° centigrade. They handle
dangerous chemicals like arsenic arid potassium. They work in glass blowing units
where the work exerts their lungs and creates diseases like tuberculosis.
Among the working children, many are the main or major wage- earners in the
family who always remain worried about feeding their dependents. The migrant child
worker's whose parents live in some far off city or village are generally in despair.
Some work for 9 to 10 hours including night shifts. When the factories are fully
functional, they at paid not more than Rs. 500 per month, all of which they hand over
their ‘guardians’ who do not give them even a rupee a day for tea during the night
shift. There are times when their bodies ache, minds fog hearts- cry, spirits bleed, but
on orders of the employer they work for two hours of stretch.
A visit to several factories in Lucknow,Kanpur ,Unnao,Firozabad in
UttarPradesh , reveals that a large number of child workers have sunken chests and
thin bone frames which give them a fragile look. They look like rag dolls, limp,
unwashed and scraggy. They wear coarse and badly tailored clothes. Many of them
have scabies on hands, arms and legs. The heads of a few are tonsured probably
because the skin on their skull has developed severe infections.
A large number of the child workers are virtually confined in small rooms
under inhuman conditions and in the most unhygienic surroundings. Most of these
children come from extremely poor households. They are either school drop-outs or
have not seen any school at all. They earn very meagre wage and work in most unsafe
conditions. The hazardous conditions take their toll. Children suffer from lung
diseases, tuberculosis, eye diseases, asthma, bronchitis and backaches. Some are
injured in fire accidents. Many become unemployable even at the age of. If injured or
incapacitated, they are discarded mercilessly by their employers.
(ii) Causes Of Child Labour
Child labour in India is a product of socio-economic and cultural conditions.
Anti-constitutional policies, inadequate legislative measure and lack of political will
may also be taken as important factors responsible for the persistence of this unlawful
social evil. Social neglect of the indifferent attitude towards then also contributes
much for the large child labour force. In most cases the sinister capabilities and
intelligence have been found to be the root cause behind child labour. Further, in
many cases the poor parents in bad habits and with criminal tendencies take the child
in confidence and tell him affectionately that education could not improve their
economic conditions and that in the long run he would be earning significantly if he
starts just now.
Besides, poverty also plays a dominant role in continuance of child labour so
much so that a child cannot avail the benefits of state policy for free education to
children. He cannot effort to go to school for education and miss the wages. The basic
need is not education but food, medicines and clothes, say the people.
This reason for such violation of child rights are directly and indirectly related
to poverty, social discrimination, prevailing attitudes, custom and the inefficiently or
inappropriateness or educational system. Inadequacy and lack of enforcement of
legislation on the subject also plays an important role. Bondage to repay a creditor or
cash advances at rates of interest which are forever beyond the means of poor families
is also one of the important factors responsible for manifestation of child labour. The
children are mortgaged to landlords or moneylender for small sum of money
borrowed for purposes like treatment of sickness and social ceremonies, etc. It seems
amazing that at times the cycle is inter-generational child labourers working through
adulthood and old age, then replacing their labour with that of their own children.
Undoubtedly the existence of child labour, in our country, in most of the cases
is the gift of poverty but it cannot be denied that there are certain other causative
dimensions of the problem and the social structure is also one of them. The child
labourers are mostly from schedules caste, schedules tribes, and other backward
classes and religious minorities. It is to be noted that girls constitute a major portion
of the working children. For instance, in Tamil Nadu match factories, half the total 90
per cent of female work force are children. This manifests the problem of the girl
child and prevailing gender inequalities. This is because of considerable disparities
evident in terms of sex ratio, health and nutritional status, literacy and school
enrolment. Lack of quality and relevant education to the poor may also be taken as
one of the major causative factor.
We find that in most of the schools in rural and tribal areas the enrolment
remains few and drop-out rates high. In some areas of the carpet manufacturing belt
of North India the dropout rates reach 80 per cent. This thing is directly related to the
issue of child labour but does not consider it entirely unacceptable being violative of
children rights.
Besides, to the employer, child labour is profitable as the wages of children
are small, their complaints few and they accomplish in some industries and
occupations as much as an adult. The employers, therefore, do not hesitate in
exploiting the children in their own interest without any consideration for their needs
for healthy growth and development. Child labour is a great socio-economic evil. It
is, indeed, a national waste as it involves several for-reaching socio-economic
implications. The children have to work head for long and this is harmful for their
health and normal development. Certain economic problems are also created because
of this constitutional practice. The use of labour as its lowest productivity results in
an insufficient utilization of labour force.
Then a sort of unfair competition with adult labour is caused due to the
practice of employing child labour and this is found to result in extensive
unemployment of adults or working conditions may be less satisfactory than they
would otherwise have been there. Further the social control is also adversely affected
by child labour.
Lastly the moral, psychological, intellectual and social development of the
tiny workers is hampered because they are deprived of their basic right to education,
recreation, love and affection, socialization and protection.
In certain cases the child may have left school to escape rigidities and
restraints only to find himself subjected to the rigour of his job or 8 to 10 hours a day
instead of 5 to 6 with a boss instead of a teacher and a machine instead of a lesson.
Fatigue, specially cumulative fatigue, which lowers the psychophysical tone and
heightens suggestibility is an important factor in the deployment of neurotic
tendencies among working children. Repression of normal impulses, desire and
power of children at work causes then to burst out excessively in their hours of
freedom seeking to have a good time or to exalt their submerged and humiliated
selves. Delinquency as a phase of adolescence instability is at once a revolt from
monotony restraint and an exaggerated propulsion in the direction of amusement,
adventure and recognition. Child labour deprives the child of education, training and
skills which are necessary pre-requisites of earning power and economic
development. Further, it adds to the cost of industrial accident to which children are
far more responsible than their elders.
(iii) Effects of Child Labour
There are very bad effects of child labor for our society, which forces some
children to steal things from others in order to satisfy their daily living. Many small
girls are even made to indulge in prostitution. A recent case of child labor came into
picture where a 10 year old kid was beaten to death because the innocent kid was slow
at things. The cruel owner went angry and threw the child across the room resulting in
the most extreme punishments. It was not only the cruel owner who was at the fault,
but the parents of the child were also equally involved in this incident. They took $10
as advance and sent their child to work for the sake of getting some monthly income.
May be even the parents would never have thought that a little sum of money could
lead to such horrible incident. There are various organizations which are fighting
against child labour by helping children and imparting education among that part of
society from where majority of the child labour comes. Poor families should be given
knowledge about family planning/control so that they are not burdened by children.
It would be advisable not to keep small children at home for taking domestic help in
daily household chores. Let us all take some step in this direction so that we can bring
smiles to many faces and make this world a beautiful place for a child to live in.
CHAPTER-4
Child labour and Organized Sectors

As noted above child labour constitutes a significant percentage of labour
force in India. Poverty, illiteracy and other social conditions push children into the
labour market. These children are deprived of love, care, protection and healthy
development. Instead, they are exploited, abused and condemned to live in an
uncogenial environment. The forms of exploitation and types of abuse widely differ
according to the nature of the job the child has taken up within and outside his house.
So, according to the nature of the jobs, we can divide child labour in the following
three categories.
CHILD LABOUR IN ORGANIZED SECTOR
A large numbers of children are found working in organized industries such

as, beedi manufacturing, firework, glass and bangles industry and many others such
types of industries.
BEEDI MANUFACTURING
Though the beedi and cigar conditions of Employment Act 1966 prohibits the
employment of children below the age of fourteen years in any industrial premises,
but child labour is prevalent in beedi manufacturing. Children roll beedis and assist
adult workers by clearing and cutting the leaves and closing the ends. Studies have
shown that children involved in beedi manufacturing show anemia. There is a
significant indication to suspect a high incidence of tuberculosis among the beedi
workers. The children involved in beedi making, start smoking at an early age and
become habitual smokers. Sometimes these children also start taking drugs with
beedis.
As per the data of the study on child abuse, amongst the total number of
working children, 7.8% children were working in beedi rolling. Among these 83.33%
were girls. Out of all children working in beedi rolling industry, 47.92% were in the
age group of five to twelve years, 25% in the age group of thirteen to fourteen year4s
and 27.08% in the age group of fifteen to eighteen years. Within each of these age
groups, from the percentage of boys and girls, it can be observed that there were a vey
large number of girl working in the beedi rolling sector. Almost half of these were in
the age group of give to twelve years. The impact on the health and development of
these children is a matter of concern. Out of the total children working in beedi
rolling, 14.04% reported physical abuse by employers. Among these, 91.94% were
boys. Further age wise break up of physically abused children by the employer
showed that 53.23% of these boys were from the age group of five to twelve years,
20.97% in the age group of thirteen to fourteen years and 25.81% in the age group of
fifteen to eighteen.
GLASS AND BANGLES INDUSTRY:
A large number of children who work in glass bangle industries work in
furnaces with temperature upto 1400 centigrade.They’re usually employed in Jurai
(joining the end), Chhatai (sorting), Kotai (ingraining different pattern with the help
of abrasive wheel), Pakai (heating) and then in counting and packaging. The
decoration of bangles with bill (liquid gold) is done by girls and women.
The glass and bangle factories run for about eitght months in the year and
work only at night. Children between eight to fourteen years of age constitute one
fifth of the total labour force employed in the industry and are paid low wages. The
high temperature inside the factory makes working during summers miserable. A
large number of cases of asthma and bronchitis are reported each year. The life span
of these child workers is reduced because of the intense heat and dust. According to
doctors of Firozabad (a town in U.P. famous for bangles making), 90 percent of the
workers contact pneumoconiosis, a condition which leads to tuberculosis. In fact,
Firozabad has the highest incidence of tuberculosis. In fact, Firozabad has the highest
incidence of tuberculosis in the State of Uttar Pradesh. These young children also
suffer from various eye diseases.
MATCH AND FIREWORK INDUSTRY:
In my Kanpur visit I felt that children working in match and firework factories
inhale toxic fumes while mixing chemicals. They also suffer high degrees of internes
heat and run the risk of being awfully burnt and injured in fire accidents. Children
who stamp frames on the metal sheets also suffer heat, toxic fumes and excessive
strain on the arms and shoulders, while they remove and place the heavy fringes with
reatrapidity. Delay of second can cause the entire frames to grip in roaring flames
resulting in instant death of the child.
LIQUOR AND PESTICIDE INDUTRY: Similarly in liquor and pesticide factories
the condition is not different .The childrens employed in such factories are always at
risk .No safety measures are provided to them .There are no register by which the
employer could prove that they employ the child workers only for that hours fixed by
various enactments .There is no medical facility to children employed there.
LOCK INDUSTRY
A large mumber of children working in the lock industry work on hand press,
on buffing machine, polishing rusted metal pieces in electroplating workshops and in
from tuberclosis and other upper respiratory tract diseases. Workers in electroplanting
plants complain of breathness, asthama and acute headaches.
PRECIOUS STONE POLISHING INDUSTRIES
This industry also employs huge number of children, all of whom are from
slums and work in miserable conditions. The work is finalized by tycoons whose
middle men prune children for pittance and swallow the profit they generate.
OTHER BUSINESSES
In handlooms and carpet weaving industry, children assist the adult workers.
They work in the middle of the loom, while adults work on the ends. The carpet
weaving in Jammu & Kashmir employ large number of children of eight to ten years
of age forcing then to work for six hours a dayfor a very meager salary. In
powerlooms and handlooms, the cildren are packed into sheds in long rows behind
giant looms. Around the area, the air is thick with particles of cotton fluffs and wool.
About 60 percent of the children working in carpet and handloom industry are
asthmatic or have primary and other lung diseases such as bossiness, which is caused by
cotton dust and fiber which get embedded in the lining of the lungs and causes fibrosis of
tissue. This reduces the normal capacity of the lungs and puts pressure on the surviving
tissues. A patient of bossiness is highly susceptible to bronchitis and tuberculosis. There are a
large number of children working in the power looms industry of Bhiwandi in Maharashtra.
Recently on the basis of the information provided by an NGO Human Rights
Watch, a joined raid was carried out by the Central District Police, Labour
Department and activists of the NGO and the owners of various leather bag
manufacturing units employing a large number of children having been detained and
cases have been registered against them under the Juvenile justice (care and
protection of children) Act 2000, Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986
and Bonded Labour Abolition Act, 1976. The children, who were completed to work,
were found working in dingy and dirty shacks. These children were also made to
work for long hours and were paid little or no wages.
According to the study on child abuse, amongst the total number of working
children, 57.81 per cent were children working in other occupations. Amongst the
children working in other occupations (shop sales assistant, construction workers,
artisans, auto repairing, lock, carpet and agarbatti making, embroidery and zari, etc.),
61.28 per cent were boys and 38.72 per cent were girls. Out of those children working
in other occupations. 51.41 per cent were from the age group of five to twelve years
and 22.99 per cent in the age group of thirteen to fourteen years, followed by 25.60
per cent in the age group of five to twelve years and 22.99 per cent in the age group
of thirteen to fourteen years. Out of the total children working in other occupations,
46.40 per cent reported physical abuse by employers. Among these, 75.19 per cent
were boys and 24.81 per cent girls. Further age wise break up showed that 23.26 per
cent of these children were from the age group of five to twelve years, 27.91 per cent
in the age group of thirteen to fourteen years and 48.84 per cent in the age group of
fifteen to eighteen years.
CHAPTER-5
( I) INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
The Declaration of the Rights of the Child which was unanimously adopted by
the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20 November 1959 says that
‘Mankind owes to the child the best it has to give. Then the Declaration also provides:
(I) ‘The child by reasons of his physical and mental immaturity needs
special safeguard and care including appropriate legal protection’
(II) ‘the child shall enjoy the benefits of social security’....
(III) ‘the child shall enjoy special protection and shall be given
opportunities and facilities by law and by other means, to enable
him to develop .... in a healthy and normal manner and in
conditions of freedom and dignity.
In the enactment of laws for this purpose,
(I) the, best interests of the child shall be the paramount considerations’;
(II) ‘the General Assembly calls upon local authorities and national
governments to recognise these rights and strive for their observance’
(III) ‘All children without any exception whatsoever shall he entitled to
these rights, without distinction or discrimination on account of
national or social origin, poverty, birth or status, whether of himself or
of his family’.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the General
Assembly of the United Nations on 20 November 1989 and ratified by 135 nations
including India, lays down that state parties recognise the right of the child to
protection from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to
be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s
health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. 1 Further, it
stipulates that the countries shall take legislative, administrative, social and
educational measures to ensure implementation of the present article. It specifies the
following measures:
(a) provide for a minimum age or minimum wages for admission to
employment;
1
Art.32 of UN Convention on Rights of the Child 1989.
(b) provide for appropriate regulation of the hours and conditions for
employment;
(C) provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective
enforcement of the present article.2
Subsequently it has also been reaffirmed in the (I) World Conference on Education
for All at Jomtien in March 1990; (ii) World Summit on the Children in the autumn of
1990; and (iii) SAARC Conference on Children in 1991 and 1992. It is to be noticed
that SAARC countries have resolved to eliminate child labour progressively and in an
accelerated manner. Also there are several conventions and recommendations adopted
by the ILO since its inception in 1919 which clearly speak that children below 14
years of age must not be put to work.
However ,the harsh reality is that in India ratification of international labour standards
has been effective more as a ‘status symbol’ and for upholding the country's image
abroad rather than for their sincere implementation and compliance in practice. The
ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by the Government of
India is merely window dressing, says Swami Agnivesh.3 Whereas, the Constitution
of India provides that the stale shall endeavour to foster respect for international law
and treaty obligations in dealing with organised people, with one another.4 So also the
apex court of India has observed that international convention if ratified by ‘ the
Government of India would be binding on it.5
2
Id..art.32. para 2.
3
See. Mainstream 2 Oct. 1983
4
Art. 51(c). Constitution of India
5
SheelaBarse‘.v. Union of India, (1983) I.S.C.C. 1975; Legal Aid Committee v. Union of India; (1989)
S.C.C. 331
(II) NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
Taking the position of law, in India, on the point of interest and welfare of the
child, we find that the Constitution provides that 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.6 It further provides that the health and strength of workers, man and
woman 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 and strength. 7 It also
proclaims that childhood and youth are protected it against exploitation and against
moral and material abandonment)8 Besides, there are several special laws relating to
child labour safeguarding interests of the child workers.9
It is to be noted that Britishers in 1938 had enacted Abolition of Child Labour
Act with a cleat intent to abolish the employment of children whereas Indian
Parliament after a long period of about half a century has legislated this Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 which does not speak for abolition hut just for
prohibition and regulation of child labour. In the statement of objects and reasons of
this Act the continuance of child labour has been justified on the ground of economic
necessity.
The constitutional position in this regard is contained in the provisions under
article 39 (e) which, as has been referred to above, mandates the state to direct its
policies towards children in such a way as not to be abusive of their tender age and
prohibits that the citizens would not he forced by economic necessity to enter any
avocation harmful and abusive of their age or strength. 10 Thus we see that employing
of children as workers even under excessive pressure of economic necessity has been
prohibited.
Now coming to the point of constitutional status of this provision, it is to be
noted that it falls under chapter. IV of the Directive Principles of State Policy. In the
beginning the principles were considered not be justifiable in courts of law and hence
6
Art 24.
7
Art.39(e)
8
Art. 39(f)
9
Factories Act 1948: Mines Act 1952: Merchant Shipping Act 1958: Motor Transport Workers
Act 1961: Plantation Labour Act 1951: Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act
1966: Children (Pledging of Labour) Act 1933: Apprentices Act 1961: Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act 1986: and Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, etc.
10
See, art. 39(e) Constitution of India
not binding on the state. They were supposed to be merely guidelines which may or
may not be followed by the state while framing the policies. However, the judiciary
has altogether altered the position. Once the Supreme Court held that Parliament is
competent to amend the Constitution to override or abrogate any of the fundamental
rights in order to enable the state to implement the Directives so long as the basic
structure of the Constitution is not affected.11 The court could not like their non-
implementation which is evident from the fact that it has been directing governments
and administrative authorities to take positive action to remove any grievance which
may be existing only because of non-implementation of the Directives. The point of
relationship between the Directive Principles and Fundamental Rights was further
elaborated by Y.V. Chandrachud C.J. in the case of Minerva Mills v. Union of
India12that Part Ill and Part IV are like two wheels of a chariot and observed that “to
give absolute primacy to one over the other is to disturb the harmony of the
Constitution.” Then just after two years the court raised the status of Directives at par
with the Fundamental Rights when it observed that the Directive Principles are to be
read into Fundamental Rights.13 Then the court in another case held that it should
make every attempt to reconcile the Fundamental Rights with the Directive
Principles.14 Thus it may be taken as well settled that the provisions under Part Ill and
Part IV of the Constitution are supplementary and complementary to each other and
that fundamental rights are a means to achieve the goal indicated in Part IV. 15 Thus
we notice that the constitutional directives under Part HI are being implemented, if
any, by the states and the administrative authorities only after they become a sort of
‘judicial directive’. Now the question arises as to why non-enforceability of the
Directive Principles of State Policy was maintained by the framers of the Indian
Constitution? The only answer seems to be to give the state some reasonably
sufficient time to implement these principles. A long time of more than four decades
has elapsed which is definitely a reasonably sufficient tune. Therefore, if today the
central or state governments justify the existence and continuance of child labour on
the ground of economic necessity that cannot be accepted as sufficient. It is
11
KesavanandBharti v. State of Kerala, A.I.R. 1973 S.C. 1461
12
A.I.R. 1980 S.C. 1789
13
Randhir Singh v. Union of India A.I.R. 1982 S.C. 879
14
BandhuaMuktiMorcisav. Union of India, A.1.R.1984 S.C.802.
15
See. R.R. Dangwal’s paper “Article 21 and Child’s Right to Education” presented at the National
Workshop on Rights of the Child held in the Law Faculty of Lucknow University on 14-15 Jan.
1994
ridiculous. It amounts to constitutional mockery. It reflects total lack of will and
advertent slackness on the part of the state. The state is’3udicially accountable for not
giving priority to implement such a humane and significant constitutional mandate.
Justice K.N. Singh, has also pointed out that the laws have been there but there has
been no will to enforce them effectively. 16
(iii) Child Labour and Constitutional Provisions
Our Constitution manufacturers were wise and sagacious to produce, that
youngsters should receive distributive justice in free Bharat. The rights against
exploitation were mentioned within the draft projected by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, K.M.
Munshi and K.T. Shah.
While Dr. Ambedkar’s draft merely on condition that subjecting an individual
to forced labouror involuntary thralldom would be AN offence, K.M. Munshi’s draft
article instructed for abolishment of all types of slavery,childlabour, traffic inchild
and compulsory labour.
Constitution of Bharat contains provisions for survival, development and
protection of children; these are primarily enclosed partly III and half IV of the
Constitution, i.e., elementary rights and directive principles of state policy. India
follows pro-active policy towards attempt child labour downside. the priority for
children normally and childlabour especially is mirrored through the Articles of the
Constitution of Bharat. In Article twenty three, it prohibits traffic in person and begar
and alternative similar types of forced labour. below Article twenty four it's set down
that “no child below the age of fourteen years shall be used to figure in any mill or
mine or engaged in the other unsafe employment”. Article 39(e) and (f) needs the
State and secure that the tender age of youngsters aren't abused and to confirm that
they're not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations incompatible in their age
or strength.
Those youngsters ar given opportunities and facilities to develop during a
healthy manner and conditions of freedom and dignity which childhood and youth ar
protected against exploitation and against ethical and material abandonment. Article
forty five provides, for free and mandatory education for all youngsters till they
complete the age of fourteen years. Article 51A(k) makes it a elementary duty of the
16
See. Justice K.N. Singb, “No will to Enforce Child Labour Laws”, The Economic Times 12 Oct.
1992.
parent or Guardian to provide opportunities for education to the child or ward
between the age of six and fourteen years. Art. 21-A acknowledges that the proper to
Education as elementary right and it mandates that, the state shall offer free and
mandatory education to any or all youngsters of age of six to 14 years in such manner
because the state could, by law, determine.
Article Title Discription
21-A Right to Free And The State shall provide free and
compulsory education to all
Compulsory Education
children of the age of 6 to 14
years in such manner as the
State, by law, may determine.
24 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.
39 e&f The state shall in Particular The state shall in Particular

direct its policy towards direct its policy towards
securing 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
51-k Elementary Duty Of Article 51A(k) makes it a

Parents elementary duty of the
parent or Guardian to
provide opportunities for
education to the child or
ward between the age of
six and fourteen
years.
(iv) Legislative Measures for Child Labour in India
The first protective legislation for child labour in India was seen in 1881 in the
form if 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 LabourOrganisation.
Besides Constitutional provisions, there are several legislative enactments which
provide legal protection to children in various occupations.
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986)
I OBJECT:
To prohibit the engagement of children in certain employment’s and to regulate the

conditions of work or children in certain other employment’s.
DEFENITION:
Child: Child means a person who has not completed his fourteen years of age.
II APPLICABILITY: In extends to the whole of India.
III PROHIBITION OF EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN IN CERTAIN
OCCUPATIONS AND PROCESSES:
No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the following

occupations: Set forth in part of ‘A’ of the schedule or in any workshop where in any
of the process set forth in part ‘B’ of the schedule to this Act
1. Transport of passengers, goods; or mails by railway.

2. Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or building operation in the railway
premise.
3. Work in a catering establishment at a railway station, involving the movement
of vendor or any other employee of the establishment from one platform to
another or into or out of a moving train.
4. Work relating to the construction of railway station or with any other work
where such work is done in close proximity to or between the railway lines.
5. The port authority within the limits of any port.
6. Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks in shops with temporary
licenses.
7. Abattoirs/slaughter Houses.
8. Automobile workshops and garages.
9. Founderies
10. Handling of taxies or inflammable substance or explosives.
11. Handlom and powerloom industry.
12. Mines (Under ground and under water) and collieries.
13. Plastic units and Fiber glass workship
OR
In any workshop wherein any of the following processes is carried on.
1. Beedi making
2. Carpet Weaving
3. Cement manufacture including bagging of cement.
4. Cloth printing, deying and weaving.
5. Manufacture of matches, explosive and fire works.
6. Mica cutting and splitting.
7. Shellac manufacture
8. Soap manufacture
9. Tanning.
10. Wool cleaning
11. Building and construction industry
12. Manufacture of slate pencils (including packing)
13. Manufacture of products of agate
14. Manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances such as lead,
mercury, manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene, pesticides and asbestos
(Section-3).
15. All Hazardous prossess an defined in section 2(cb) and dangerous operations
as notified in ruler made under section 87 of the factories Act 1948.
16. Printing (as defined in section 2(k) of the factories Act 1948.
17. Cashew and cashew nut descaling and processing
18. Soldering process in electronic industries.
19. Agarbathi manufacturing.
20. Automobile repairs and maintenance (namely welding lather work, dent
beating and printing)
21. Brick kilns and Roof files units.
22. Cotton ginning and processing and production of hosiery goods.
23. Detergent manufacturing.
24. Fabrication workshop (ferrous and non-ferrous)
25. Gem cutting and polishing.
26. Handling of chromites and manganies ores.
27. Jute textile manufacture and of coir making.
28. Lime kilns and manufacture of lime
29. Lock making.
30. Manufacturing process having exposure to lead such as primary and secondary
smelting, welding etc. ( See item 30 of part B process).
31. Manufacture of glass, glass ware including bangles fluorescent tubes bulbs
and other similar glass products.
32. Manufacturing of cement pipes, cement products, and other related work.
33. Manufacture of dyes and dye stuff.
34. Manufacturing or handling of pesticides and insecticides.
35. Manufacturing or processing and handling of corrosive and toxic substances,
metal cleaning and photo enlarging and soldering processes in electronic
industry.
36. Manufacturing of burning coal and coal briquette.
37. Manufacturing of sports goods involving to synthetic materials, chemicals and
leather.
38. Moulding and processing of fiberglass and plastics
39. Oil expelling and refinery.
40. Paper making
41. Potteries and ceramic industry.
42. Polishing, moulding, cutting welding and manufacture of brass goods in all
forms.
43. Process in agriculture where tractors, threshing and harvesting machines are
used and chabt cutting
44. Saw mill all process.
45. Sericulture processing.
46. Skinning dyeing and process for manufacturing of leather and leather
products.
47. Stone breaking and stone crushing.
48. Tobacco processing including manufacturing of tobacco, tobacco paste and
handling of tobacco in any form.
49. Tyre making repairing, re-trading and graphite beneficiation.
50. Utensils making polishing and metal buffing 51 ZariMaking (all process)
IV CHILD LABOUR TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE:

The central government may by notification constitute a child Labour
technical advisory committee to advise the central govt. for the purpose of addition of
occupations to the schedule of the Act. (Section-5).
V HOURS AND PERIOD OF WORK:
No child shall be required or permitted to work in any establishment in excess
of number of hours prescribed (Section-7) In Kerala the working hours in limited to
four and half hours in a day. (Rule -3).
The period of work on each day shall not exceed three hours and no child shall
work for more than three hours before he has had an interval for rest for at least one
hour. No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7 P.m. and 8 a.m.
No child shall be required or permitted to work overtime. (Section-7).
VI WEEKLY HOLIDAY:
Every child shall be allowed in each week a holiday of one whole day.
(Section-8).
VII NOTICE TO INSPECTOR:
Every occupier shall within 30 days send a written notice in Form-A to the
inspector within whose local limits the establishment is situated. (Section-8 read with
Rule-4).
VIII DISPUTES AS TO AGE:
If any question arises between an inspector and an occupier as to the age of

any child, in the absence of a certificate in Form-C as to the age of such child granted
by the prescribed medical authority, be referred by the inspector for decision to the
prescribed medical authority. ( A govt. medical officer not below the rank of an
Assistant surgeon of a district or on officers having equivalent rank in ESI
Dispensaries or hospitals (Section-10 read with Rule -16)
IX REGISTERS:
Every occupier of an establishment shall maintain a register in respect of
children employed or permitted to work at the establishment in F orm-B. (Sect.II read
with Rule-15)
X DISPLAY OF NOTICE:
Every occupier shall display in the establishment the abstract of section-3 and 14 in
form-D of the Act (Section 12 read with Rule -17)
X1 PENALITIES:
Violations under Section-3 shall be punishable with imprisonment which shall
not be less than three months which may extend to one year or with fine which shall
not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty thousand rupees
or with both. Continuing offence under section (3) shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may
extend to two years.
Any other violations under the Act shall be punishable with simple
imprisonment, which may extend to one month or with fine, which may extend to ten
thousand rupees or with both.
X11 WHO CAN FILE PROSPECUTIONS:
1. Any person
2. Police Officer 3. Inspector appointed under the Act
No. court inferior to that of a metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the
First Class shall try any offence under this Act. (Section-16)
Shall be a Government Medical Officer not below the rank of an Assistant
Surgeon of a district or an officer of equivalent rank employed on a regular basis in
Employees State Insurance dispensaries or hospitals. 17. Abstract of the Act.- An
abstract of sections 3 and 14 of the Act shall be displayed in form D suspended to
these rules (Rule 17)
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. Significant among them were the National Commission
on Labour (1966-1969), the Gurupadaswamy Committee on Child Labour (1979) and
the Sanat Mehta Committee (1984). 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.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation Amendment Bill, 2012 was
introduced in RajyaSabha on 4 December, 2012 further to amend the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. The amendment also seeks a blanket ban on
employing children below 18 years in hazardous industries like mining. The Bill is
referred to Standing Committee on Labour and Employment.
Enforcement Figures on Child Labour

As per the data received from various States, the details of inspections carried
out, prosecutions launched, convictions made under the Child Labour Act during the
last five years and current year are given as under:
Year No. of Inspections No.ofProsecutions No.of Convictions
2007 363927 12705 617
2008 355629 11318 763
2009 317083 11418 1312
2010 239612 8998 1308
2011 84935 4590 774
2012** 25040 589 167
** The information yet to be received from many States
FACTORIES ACT,1948
The provisions regarding children are as follows :
Section 67. Prohibition of employment of young children.—Section 67
provides that no child who has not completed his fourteenth year shall be required or
allowed to work in any factory.
Section 68. Non-adult workers to carry tokens.—Section 68 lays down that
a child who has completed his fourteenth year or an adolescent shall not be required
or allowed to work in any factory unless,—
(a) a certificate of fitness granted with reference to him under Section 69 is in the
custody of the manager of the factory ; and
(b) such child or adolescent carries while he is at work a token giving a reference to
such certificate.
Section 69. Certificate of fitness.—According to Section 69 a certifying
surgeon shall, on the application of any young person or his parent or guardian
accompanied by a document signed by the manager of a factory that such person will
be employed therein if certified to be fit for work in a factory, or on the application of
the manager of the factory in which a young person wishes to work, examine such
person and ascertain his fitness for work in a factory.
Section 69(2) lays down that the certifying surgeon, after examination, may
grant to such young person, in the prescribed form, or may renew-
(a) a certificate of fitness to work in a factory as a child, if he is satisfied that the
young person has completed his fourteenth year, that he has attained the prescribed
physical standards and that he is fit for such ork
(b) a certificate of fitness to work in a factory as an adult, if he is satisfied that the
young person has completed his fifteenth year, and is lit for a full day’s work in a
factory.
But unless the certifying surgeon has personal knowledge of the place where
the young person proposes to work and the manufacturing process in which he will be
employed, he will not grant or renew a certificate under this sub-section until he has
examined such place.
Section 69(3) lays down that a certificate of fitness granted or renewed under
sub-section (2)-
(a) shall be valid only for a period of twelve months from the date thereof
(b) may be made subject to conditions in regard to the nature of the work in which the
young person may be employed or requiring re-examination of the young person
before the expiry of the period of twelve months.
According to Section 69 (4) a certifying surgeon shall revoke any certificate
granted or renewed under sub-section (2) if in his opinion the holder of it is no longer
fit to work in the capacity stated therein in a factory.
Section 69(5) lays down that where a certifying surgeon refuses to grant or
renew a certificate or a certificate of the kind requested or revokes a certificate he
shall, if so requested by any person who could have applied for the certificate or the
renewal thereof, state his reasons in writing for so doing.
Section 69(6) provides that where certificate under this section with reference to any
young person is granted or renewed subject to such conditions as are referred to in
clause (b) of sub-section (3), the young person shall not he required or allowed to
work in any factory except in accordance with those conditions.
According to Section 69(7) any fee payable for certificate under this section
shall be paid by occupier and shall not be recoverable from the young person, his
parents or guardian.
Section 70. Effect of certificate of fitness granted to adolescent.-Section
70(1) lays wn that an adolescent who has bean granted a certificate of fitness at work
in a factory as an adult under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 69 and who
while at work in a factory carries a token giving reference to the certificate shall be
deemed to be an adult for all the purposes of Chapters VI and VIII.
According to Section 70 (I-A) no female adolescent or a male adolescent who
has not attained the age of seventeen years but who has been granted a certificate of
fitness to work in a factory as an adult, shall be required or allowed to work in any
factory except between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.:
Provided that the State Government may by notification in the official Gazette, in
respect of any factory or group or class or description of factories,-
(i) vary the limits laid down in this sub-section so however, that no such
section shall authorise the employment of any female adolescent between
10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
(ii) grant exemption from the provisions of this sub-section in case of serious
emergency where national interest is involved.
According to Section 70(2) and adolescent who has not been granted a
certificate of fitness to work in a factory as an adult under the aforesaid clause (b)
shall, n twithsting his age, be deemed to be a child for the purposes of this Act.
Section 71. Working hours for children.—Section 71(1) prohibits a child
from being employed or permitted to work in any factory—
a) in any day
b) during the night.
Explanation- For the purposes of this sub-section “night” shall mean a period
of at least twelve consecutive hours which shall include the interval between 10 p.m.
and 6 a.m.
Section 71(2) lays down that the period of work of all children employed in a
factory shall be limited to two shifts which shall not overlap or spreadover more than
five hours each and each child shall be employed in only one of the days which shall
not, except with the previous permission in writing of the Chief Inspector, be changed
more frequently than once in a period of thirty days.
Section 7 1(3) provides that the provisions of Section 52 shall apply also to
child workers, and no exemption from the provisions of that section may be granted in
respect of any child.
No child, under Section 7 1(4), shall be required or allowed to work in any
factory on any day on which he has already been working in another factory.
(5) No female child shall be required or allowed to work in any factory except
between 8 am. and 7 p.m.
Section 72. Notice of periods of work for children.-Section 72(1) provides
that there shall he displayed and correctly maintained in every factory in which
children are employed, in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section
108 a notice of periods of work for children, showing clearly for every day the periods
during which children may be required or allowed to work.
According to Section 72(2), the periods shown in the notice required by sub-
section (I) shall be fixed before-hand in accordance with the method laid down for
adult workers in Section 61 and shall be such that children working for those periods
would not be working in contravention of any of the provisions of Section 71.
The provisions of sub-sections (8), (9) and (10) of Section 61 shall, in view of
Section 72(3), apply also to the notice required by sub-section (1) of this section.
Section 73. Register of child workers.—According to Section 73(1). the
manager of every factory in which children are employed shall maintain a register of
child workers to be available to the Inspector at all times during working hours or
when any work is being carried on in a factory, showing-
(a) the name of each child worker in the factory’;
(b) the nature of his work
(c) the group, if any, in which he is included
(d) where his group works on shifts, the relay to which he is allotted ;
(e) the number of hi certificate of fitness granted under Section 69.
No child worker shall be required or allowed to work in any factory unless his
name and other particulars have been entered in he register of child workers.
Section. 73(2) authorises the State Government to prescribe the form of the
register of child workers, the manner in which it shall be maintained and the period
for which it ‘shall be preserved.
Section 74. Hours of work to correspond with notice under Section 72 and
register under Section 73.—Under Section 74 a child shall not be employed n any
factory otherwise than in accordance with the notice of periods of work for children
displayed in the factory and the entries made before-hand against his name in the
register of child workers of the factory.
Section 75. Power to require medical examination.—Under Section 75 an
Inspector may serve on the manager of the factory a notice requiring that—
(i) such person or young person, as the case may be, shall be examined
by a certifying surgeon ; and
(ii) such person or young person shall not, if the Inspector so directs be
employed, or permitted to work, in any factory until he has been so
examined and has been granted a certificate of fitness or a fresh
certificate of fitness, as the case may be, under Section 69 or ‘as been
certified by the certifying surgeon examining him not to be a young
person.
The Inspector may as aforesaid serve the notice if he is of opinion-
(a) that any person working in a factory without a certificate of fitness is a young
person ; or
(b) that any young person working in a factory with a certificate of fitness is no
longer fit to work in the capacity stated therein.
Section 76. Power to make rule.-Section 76 empowers the State Government
to make rules -
(a) prescribing the forms of certificates of fitness to be granted under
Section 69, providing for the grant of duplicate in the event of loss
of the original certificates, and fixing the fees which may be charged
for such certificates and renewals thereof and such duplicates.
(b) prescribing the physical standards to be attained by children and
adolescents working in factories
(c) relating to the procedure of certifying surgeons under this Chapter
(d) specifying other duties which a certifying surgeon may he required
to perform in connection with the employment of young persons in
factories and fixing the fees which may be charged for. such duties
and the persons by whom they shall he payable.
Section 77.Certain other provisions of law not barred-Section. 77
provides that the provisions of this Chapter shall be in addition to and not in
derogation of, the provisions of the Employment of the children Act, 1938.
Other Acts:
The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933
The Employment of Children Act, 1938
The Act was enacted to regulate the employment of children in a certain

industrial establishments and was amended by The Employment of Children
(Amendment) Act, 1978.
Prohibition of employment: This act prohibits employment or permission to
work in any specified occupation of a child who has not completed fifteen years.
Occupations specified are those -
1. connected with the transport of passengers, goods or mail by railway and other
occupations in railway premises such as Cinder-picking or clearing of an ash
pit or building operation, in catering establishments at a railway station or in
occupation relating to construction of a railway station or any other work with
close proximity to the railway lines.
2. connected with a port authority within the limits of any port.
3. building and construction industry.
Permission to work: No child who has completed fifteen years of age but not
completed seventeen years of age shall be employed or permitted to work in any of
the above occupations unless the periods of work of such child allow an interval of
rest for at least 12 consequitive hours, inclusive of minimum of such seven
consequitive hours, between 10 p. m .to 7 a. m. as may be prescribed. These
provisions are not applicable to any child employed or permitted to work either as an
apprentice or for the purpose of receiving training.
The competent authority may in an emergency or in public interest, by a
notification in the official gazette, declare the above provision to be non-operative for
a specified period.
Further prohibition: No child who has not. complet.ed fourteen years of age
shall be employed or permitted to work in any workshop, as defined under the Act,
wherein any of the processes set. forth In the schedule to the Act is carried on.
This provision is not applicable to any workshop wherein any process is
carried on by the occupier with the aid of his family only and without employing
hired labour or to any school established by, or receiving assistance or recognition
from a State Government. The State Government can, after not less than three months
notice in official gazette, amend the schedule.
Notice: The Act requires the occupier to notify the Inspector before carrying
on work in the workshop. The notice should contain t.he specified information.
Dispute as to Age: In the absence of a certificate by a medical authority, the
dispute regarding age shall be referred by the Inspector t.o the Medical Inspector for
decision.
Register/Notice: Employer is required to maintain the prescribed register and
to notify an Abstract of the Act conspicuously on the notice Board.
Penalty: Defaulting employer/person shall be punishable with simple
imprisonment upto one month or with fine upto five hundred rupees or both.
Prosecution: With the previous sanction of Inspector prosecution can be
instituted in the Court of presidency Magistrate or Magistrate of the First Class.
Powers to make rules: The competent Authority is autho- rised to notify rules
relating to the specified matters.
The Employment of Children (Railway) Rules 1955 and The Employment of
Children (Major Ports) Rules 1950 relate to the above stated provisions.
The Minimum Wages, Act 1948
The Minimum WagesAct,1948 and rules made thereunder by the government

A tripartite Committee Viz., "The Committee on Fair Wage" was set up in 1948 to
provide guidelines for wage structures in the country. The report of this Committee
was a major landmark in the history of formulation of wage policy in India. Its
recommendations set out the key concepts of the 'living wage', "minimum wages" and
"fair wage" besides setting out guidelines for wage fixation.
Article 39 states that the State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards
securing (a) that the citizen, men and women equally shall have the right to an
adequate livelihood and (b) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and
women.
Article 43 states that the State shall endeavour, by suitable legislation or
economic organization or in any other way, to give all workers, agricultural, industrial
or otherwise, work, a living wage, conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of
life and full enjoyment of leisure, and social and cultural opportunities.
Enactment of the Minimum Wages Act
Historical Backdrop
 The initiative started with the resolution placed by one Shri. K. G. R.

Choudhary in 1920 for setting up Boards for determination of minimum wages
in each industry.
 The International Labour Conference adopted in 1928 Convention No.26 and

Recommendation No. 30 relating to wage fixing machinery in trades or parts
of trades.
 On the recommendation of the Standing Labour Committee and Indian

Labour Conference, a Labour Investigation Committee was appointed in
1943 to investigate into the question of wages and other matters like housing,
social conditions and employment.
 A draft bill was considered by the Indian Labour Conference in 1945.
 The 8th meeting of the Standing Labour Committee recommended in 1946 to

enact a separate legislation for the unorganized sector including working
hours, minimum wages and paid holidays.
 A Minimum Wages Bill was introduced in the Central Legislative Assembly

on 11.4.46 to provide for fixation of minimum wages in certain employments.
It was passed in 1946 and came into force with effect from 15.3.48.
Under the Act, Central and State Governments are appropriate Governments to
(a) notify scheduled employment (b) fix/revise minimum wages
The Act contains list of all these employments for which minimum wages are to
be fixed by the appropriate Governments.
There are two parts of the Schedule. Part I has non-agricultural employments
whereas Part-II relates to employment in agriculture.
Criteria for notification of scheduled employment
Under the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, both Central and
State Governments are appropriate Governments to fix, review and revise the
minimum wages of the workers employed in the scheduled employments under their
respective jurisdictions. The appropriate Governments have also been empowered to
notify any employment in the schedule where the number of employees is 1000 or
more and fix the rates of minimum wages in respect of the employees employed
therein.
There are 45 scheduled employments in the Central Sphere while in the State
Sphere the number of such employments is as many as 1596.
The Minimum Wages Act does not provide for any discrimination between
male and female workers or different minimum wages for them. All the provisions of
the Act equally apply to both male and female workers.
Norms for fixation/revision of minimum wages
The norms include those which were recommended by the Indian Labour
Conference in its session held in 1957.
(a) 3 consumption units for one earner.
(b) Minimum food requirements of 2700 calories per average Indian adult.
(c) Clothing requirements of 72 yards per annum per family.
(d) Rent corresponding to the minimum area provided for under Government's
Industrial Housing Scheme.
(e) Fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20% of
the total Minimum Wages.
Other parameters
(i) "Children education, medical requirement, minimum recreation including
festivals/ceremonies and provision for old age, marriage etc. should further
constitute 25% of the total minimum wage." This judgment was delivered by the
Supreme Court of India in 1991 in the case of Reptakos Brett and Co. Vs. its
workmen.
(ii) Local conditions and other factors influencing the wage rate.
Methods for fixation/revision of minimum wages Fixation
Section 3 empowers appropriate Government to fix the minimum rates of wages
in the scheduled employments.
Revision
Revise the Minimum rates at an appropriate interval not exceeding five years.
Procedure for Fixation/Revision
In Section 5 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, two methods have been
provided for fixation/revision of minimum wages. They are Committee method and
Notification method.
Committee Method
Under this method, committees and sub-committees are set up by the
appropriate Governments to hold enquiries and make recommendations with regard to
fixation and revision of minimum wages, as the case may be.
Notification method
In this method, Government proposals are published in the Official Gazette for
information of the persons likely to be affected thereby and specify a date not less
than two months from the date of the notification on which the proposals will be taken
into consideration.
After considering advice of the Committees/Sub-committees and all the
representations received by the specified date in Notification method, the appropriate
Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, fix/revise the minimum
wage in respect of the concerned scheduled employment and it shall come into force
on expiry of three months from the date of its issue.
Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA)
In order to protect the minimum wages against inflation, the Central
Government has made provision of Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) linked to
Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers (CPI – IW). As regards States
Governments/Union Territory Administrations, 26 of them have made VDA as a
component of minimum wages. Both Central and State Governments are revising the
minimum wages in respect of these scheduled employments from time to time with
100% neutralization. Accordingly, VDA is revised periodically twice a year effective
from 1 st April and 1st October in the Central Sphere.
Enforcement
The enforcement of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is secured at two levels.
While in the Central Sphere, the enforcement is secured through the Inspecting
officers of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) commonly designated as
Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM), the compliance in the State Sphere is ensured
through the State Enforcement Machinery. They conduct regular inspections and in
the event of detection of any case of non-payment or under-payment of minimum
wages, they advise the employers to make payment of the shortfall of wages. In case
of non-compliance, penal provisions prescribed in the Act are taken recourse to.
National Wage Policy

Though it is desirable to have a National Wage Policy it is difficult to
conceive a concept of the same. The National Wage Policy has been discussed on
many occasions in different fora. Because fixation of wages depends on a number of
criteria like local conditions, cost of living and paying capacity also varies from State
to State and from industry to industry, it would be difficult to maintain uniformity in
wages. The Indian Labour Conference, held in November, 1985 expressed the
following views-
"Till such time a national wage is feasible, it would be desirable to have
regional minimum wages in regard to which the Central Government may lay down
the guidelines. The Minimum Wages should be revised at regular periodicity and
should be linked with rise in the cost of living"
Accordingly, the Government issued guidelines in July, 87 for setting up of
Regional Minimum Wages Advisory Committees. These Committees renamed
subsequently as Regional Labour Ministers' Conference, made a number of
recommendations which include reduction in disparities in minimum wages in
different states of a region, setting up of inter-state Coordination Council, consultation
with neighbouring States while fixing/revising minimum wages etc.
 The Plantations Labour Act, 1951
 The Mines Act, 1952 :The Minimum age of a person to be employed in mine
is eighteen years as specified under sub-section (1) of Section 40 of the Mines
Act, 1952. Section 45 of Mines Act, 1952 prohibits presence of any person
below 18 years of age in any part of the mine above ground where any
operation connected with or incidental to any mining operation is being
carried on.
 The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 :The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958
prohibits children less than 14 years of age to or carried to sea work in any
capacity in any ship, subject to certain exceptions.
 The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933
 The Motor Transport Workers’ Act, 1961: The Motor Transporters Act, 1961
prohibits employment of children less than 14 years in any motor transport
undertaking.
 The Apprentices Act, 1961

 The Atomic Energy Act, 1962
 The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966
:The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966
prohibits the employment of children less than 14 years of age in any
industrial premises manufacturing beedi or cigar.
 The Shops and Establishment Act in Various States, and
 Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976 prohibits the employment of
any person including children.
 Explosive Act, 1984 prohibits the employment of children below the age of
18 years.
(V) GOVERNMENT MEASURES AND NATIONAL POLICY OF
AMELIORATION
The government believes that it is not easy to completely wipe out child
labour. It, therefore, has only tried to improve their working condition -reduce
working hours, ensure minimum wages and provide--facilities for health and
education. It could be said that the national policy has three main ingredients—legal
action focusing on general welfare, development programmes for the child workers
and their families and a project based action plan. Initially ten projects were proposed
to cover the areas where child labour is prevalent. They included the glass industry in
Firozabad, carpet-weaving in Mirzapur, diamond-cutting industy in Surat and Jaipur,
brassware industry, in Moradabad, match works Sivakasi, and so forth. Of these, only
two or three have been taken up o far. It was also contemplated in the policy to utilize
the ongoing projects for the child workers and their families in order to cover their
education, health, job prospects and a study of the socioeconomic conditions which
compelled these children to work at such an early age.
The Union government set up a National Authority on October 2, 1993 to
eliminate child labour in hazardous industries by the turn of the century. R. 850 crore
were provided in this plan for benefiting two mu-. lion children (out of a total of 17
million child labour in the country), , about 15 per cent of the total. childlabour(The
Hindustan Times, March 21, 1995). The.planaims at rehabilitating the child workers,
giving them education in 15,000 schools in different parts of the country, and
providing - compensation to families whose wards are withdrawn from hazardous
jobs.
But is this plan merely vote catching action to fulfil an independence promise
(on August 15,1994) to rehabilitate child. workers at the rate of two million a year, or
the government is really serious to - eliminate this problem. The seriousness appears
to be doubtful. The reasons are: (1) The government does not have a clear idea of the
magnitude of the problem, for one thing, the number of child labour is at least two and
half times the figure of 17mil1ion as revealed by many independent studies. (2) The
figure -of rehabilitating two million child: workers in servitude every year is a tall
order. (3) The plan does not take. into account the ever-mounting addition to the ranks
of child labour, as the- rising pace of farm mechanization and rural impoverichment
drive children to jobs in exploitative industries for sheer survival (4) ‘Hazard’ out
industry has not been defined as yet. (5) The Union Labour Minister himself has
admitted in the Parliament (on March 19, l995) that it is not easy to abolish child
labour in our country. (6) The govern-ment does not have any plan to punish those
employers who employ children as cheap labour. (7) The plan to shift the thrust of the
anti-poverty programmes to those segments of society that contribute the bulk of the
child labour largely remains on paper. (8) Nothing worth while has come out of the
action plan announced by the Labour Ministry in August 1986 as an essential
component of the national policy on child labour. Of the ten projects drawn up under
the plan to enforce the Act and provide welfare inputs in industries like l.ass, carpet-
weaving, diamond-cutting, matchworks, etc., some work is being done only in two or
three projects. (9) Enforcement officials who are supposed to supervise the safeguards
against the exploitation of children in-various industries are too indifferent to their
duties. (10) The children in the unorganized sector are unprotected and it is in the
unorganized sector (like domestic servants, hawkers, rag-pickers, paper vendors,
agricultural labourers, and even industrial concerns like the lock-making industry)
where the children are most shamelessly exploited.
The Supreme Court, in a significant judgment, given on December 10, 1996,
while disposing of a public interest litigation by one lawyer, aimed at preventing
exploitation of children and safeguarding their economic, social and humanitarian
rights, banned child labour on hazardous lobs and ordered the setting up of a Child
Labour Rehabilitation Welfare Fund. Offending employer would have to deposit
Rs. 20,000 as compensation for each child in the fund. The Court made it clear that
the liability of the employer would not cease even if he now desired to disengage the
child. The Court issued comprehensive directions to central and state governments to
see that an adult member of the child’s family gets a job in lieu, of the child’s
employment. However, realizing the strain on the resources of the state, the Court did
not ask the government to ensure alternative employment in every case of the child
labourer instead, the appropriate government would be required to deposit Rs. 5,000
in the fund for each child employed in a factory or mine or any other hazardous
employment (The Hindustan Times, December 11, 1996). The Court also directed the
concerned states to conduct a survey child labour-within six months, for which the
Court identified nine industries among primary cases of child labour employers.
These industries were: match ‘industry in Sivakasi, ‘Tamil Nadu; diamond polishing
industry in Surat, Gujarat; precious stone polishing industry, Jaipur, Rajasthan; glass
industry in Firozabad, brassware industry in Moradabad and the handmade carpet
industry in Mirapur-Bhadoi, lock making industry in Aligarh.— all in Uttar Pradesh;
slate industry in Markapur, Andhra Pradesh, and ;‘slate industry in Mandsaur,
Madhya Pradesh. The Court said that the employment given or payment made would
cease if the child is not sent for education by the parents. The Court warned of penal
action in case of non-compliance of the directive. In the context of non-hazardous
jobs, the Court directed the appropriate authority to see that the working hours of the
child do not exceed four to six hours a day and at least two hours - are set aside daily
for the child’s education. It would also ensure that the entire cost of education was
borne by the employer.
(VI) JUDICIAL ATTITUDE & RESPONSES IN CHILD LABOUR CASES
Human dignity is an important aspect of the right to life guaranteed under

article 21 of the Constitution of India. Its importance has been highlighted by Sikri
C.J. when he observed that supremacy of the Constitution and its basic Structure
which consists of secular and federal character, republican and democratic forms of
government and separation of power is built on the basic foundation, i.e., dignity and
freedom of the individual.17 Similarly Chief Justice Chandrachud also observed that
dignity of the individual could be preserved through the right to liberty and equality.
18
Then V R Krishna Iyer C J in the case of Inder Singh v. State19held that the spiritual
basis of our constitutional order is human dignity and social justice and not the
sadistic cruelty and hard confinement In Francis CoralisMullin.v. administration
Union Territory of Delhi20the Supreme Court observed that the right to life includes
the right to live with human dignity and all that goes alongwith it The child labourers
are firstly children and then labourers. As such, they should also not be treated cruelly
and inhumanly.
17
See, supra note 14.
18
Minerva Mills v. Union of India, (1960)2 S.C.C. 660.
19
(1978) 4 S.C.C. 161.
20
(1981) 1 S.C.C. 618
In BandhuaMuktiMorchav. Union of India21Justice P.N. Bhagwati held:
It is the fundamental right to everyone in this country assured under the
interpretation given to Article 21 ..to live with human dignity.... It must include the
tender age of children against abuse opportunities and facilities for children to
develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity, educational
facilities, just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief. These are the
minimum requirements which must exist in order to enable a person to live with
human dignity and no state neither the central government nor the state government,
has the right to take any action which will deprive a person of the enjoyment of these
basic essentials which go to make up a life of human dignity.22
In the light of Supreme Court judgments in the cases of Maneka Gandhi23and
Sunil Batra24any kind of brutality, constant fear of violence, psychological restraint,
encroachment of person, destruction of any organ of the body through which the soul
communicates with the outer world, physical assault, allotment of degrading labour,
lack of adequate medical care, poor food service, inadequate or non-existent
rehabilitative and educational facilities and payment of nominal subsistence
allowance have been forbidden under article 21 of the Constitution of India.25
However, it remains a bitter truth that in most of the cases the little workers are not
provided adequate medical care, rehabilitation and educational facilities, good food
service, payment of normal subsistence allowance and so on. Then the apex court in
L.K. Pandeyv. Union of India26observed that welfare of the entire community, its
growth and development depends upon the health and well-being of its children and
that children need special protection because of their tender age and physique, mental
immaturity and incapacity to look after themselves.
The Supreme Court is of the view that construction work is hazardous
employment and hence no child below the age of 14 years can be allowed to be
employed in construction work.27 In the case of M. C. Mehia V. State of TN28this
court had said that the children must be provided basic diet during working period.
21
See, supra note 17
22
Id.at 183
23
(1978) 1 S.C.C. 248
24
(1978) 4 S.C.C. 494
25
See, art. 21.
26
(1984) 2 S.C.C. 244 at 249
27
Labourers working in Salal Hydro Project v. State of J and K., A.I.R. 1984 S.C. 177
28
A.IR.1991 S.C. 417
However, the court could not maintain its activism and championship for
rights of the child in this case when it went out of tune with the constitutional spirit
and aspirations envisaging a fair deal for children. It is a matter of surprise that the
Supreme Court in this case allowed children to be employed in match factories of
Sivakasi in Madras, where admittedly hazardous manufacturing process of matches
and fireworks is carried on. The court could not foresee that risk is also involved in
sorting out and processing for the purpose of packing of such objects, when it
observed that the tender hands of young workers are more suited to sorting out the
manufactured products and process it for the purpose of packing. Going a step further
against the rights of the child it considered childrens’ special adaptability working in
match and fireworks in sorting out and packing manufactured products and ruled that
at least 60 per cent of the prescribed minimum wages for an adult worker doing the
same work should be given to the child worker. This author could not understand as to
why only 60 per cent? While they have specially adopted efficiency, why not at least
equal to what is paid to the adult workers? The judgment is not in accordance with the
constitutional spirit and aspirations speaking for a fair play with the rights of the
child.29
JUDICIAL RESPONSE IN CHILD LABOUR CASES
Over 40 million children are out of school in India. Out of these 25-30 million
are child labourers and over 75% of them work in hazardous occupations. As per the
recommendations of the Technical Advisory Committee on Child Labour the new set
of occupations added on the hazardous work are domestic work and the work in the
hospitality sector. The children working in these sectors most often suffer physical
violence, psychological traumas and at times even sexual abuse. Such incidents often
go unnoticed and unreported as they take place in the close confines of households or
dhabas or restaurants. Children are made to work for long hours and to undertake
various hazardous activities, which affects their health and physique.
These children start working at an early age, shoulder excessive
responsibilities, such as caring for babies and infants, handling fuel stoves, sharp tools
etc. They work for long hours with no rest period, with little or no remuneration. They
29
See also Shriniwas Gupta, "Human rights of the Child and Judicual Activism in India". Central India
L.Q. vol. VII, pp.133-168 (1994)
are deprived of access to schools, play and social activities and the affection and
support of their family and friends. These conditions not only apply to child domestic
workers but all children at work. Children who are employed in roadside canteens and
highway dhabas are the most vulnerable and are easy prey to sex and drug abuse as
they come in contact with all kinds of people. Following are some cases on Child
Labour where the judiciary has show its activist approach.
In Labourers of Salal Hydro Project30 the Supreme Court observed that
whenever the Central Government undertakes a construction project which is likely to
last for a considerable period of time, it should ensure that children of construction
workers who are living at or near the project site are given facilities for schooling.
The court also specified that this may be done either by Central Government itself or
if the Central Government entrusts the project work or any part thereof to a contractor
or, and the necessary provision to this effect may be made in the contract.
Further in M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu,31the Supreme Court

observed that in our country, the goal of Article 45 of the Constitution (all children up
to the age of fourteen years to get education) remains a distant dream due to poor
economic conditions, children are compelled to seek employment. So the court ruled
that children can be employed in the process of packing of fireworks but packing
should be done in an area away from the place of manufacture to avoid exposure to
accidents.
In another M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu case,32a three judge’s bench
of the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment. The court held that
fundamental rights of children against exploitation were being grossly violated in
match and firework industries in Sivakasi where children were employed. The court
further held that the manufacturing process of matches and fireworks was hazardous,
giving rise to fatal accidents.
This ruling has certainly Succeeded in generating a log of enthusiasm relating
to the elimination of child labour amongst the agencies Concerned and the state
government. The court also observed that, “a tremendous , responsibility to look into
the exploitation of child labour has been placed on the inspectors appointed under the
30
Labourers of Salal Hydro Project v. State of Jammu & Kashmir, 1983 Lab IC 542.
31
M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu, AIR 1991 SC 283.
32
AIR 1997 SC 699: 1997 AIR SCW 407: (1996) 6 SCC 756.
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. But many of these inspectors
are themselves responsible for the tardy implementation of the Act. There is a need
for orientation and training of these inspectors and the other staff concerned to
sensitize them toward eradication of child labour".
In People’s Union for Democratic Rights,33also known as theAsaid case, the
Supreme Court provided a rule to determine what constitutes forced labour. The court
held that where a person provides labour or service to another for remuneration which
is less than the minimum wages, the labour or service provided by him clearly falls
Within the scope and ambit of forced labour .
The court held that although the constructioi1 industry is not mentioned in the
schedule under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 and is not
within the scope of provision Section 3(3) of the Employment of Children Act, 1938,
yet, a child under the age of fourteen years can be protected from working
construction industry by virtue of Article 24 of the constitution.34 This is a
constitutional prohibition which, if not followed up by the appropriate legislation,
must operate’ proprio-vigoreas construction Work is plainly and undoubtedly a
hazardous employment.
In NeerjaChaudharyv. State of M.P,35 Upon a PIL filed by public spirited
journalist the Supreme Court directed the State Government to form a vigilance
committee to work for rehabilitation of freed child bonded labourers and carry out
these, directions Within one month. The Court also directed the State Government to
take immediate action for identification and release of bonded labourers.
InBandhuaMuktiMorcha36 judgment, the court directed the Central
Government to convene a meeting of the concerned Ministers from different States to
evolve policies for the progressive elimination of child labour. The court held that the
workers who were being held in bondage without basic amenities such as shelter,
drinking water or two square meals in a day, amounts to violation of fundamental
rights, as everyone has a right to live in this country free from exploitation. Thus it
was pointed out that thre is a need for compulsory education of children, vocational
training, health checkups and nutritious food.
33
People's Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India, (1982) 3 SCC 235: AIR 1982 SC 1480
34
Article 24 provides that no child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any
factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
35
(1984) 3 SCC 24
36
BandhuaMuktiMorcha v. Union of India, AIR 1997 SC 2218: 1997 AIR SCW 2083: (1997) 2 SCR 379.
In People's Union for Civil Liberties, a PIL was brought under Article 32 of
the Constitution of India. This was based upon a report given by an NGO called
"campaign against Child Labour". According to this report, One Rajput used to travel
to Madurai in Tamil Nadu for the purpose of procuring child labour by paying a paltry
sum ranging between Rs. 500-1500 to the poor parents . The children aged below 15
years so procured were forced into bonded labour. It was further stated in the report
that one of the boys, ShiveMurugan, aged about 8 years was beaten to death by the
Rajput. Rajput was already tried for murder by the trial court.
The other four boys named Raja Murugan (aged 8 years), Rajesh (aged 13
years), Muniyadi (aged 15 years) and Mukesh aged 16 years) were not traceable after
the death of Shiva Murugan. Under the directions of the court three of the boys
namely Rajesh, Muniyadi and Mukesh were traced by the Maharashtra Police. But the
fourth boy Raja Murugan who was the real brother of Shiva Murugan was still
untraceable. It was argued on behalf of the petitioner, that the parents of these boys
were entitled to compensation and to support their contention, they relied on
NilabatiBeherav. State of Orissa.37
The Supreme Court held that “a claim in public law for compensation for
contravention of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the protection of which is
guaranteed in the Constitution”, is an acknowledged remedy for enforcement and
protection of such rights. A claim based on strict liability made by resorting to a
constitutional remedy provided for the enforcement of a fundamental right, is ‘distinct
from, and in addition to, the remedy in private law for damages for the tort’ resulting
from the contravention of the fundamental right. The defense of sovereign immunity
being inapplicable and alien to the concept of guarantee of the fundamental rights, it
is this principle which justified the award of monetary compensation for
contravention of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. It is the only
practicable mode of redress available for the contravention made by the States r its
servants in the purported exercise of their powers, and enforcement of fundamental
rights is claimed by resort to the remedy in public law under the Constitution by
recourse to Articles 32 and 226 of the Constitution.
It is further contended that, under the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act, 1976,
the State of Maharashtra was required to set up effective vigilance machinery to
37
AIR 1993 SC 1960: 1993 AIR SCW 2366: (1993) 2 SCC 746
ensure that the children in the State were not exploited. The trial Court, while
convicting Rajput, came to the conclusion that the District Magistrate and the
Vigilance Committees were set up under the above mentioned Act were not
functioning properly.
The Supreme Court directed the State of Maharashtra to pay a sum of Rs. 2
Lakh to Raja Murugan for himself and also for the death of his brother Shiva
Murugan. Since Raja Murugn (a minor) was an orphan, the amount had to be
deposited with the District Magistrate of the area where Raja Murugan lived. The
District Magistrate had to deposit the amount in a scheduled bank. The total income
so earned had to be divided into 12 months and given to Raja Murugan till he attained
majority when he would be entitled to receive the principal amount. This amount of
Rs. 2 Lakh had to be paid by the State of Maharashtra.
So far as the other three boys Rajesh, Muniyadi and Mukesh were concerned,
the Court directed that they had to be given Rupees Seventy Five thousand each as
compensation which -would be given by the State of Tamil Nadu within two months
from the judgment. The amount had to be deposited to the District Magistrate
concerned who would deposit the sum in a scheduled bank. Monthly interest had to
be paid to the parents till the children attain majority, d when they would be entitled
to the principal amount
CHAPTER -6
MAJOR FINDIS OF THE STUDY
The term child right and child welfare in a broad sense refers to all those
measure which lead to the proper physical, social and psychological development of
the child as against inhuman treatment and child neglect which often causes a lot of
damage to the victims and are responsible for their hyperactivity, low intelligence
quotient, physical defect, withdrawal symptoms, less coaxial responsibility, anxiety,
rebellious feelings,. Continuous abuse and neglect, despite awareness regarding its
implications can be disastrous for the child development. There is no denying the fact
that India is lagging far behind the west in providing welfare measure to child. During
my research I found in theoratical study and the study of data collected earlier that
inspite of several legislative measures by enactment of statutory provisions to curb
employment of children in hazardous employment and those injurious to health, the
exploitation of children by different profit makers for their personal gains continued
unabated in utter disregard of constitutional injunction and statutory prohibition.
From the analysis of the relevant statutory provisions of the Indian laws relating to
child labour, it has become abundantly clear that the statutes vary as to the age limit
of a child employed or permitted to work in various occupations.
There is no law fixing minimum age for employment of children in agriculture. The
Factories Act, 1948, fixes minimum age of 14 whereas the International Labour
fire work factories inhale toxic fumes while mixing chemicals .They also suffer high
degrees of intense heat and run the risk of awfully burnt and injured in fire accidents
fringes with great rapidity .Delay of a second can cause the entire frames to grip in
today.
A large number of children who were working in glass bangle industries ,work
in jurai (jointing the end ),chhatai(sorting),kotai etc.
A policy contradiction?
Although most countries have ratified the Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, the Convention for the Right of the Child, both ILO Conventions and
have subscribed to the Millennium Development Goals, the policy of many
governments and international donors with regard to education in developing
countries and the policy against child labour is not always based on a comprehensive
and integrated view of these agreements.
Policy assumptions that hinder the elimination of child labour are:
• Many governments and donors working on education in developing countries

lack an explicit vision and approach that aims at the integration of the
approximately 215 million working children 6 around the globe into formal, full-
time education up to the minimum age of employment according to ILO
Convention 138. When an approach on working children does exist, it is often
based on the presumption that part-time education for many working children is
the ‘utmost achievable’.
• The policy against child labour is often only or mainly based on Convention 182
to combat the worst forms of child labour. While children in these worst forms do
need special attention, this can be done most effectively while also building a
norm that condemns all forms all child labour. In the absence of such a norm, it
will be difficult to abolish the worst forms of child labour. Child labour policies of
donors must therefore be linked to providing full-time education for all children,
with if necessary specific strategies for reaching out to specific groups.
To a large extent these (policy) contradictions arise out of the assumption that
two important values clash: the right to education and the right to survive/ live. A
choice is then made for the latter presuming that poverty makes it impossible for
working children to follow full-time education – a choice between the lesser of two
evils, or so it seems. We believe, and the experience of the MV Foundation and
organizations in Africa and Latin America have shown, that the survival versus
education arguments are not mutually exclusive, and that – although there are of
course many obstacles - also poor parents will go to great lengths to send their
children to school.
In reality, it is not only desirable but also practically feasible – through an

integrated education and child labour policy in both developing and donor countries –
to include children of poor families into formal full-time education and to fight all
forms of child labour that keep children from attending full time education. In fact,
the seemingly unavoidable ‘choice out of necessity’ between ‘two evils’ only serves
to perpetuate both child labour and poverty.
Following are some aspects which require immediate consideration.

1. The light incidence of corporal punishment (beating) in the schools is a clear
indicator for the absence of use of positive disciplining techniques by
teachers. Some state governments have banned corporal punishment in
schools. In spite of this corporal punishment continues unchecked. There is an
urgent need for formulating a central legislation banning corporal punishment
and creating a system wherein such cases are not only reported but strict
action taken is against abusive teachers and principals. However teachers
should be given the authority to scold the students for maintaining discipline.
2. If the problem of child right violation has to be eradicated or even reduced, it
should first be recognized as an issue both by professional and law enforcing
authorities. Apart from stringent laws and measure to prevent child abuse
there is a need to sensitize and educate people who are responsible for
protection of child rights (such as parents, teachers, guardian employers etc.)
Also awareness among professionals like doctors, teachers social workers
voluntary organizations, police and legislative authorities would go a long
way in preventing child abuse.
3. The problem of child abuse and child right violation need to be dealt with area
specific content in matter of child labour, child prostitutions, child
abandonment, abuse and neglect,. It can be observed from the information in
the preceding chapters of the book that child rights violation and child abuse
by parents in India is a growing phenomenon. To curb these problems, india
has to adopt Planned Parenthood to provide the child a mere congenial, safe
and protective domestic environment. The existing child welfare laws in our
country are in need to drastic reforms. Effective machinery needs to be set up
to enforce and implement these laws. The traditional concept to absolute
parental authority and illegal submission has to be effectively changed
through education and legislative process.
4. It is required more particularly that the emphasis is to be laid down on the
reporting of child abuse cases. In this regard we can learn much from west,
such as in England, where there is a National Society for Prevention of
Cruelty (NSPC) to protect children against cruelty and abuse by parents. In
United States, there are state agencies, like, child welfare services and child
and youth services to deal with complaints of child abuse. But there are no
fixed rules about whether reporting power should be enacted into a legal duty
and who should be bound by such duty, what should be reported and to whom
it is to be reported, or this is only a civic duty or a moral duty of a citizen.
CHAPTER -7
Conclusion and Suggestion

Every child who works takes away the job of an adult and every child who
works for lower wages reduces the possibility of fair wages to adults. This fact also
proves that profit motivation of the factory owners and poor living condition o
millions of people have of course, threatened the perpetuation of the problem of child
labour. Article 32 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 which has
already been acceded to by the government of India calls for elimination of child
labour. However, the poverty issue in developing states has made the implementation
of this article a challenging task. The practical enforcement of the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 belies the expectations of law-maker. Despite
the hope aroused of some improvement in the lot of bonded child workers, enactment
of the Child Labour Act has not activated either the state or Central government to any
sort of purposive action. The ‘enactment is ineffective in protecting children from
exploitation. The serious omission in the legislation relates to enforcement machinery,
the laxity of which has enabled employers to circumvent provision of the law with
impunity. In the absence of an efficient and rigrous impaction machinery nothing
prevents employers from flouting legal provision in the full knowledge that child
workers themselves will become willing accomplices in covering it up.
Despite the hope aroused of some improvement in the lot of the child workers,
the enactment of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, has not
goaded either the state governments or the Centre to any sort of purposive action even
on a limited front. Nothing illustrates this apathy as the fate of the plan of action
announced by the Labour Ministry in August 1987 as an essential component of the
national pol icy on child labour. Of the ten projects drawn up under the plan to
enforce the Act and provide welfare inputs in such vulnerable areas as the glass
industry in Firozabad, carpet-weaving industry in Mirzapur, diamond polishing
industry in Surat and match-box making in Sivakasi, only one has been taken up on an
experimental basis. Considering that this lone project in the match industry is an on-
going one that has since been dove-tailed into the action plan, the enunciation of the
policy as such has achieved nothing beyond delineating the responsibility of the states
and the Centre. If this is the fate of a pilot scheme devised to benefit just 30,000 of the
17 million child labour force, the lot of the rest covered by the Act will be no better
than that of the vastly greater numbers slogging for a pittance in the unorganized
sector, who are outside the purview of the Act. The idea behind formulating the action
plan apparently was to make a beginning with the implementation of the new law and
related provisions of other legislations affecting children in such sectors where the
incidence of child labour is quite endemic. The failure of the projects to takeoff
inspires no hope about the success of the plan to shift the thrust of the anti-poverty
programmes to those segments of society that contribute the bulk of child workers.
To this extent, the enactment of the legislation may have proved - in effective
in affording a measure of protection to children forced to earn a living because of the
rising rural impoverishment and the struggle for existence in urban areas. The
legislation was drafted on the sound premise that since the root cause of poverty
cannot be eliminate overnight, the pragmatic approach was to regulate the practice of
child labour. Accordingly, the employment of children below 14 years has been
allowed in selected areas of the non-hazardous organized sector, with suitable
safeguards against their exploitation and provision for educational and recreational
facilities. But a serious omission in the legislation relates to the enforcement
machinery, the laxity of which has enabled employers to circumvent the provisions of
the law with impunity. Even if punishment for the violation of the new law has been
made stiffer, the cheap, flexible and non-complaining labour provided by children
creates a vested interest in perpetuating the practice. In the absence of an efficient and
rigorous inspection machinery, nothing prevents the employers from flouting the legal
provisions in the full knowledge that the, child workers themselves will become
willing accomplices in covering it up. Another lacuna in the Act is the failure to
define what constitutes hazardous jobs, while the committee set up to identify
permissible jobs has not made much progress.
The only way to ensure compliance with the Act is to make punishment for
violations more stringent and incorporate a provision for surprise checks and establish
a separate vigilance cell. With regard to the workers’ interest, it should be ma&
mandatory for all employers to take steps for the intellectual, vocational and
educational well-being and upliftment of a child worker, whether one is employed as
a factory hand, a domestic servant or a shop assistant.
In this context, the impact of policies which may not be specifically addressed
to children but which try to alleviate poverty and inequality can have a significant and
even decisive impact. Such policies may include agrarian reforms, employment-
creation schemes, dissemination of improved technology among the poor, promotion
of the informal sector and creation of cooperatives and social security programs. Laws
and regulations must be backed by effective enforcement machinery. This calls for the
strengthening of labour-inspection and related services. In order to facilitate the
verification of age, an effective system of birth registration should be maintained by
the public authorities. h should be made mandatory for employers to maintain
registers and documents indicating the names and age of all the employed children.
That children have to work is sad, but that they should work in conditions
dangerous to their health and safety is totally unacceptable. Nor can the problem of
child labour be left untackled until economic conditions and social structures are
fundamentally improved.
Toiling long hours for a patience, these little breadwinners accept exploitation
as a way of life. They only know their sorrows. Silent acceptance is writ large on their
faces. Each day adds more to their growing numbers. Though it is true that labour
helps children in their survival, should the children be made to pay for the
government’s inability to provide alternative employment or inability to curb poverty?
Should they be forced to inhabit an adult world, bear adult responsibilities, and suffer
abysmal exploitation?
The welfare of the entire community depends on the health and elfare of the
child. The betterment of the child is the betterment of the community because child is
the future leader. As rightly observed by Milton, child shows the man as morning
shows the day. Obviously, a neglected and abused child will never become a good
and responsible citizen. During the past few decades, the problem of child abuse and
child right violation is on the rise perhaps, because of the poverty and illiteracy. The
problem of child labour, poverty, nutrition, education, employment and respecting
their rights at every front has acquired a very chronic nature and things cannot be
done instantly, it requires time and patience. This problem is further aggravated
because of the greedy needs of parents, relatives, employers and society at large.
Parents and relatives put them to work to meet the daily needs of a family and
slowly become dependent on their income. The employer employs children in various
angerous and hazardous works as they are economically submissive and easy to
control. Society at large employs child as domestic help.
A child whether from rich or poor background have their own miserable
stories, they live in those stories, grows with them and experiences something deadly
everyday. The child feels enslaved even today as they find no redressal of their
problem except some policies and programmes on paper, Simultaneously
consciousness of the community towards child right and the child welfare has also
increased. In this regard, a study team of social welfare department pointed out that “
the importance of child welfare services lies in the consideration that personality of
man is built welfare services lies in the consideration that personality of man is built
up in the formative years and the physical and mental health of the nation is
determined largely by the manner in which child is shaped in early stages.
Article 12 of Child Right Convention, 1989 clearly establishes that children
have a right to be involved in decision which affect them. This right extends from
decisions affecting them as individuals to decisions which affect then as a body. In
spite of this, making child rights participation a reality presents and enormous
challenge to society.
Participation rights may be the most difficult to be recognized because they
are perceived as a challenge to parental and state authority. It is now well recognize
that child participation creates a new challenge for social development. The
committee on the rights of the child recommended that India should develop skill
training programme in community setting for teachers, social workers and for local
officials in assisting children to make and express their informed decisions and to
have their views to be taken into consideration.
SUGGESTIONS
Child labour is an unmitigated social evil, repugnant to modern conscience
and dysfunctional to human and economic development. In view of our contemporary
economic situation, its total eradication through legislation or even planned
development does not seem to be an easy job. However, imposition of free and
compulsory education of quality for children from six to fourteen years of age shall
be an important corrective measure. It seems to be a long tern formula but chances of
failure are the least. Unfortunately, this does not figure in the government’s agenda.
Again the poverty alleviation programmes together witch universalization of
education and general change in attitude only can help in eradicating the evil of child
labour.
The Supreme Court of India would have done better service to the cause of
children rights, had it made a provision for wages to be paid to child workers in
match and fireworks industries at Sivakasi in Madras equal to or more that that are
paid to be adult workers. This would have forced the employers to think twice before
employing a child worker. With due respect to the Supreme Court, it is submitted that
the decision in the aforementioned M.C. Mehta case needs to be reviewed.
Child labour must be replaced by adults as studies reveal that in areas of
extensive child labour there is high unemployment among adults. As a matter of fact
employers find it profitable to employ children due to various considerations. THE
plan to shift thrust of the anti-poverty programmes to those segments of society that
contribute the bulk of child labour must be transformed into reality. Some kind of
financial incentive may also be considered for parents who are prepared to send their
children to schools instead of work place. This would help them to overcome the loss
of wages paid to their children and save them and their family from starvation.
As a matter of fact it cannot be denied that the interest and concern for
children have now stated to move into the Centre of the national and international
political and development debates. WE also find a sort of progressive movement
towards greater compassion and moral responsibility in relation to the children the
world over but what is needed is to try for a conceptual harmonization of the idea of
human rights in general and human rights of the child with realism and truism as
narrated in Dharmashastras as to what social responsibilities we own for these little
souls.
After having exceeded the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 the
Government of India cannot on any ground let the evil practice of child labour to
continue as it substantially negates various rights of the child mentioned in the UN
Convention. It is high time to declare child labour as banned with immediate effect by
enacting an appropriate legislation.
Following are some of the specific suggestions and recommendations to
uphold child right and prevent child abuse. In this regard it is require to make some
positive changes in national Policy, Existing Legislations, Judicial Attitude and in the
process of enforcement of laws.
1. National Policy:
The National Policies for the welfare of children must be dynamic and adopt
itself to the changing situations and help in anticipating possible consequences of
social changes. The National Policy should also view the needs of children both
normal as well as those suffering form various types of handicaps, (Physical, mental
and social) and should also maintain provisions to promote their development into
society. The children of economically weaker sections, delinquent destitute,,
neglected and abandoned children must be provided facilities to overcome their
difficulties and to become good citizens.
The Standards prescribed by the United Nations Convention of the Rights of
the Child and guidelines of National Policy on Child Labour must include
International Labour organization Convention No. 138, which provides fair minimum
wages to parents and free Child Labour. The International Labour Organization
Convention on intolerable and continuous exploitation of children enslaved like
bonded labourers, and conditions in hazardous and arduous work must be enforced.
2. LEGISLATIVE REFORMS:
Access to justice is the primary need and right of every human being
including children. The legal system of a country is a part system of a country is part
of its social system and reflects the social, political, economic and cultural
characteristics of that society. Children as a class need the support of law. The
government has great responsibility through the Courts, Law enforcement agencies
and other legal instruments to protect Child Rights.
As discussed in the preceding Chapters, there are various constitutional and
other provisions to protect the interest of the children, but most of these provisions
are protective in nature and do not include a positive direction to provide
comprehensive services to promote the well being of children. At the same time the
existing laws do recognize the vulnerability of children to neglect and exploitation
and accept state responsibility to protect them from situations which may jeopardize
their development.
Legislative measure concerning children, like most other laws, inevitable
remain flawed, inadequately observed, and in need of constant revision. It is very
clear that through laws, children do not receive the best that mankind has to offer but
they can only be shielded from the worst. There is strong evidence of human rights
and humanitarian legal instruments and under the Constitution of India which shows
that children as such are entitled to special treatment.
The legislation should also look at mechanisms of reporting of child right
violation cases and protecting the persons responsible for reporting. This must be
seen in the context of the fact that more than seventy percent of the child’s
respondents do not report the matter of sexual abuse to anymore. It has very clearly
emerged from various studies that the larges percentage of abusers are persons within
the family or persons in position of trust and authority. Keeping this in view this
legislation also require to address such issues. The interest of the children is to be
safeguarded by provisions of services and by protective measure. There are a number
of well conceived existing programmes and legislative Acts in favour of children. But
the lacuna is in their implementation. The loopholes in the existing legislations also
need to be plugged. If the above mentioned suggestions are implemented with due to
co-operation of voluntary services, there are chances that rights of children would be
saved.
3. IMPLEMENTATION OF LAWS:
The rights provided under various law are limited value unless they are
effectively enforced and asserted. So merely bringing the law will not do justice to the
children. What is required is inter agency structures and creating awareness of child
right protection, and how to deal with it amounts various service provider such as
doctors, teachers, lawyers, judges, police, volunteers, parents etc. so that they can
reduce the risk of abuse.
The child’s right to holistic development requires creative interaction between
judges, lawyers, legislators, intellectuals, bureaucrats, Non-Governmental
Organizations and child victims. The issues relating to child Rights and Child abuse
have to be viewed not in isolation but in the context of national development. It is also
essential that child should be placed high on the agenda of national development. For
many years, there were discussions to have a single law which can protect children
against all kinds of abuse inflicted upon the. It is because existing laws in our country
still don’t encompass the entire gamut of offences country still don’t encompass the
entire gamut of offences committed against children. It has been more than two
decades since India ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
but little has been done to ensure that the mark set by the Convention is met.
The problem of child labour and the exploitation of Children by employers has
further repercussions, such as child’s intellectual growth is hampered by depriving him
of educational opportunities, minimizing their chances for vocational training and
condemning them to low wages all their lives as unskilled labour. Laws that prohibit
the employment of children in more hazardous areas have also not been followed as
children continue to work in such employment and suffer from tuberculosis,
malnutrition and the ill effect of working with noxious chemicals.
Though now under the provisions of Act, child workers have been conferred
the right to unionize to improve their conditions of work and living. But then unless
adequate and stringent safeguards are provided for this, provisions will become yet
another weapon of exploitation. It is therefore too naïve to expect terrorized children
to tender age conditioned to working in cramped, unhygienic and brutalizing
conditions on a subsistence diet, to think independently and organize themselves to
fight for their rights, of which they are totally ignorant.
The Child Labour welfare Board has many officials, but their functioning
inspires no hope for ameliorating the condition of child labour. Even in the amended
laws, there is no mention of a minimum age limit for the employment of the child.
What it says is that children below fourteen years of age must be prohibited from
working in hazardous occupation and employment.
It seems that just as people now seldom talk to slum eradication and please
instead for their improvement, the Government has accepted the grim fact that its
concern is not pull children out of labour force but to ensure that working conditions
are improved . The legislation Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
was drafted on the premise that since the root cause of the poverty canot be eliminated
overnight, so the pragmatic approach was not to prohibit but to regulate the practice of
child labour. The recommendation of the Committee on Child Labour for a ban on the
employment of children has not been accepted by Government, possibly due to the
recognition that child labour is an inevitable byproduct of poverty, which is a long way
from being eradicated and is unavoidable.
Apart from this, serious omission in this legislation related to enforcement
machinery. The lax on the part of authorities has enabled employers to circumvent the
provisions of law with impunity. The only way to ensure compliance of the Act to
some extent is to make the punishment of or violation more stringent, incorporate a
provision for surprise checks, establish a serrate vigilant cell with regard to the
workers interest. It should be made mandatory for all the employers to take steps for
intellectual, vocational and educational well-being of child labourers, whether one is
employed in a factory, hand worker, a domestic servant or shop assistant.
Initial forcing for begging and prostitution, later on impossible for them to earn
their livelihood by any other work honestly. So it is very necessary for a developing
country like ours that it should be checked strictly at the initial stages itself. Laws
alone will not solve the problem. There is a need for more voluntary organizations to
look into the instances of child right violations and deal with cases through enacted
legislation. Voluntary organizations must make surprise checks in the protective
homes and beggars home. A curious aspect of uneven development of welfare policies
is tat correctional administration and institutional care for destitute and dependant
children seems to constitute a disproportionate share of the preoccupation of a number
of state social welfare department.
5. PROTOCOLS.
In order to enlace the standards of care and build a protective environment for
children in the country, there is a need to develop standard protocols on child
protection mechanisms at the district, block and village levels, defining rols and
responsibilities of each individual and agency. Such protocols should also lay down
standards and procedures for effective child protection service delivery, including
preventive statutory care and rehabilitation services for children. State level
guidelines and protocols should also be formulated for the rescue, repatriation and
rehabilitation of child does tic workers. An effective community based monitoring
mechanism needs to be put in place to ensure accountability at various levels.
Monitoring should be bashed on indicators of performance such as quality of services
and levels of child friendliness.
It is also a matter of great concern that the international community has taken
scant notice of the hazards and violation of child rights in situations of armed conflict,
economic and international sanctions against any country, natural disasters, and
terrorist attacks. Harm in these situations is not liited to death and injury alone. It also
includes illness, long-term disability, deprived due to family impoverishment,
separation from families etc.
To conclude this study, following are some more observations made on
the basis of the dimensions and areas covered throughout the work. In this
regard, following are some general suggestions:
Education is one of the most important investments that any developing
country can make for its future. Education is the most effective tool for empowerment
and human development. Education appears high on te National Agenda as Right to
Education has been added as one of the Fundamental rights, under Indian
Constitution. To implement this Right, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory
Education Act, 2009 has also been enacted by the Parliament. This law now required
to be tested with the time how effectively it works because lack of sensitization
commitment, enforcement mechanism and trained personnel are the major obstacles
in providing child rights. Besides these reasons, there is a lack of political will of the
policy makers, indifference of administrative machinery which is responsible for not
granting rights to the children.
Child protection is a shared responsibility and for any intervention to be
effective there should be a synergy between the efforts being made by different stake
holder to address the issues. There is a need to create a mechanism that will make
such a synergy possible. These my include child protection mechanisms at village,
block, district and state levels which involve parents, elected representatives of urban
and rural local bodies, teachers, anganwadi workers, medical practitioners, police and
social workers and responsible members of public among others.
All the above recommendations regarding formulations of a new policy,
legislation, scheme and strengthening of the service delivery mechanism, assume the
creation of a cadre of trained personnel sensitized to child rights and protection of
children. In order to create this cadre, in the personnel are the major obstacles in
providing child rights. Besides these reasons, there is alack of political will of the
policy makers, indifference of the administrative machinery which is responsible for
not granting rights to the children.
It is observed that the majority of child rights violation cases take place within
the family environment, the perpetrators being close family relatives. A child who has
been abused or continues to be in an abusive situation, needs a variety of services,
including professional help in the form of trauma counseling, medical treatment,
police intervention and legal support. Such a system should be established under the
scheme on child protection. Further, the existing Child-line service providing
emergency outreach services to children in difficult circumstances should be
expanded. Migration and rapid urbanization have forced a very large number of
children onto the streets. Such children survive by begging, working scavenging, rag
picking, etc. It is essential to provide outreach services to these children through
bridge education, night shelters and vocational skills, so as to get them off the streets,
reduce their vulnerability and enable them to sustain themselves.
Is is suggested that as far as possible the institutionalization should be
prevented. The traditional approach of institutionalization of CEDC deprives the child
of basic human rights. The child is also separated from his or her family environment.
These children are thus deprived of their family environment and feel several
negative experiences at large depersonalized institutions. Institutions generally tend to
be destructive, unhealthy and debilitating places. Some of the end product os such
have psychological and behavioral problems and inadequate skills and feed unable to
into the community. They have been stigmatized as losers..
However all juvenile institutions are not harsh, brutal and cruel but most fo them
deprive childen of their freedom to a greater or lesser degree and their undesirable
alternatives to keep children in thir homes or community. Also institutionalization ia an
expensive alternative. Article 9 of UNCRC also states that child should be ideally
brought up in family environment. If the biological family is unable to look after the child
then ther should be a substitute or alternative family for long term or short term care (also
known as foster care). The final objective is to work towards de-institutional service is
that every child has a right to a familyand therefore it is necessary to ensure the child’s
right withing a family. This can be achieved by strengthening the family as a unit, by
providing counseling and support service.
Child protection is a shared responsibility and for any intervention to be
effective there should be a synergy between the efforts being made by different
stakeholder to address the issues. There is a need to create a mechanism that will
make such a synergy possible. These may include child protection mechanisms at
village, block, district and state levels which involve parents, elected representatives
of urban and rural local bodies, teachers, anganwadi workers, medical practitioners,
police and social workers and responsible members of public among others.
All the above recommendations regarding formulation of a new policy,
legislation, scheme and strengthening of the service deliverymechanize, assume the
creation of a cadre of trained personnel, sensitized to child right and protection of
children. In order to create this cadre, in the first instance, schools and social work
and universities should offer specialized courses on child rights protection should be
integrated into the curricula of administrative institutes, police training academies,
law colleges, medical professionals passing out of these institutions have both the
sensitivity and the knowledge to deal with these issues.
Capacity enhancement and skill up gradation of those who are already
working in this sector are also essential. Life skill education of children to enhance
their knowledge and this should become an integral part of the school curriculum.
There is need to regularly upgrade the skills and capabilities of the civil society
organizations, parents and caregivers who are primarily responsible and accountable
for the safety and security of the children in their care. Further, it is observed that
parents have not lived up to these expectations, therefore, there is a need to enhance
parenting skills, knowledge of the subject and sensitivity, which will help them to
handle situations of child sexual abuse.
Gender equality is possible fi social norms ensure that the girl child lives in a
non-abusive environment in which she is arid for and respected. Discrimination of
girls result in their lower enrolment in schools, higher levels of malnutrition,
trafficking of girls for sexual exploitation, child marriage and their non-participation
in decision making in the family etc. These imbalances need to be people regarding
the value of the girl child. Empowerment of adolescent girls should be done my
making the aware of their rights, orienting them on the subject of abuse, instilling life
skills including knowledge of childbirth and child rearing practices.
The responsible media should spread awareness on child rights. Debates and
discussions by including participation of children should be a regular feature on
electronic media in order to enhance people’s knowledge an sensitivity on child
protection issues. While media coverage of child protection issues is desirable, it is
essential that the coverage is done in such a way that it prescribes to high ethical
standards of reporting, such as avoiding disclosure of the identity of the child victim
to reduce child trauma to obtain informed consent of the child in cases of reporting.
All these measure will protect the child from the stigma attached to them due to
sexual abuse and prevent sensationalizing the issue. The Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting and media self-regulatory authorities should take necessary action to
develop ethical standards for the media and to implement them very effectively in
child right violation cases.
Participation in the key so children must be involved in decision regarding
them. Children must be made aware of their rights. There is aneed for community
understanding willingness and participation to advance the whole process of
development. Children’s voices need to be heard by everyone. While addressing
issues of child rights, there should be adequate children’s representation with
opportunity for them to express their view. For example, school curricula should be
developed with the active participation of children. Children should be involved
development of the distract child protection plan, in management of schools
andinstitutions, etc. Children’s participation in meeting help by village education
committees on issues dealing with school functioning governance and maintenance of
facilities at school should be encouraged.
The biggest challenge in understanding the magnitude of Child Rights
violations and its preventions is that there is no set of rules for creation of a database
of all child protection services, linking of lateral services, creation of a knowledge
base, and tacking of missing children. All these aspects are required to be addressed
at the grass root level. The database, therefore, should be developed at the district
level itself with upward and lateral linkages.
There should be better co-ordination at National, State, disctirct and block/
ward level for rescuing children from banned occupations and their repatriation and
mainstreaming them into appropriate education stereams. Also for poverty alleviation
scheme, specifically targeting families of working children, repatriated working
children and children at risk of falling into child labour, the coordination should be
maintained.
Finally to conclude it is to be noted that over these sixty three years of Indian
independence, the central and state government has come up with many initiatives,
introduces manifoldprograms and these programs continue to evolve and respond to
contemporary requirement is aast changing India. Tremendous progress has been
witnessed in last few decades in the area of literacy, especially that of girl child, child
care, health and nutrition, and prohibition of child employment. Still child workers
have no shelter, no food and no education. They run the risk of contracting various
ailments and skin diseases. They are vulnerable to exploitation by almost anyone-the
employer, the parents, the cops, and even the common man. They become easy
targets of drug pushers. They are even sexually abused.
Certain principles of policy are, therefore, to be followed by the state so that
children get opportunities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of
freedom and dignity and the childhood and youth are protected against exploitation
and moral and material abandonment.
Though the spiritual basis of our constitutional order is “human dignity” and
“social justice” not the sadistic cruelty and hard work, the reality is totally different
.Children still work hard and for long hours in hazardous factories for earning
minimal wages to provide their family for two time meal. This is all due to lack of
political will. Why they talk about always to prohibit the child labourand do not talk
about its banning or elimination of it ?This question mark will remain a question mark
until and unless our leader shows their political will and enact an effective legislation
for eliminating the child labour .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
(A) STATUTES AND LEGISLATION
1. The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933.

2. The Employment of Children Act, 1938.
3. The Minimum Wages, Act 1948 and rules made thereunder by the
government.
4. The Factories Act, 1948.
5. The Plantations Labour Act, 1951.
6. The Mines Act, 1952 The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958.
7. The Motor Transport Workers’ Act, 1961.
8. The Apprentices Act, 1961.
9. The Atomic Energy Act, 1962.
10. The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966.
11. The Shops and Establishment Act in Various States, and Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
12. The Constitution Of India ,1950.
13. Indian Penal Code,1860.
14. The Indian Majority Act,1875.
15. The Right Of Children To Free And Compulsory Education Act,2009.
16. The Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
(B) BOOKS
1. Ahuja ,Ram,Social Problems In India,Second Edition.
2. Mishra,S.N.,Labour And Industrial Laws ,25th Edition.
3. Bhatt ,Ishwara .P Law & Social Transformation 1st Edition.
4. Pandey ,J.N.,The Constitutional Law Of India ,45th Edition.
5. Bakshi,P.M.,The Constitution Of India 12th Edition.
6. Khan,NuzratParveen,Child Right And The Law 2012th Edition.
7. Blanchet, Therese ,Lost Innocence ,Stolen Childhoods,University Press Ltd
Dhaka (1996).
8. Burra,Neera ,Born To Work :Child Labour In India.
9. Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Project ,Small Hand Of Slavery:
Bonded Child Labour In India ,Human Rights Watch ,USA(1996).
10. Jain M.P.,Indian Constitutional Law.
11. Sarkar,Helen ,Child Labour Legislation In India ,A Study Of
Restrospects,ProspectsV.V.Giri National Labour Institute Noida ,U.P., India.
12. Vidhyasagar ,R,Child Labour In India :An Analysis.
13. Weiner,Myron ,The Child And The State In India
14. Sinha ,Shantha:Child Labour And Education Policy In India ,
15. Sharma k:Child Labour In India ,The Lawyers Collective.
16. Basu,D.K. The Constitution Of India,SHORTER.
17. Seervai,H.M, Constitutional Law of India, 4thEdition, 2007, Universal Law
Publishing Company, New Delhi.
18. Shukla,V.N., Constitution of India, 10th Edition, 2001, Eastern Book
Company, New Delhi.
19. Basu,D.D., Commentary on the Constitution of India, Volume 2, 8thEdition,
2007, Wadhwaand Company, Nagpur.
( C ) JOURNALS
1. All India Reporter (A.I.R.)

2. Supreme Court Cases (SCC)
3. Criminal Law Journal(Cr Lj)
4. Allahabad High Court Reporter (A.H.C.R.)
(D) WEBSITES
1. www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/.../wcms_155428.pdf
2. labour.nic.in › Home › Division
3. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour
4. www.hrw.org/reports/2003/india/India0103-05.htm
5. labour.gov.in/content/division/nclp.php
6. www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/factoriesact/factoriesact.html
7. www.uoit.ca/files/assets/Section-specific/.../WHMIS_Booklet.pdf
8. www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/.../Managing%20Risks%20of%20Hazard...
9. www.firstcallbc.org/.../First%20Call-Child%20Labour%20is%20No%20...
10. www.bls.gov/opub/rylf/pdf/chapter2.pdf
(E) MAGZINES
Yojna
PratiyogitaDarpan
Political Law Times
Chronicle
( F ) NEWS PAPER
The Hindu
Indian Express
Hindustan Times
Times Of India

Ragini Pandey

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“CHILD LABOUR IN FACTORIES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO

ARTICLE 24 OF THE CONSTITUTION”

IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF COMMERCE AND LAW INTEGRATED

DR SHAKUNTALA MISRA NATIONAL REHABILITATION UNVERSITY

Prof. (Dr.) SHEPHALI YADAV ABHISHEK VERMA

HEAD & DEAN ROLL. NO 143070005

DR. SHAKUNTALA MISRA NATIONAL REHABILITATION UNIVERSITY,

This is to certify that Abhishek Verma (Enrolment No: BComLLB/14-

The dissertation is complete and fit for submission.

Date: (Dr.) Shephali Yadav

Head & Dean

Faculty of law, DSMNRU,

I, Abhishek Verma, do hereby declare that the dissertation titled “Child

Place: Lucknow Abhishek Verma

Roll No. 143070005

Enrolment No: BComLLB/14-15/31

My sincere thanks to my research supervisor, Prof. (Dr.) Shephali Yadav,

I would also like to extend my gratitude to my parents and friends especially

It is to acknowledge that this dissertation would never have been possible

Place: Lucknow Abhishek Verma

Roll No. 143070005

Enrolment No: BComLLB/14-15/31

AIR : All India Reporter

CJI : Chief Justice of India

CBI : Crime Beuro Investigation

FIR : First Information Report

IPC : Indian penal court

Ibid. : Ibidem (in the same place)

M.P : Madhya Pradesh

NIC : National integration council

SCC : Supreme Court Case

UDHR : Universal Declaration of Human Right

U,P : Uttar Pradesh

U/A : Under article

WWW : World Wide Web

 M.C.MEHTA V STATE OF TAMIL NADU,AIR 1997 SC 699

 BANDHUA MUKTI MORCHA V UNION OF INDIA,AIR 1997 SC 2218

 PUDR V UNION OF INDIA ,AIR 1982 1480

 LABOURERS WORKING ON SALAL HYDRO PROJECT V STATE OF

 L.K.PANDEY V UNION OF INDIA ,(1984)2 SCC 244

 MANEKA GANDHI V UNION OF INDIA ,AIR 1978 SC 597

 NEELABATI BEHERA V STATE OF ORISSA ,AIR 1983 1960

 NEERJA CHOUDHARY V STATE OF M.P.,(1984)3 SCC 24

 SEELA BARSE V UNION OF INDIA ,AIR 1986 SC 1773

(i) International Concern For Protecting Child From

Chapter–3: discloses the trauma of child labouri.e.Nature of work,working

Chapter-5: highlighted the International Concern For Protecting Child From

Chapter - 6: major findings of study find out during research.

Childlbour constitute a significant percentage of labour force in India

1. Fireworks factories in Kanpur

In different types of methodological approach that can be employed in a

DATA COLLECTION METHODS

During my research I found in theoratical study and the study of data

There is no law fixing minimum age for employment of children in griculture.

“Bestow blessings on those Little, innocent lives Bloomed on Earth,

Who have brought the message of joy from heavenly garden”.

6. LIMITATION & SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

(ii) INADEQUANCY OF THE DEFINTION OF CHILD

Constitutionally children are recognized as resources for the country’s

Nature of Child Work

(iii) Effects of Child Labour