THE ICFAI UNIVERSITY, ICFAI LAW

SCHOOL

RESEARCH PAPER ON-CHILD LABOUR IN

INDIA
2014-2020

SUBMITTED T0- SUBMITTED BY-

Mrs. Monica Kharola DEEPEAK BHARADWAJ
1405C00040
INTRODUCTION
Children are the future of the nation, and their role in the development of the country is

Immense. There exists a dire need for them to be educated and taught, led in the right direction,

in order to protect our own future and theirs. This has been emphasized on time and again, yet

not enough to capture the sheer magnitude of its importance.

The constitution of India, in Article 23, 24 and 45 seeks to see that children are safe, and allowed

to develop in order to reach their potential.

However instead of carrying books, a large number of children carry bricks. Instead of parents

supporting them, they support their families.

Child Labour is a curse on mankind and society. It violates both the dignity and the individuality

of the child causing disruption in their normal growth thereby affecting their personality as an

adult by virtue of exposing the child to a range of dangers that is possible by this activity.

As brought to light in the landmark case of M.C. Mehta v State of Tamil Nadu and Ors1

theconsequences of child trafficking deprive children of their education and also mental and

physical development. These children always live in a world of deprivation without normal

education, normal social interaction, personal development, food, shelter and clothing. They go

through physical pain and mutilations. The psychological scars of this exposure is numbing to a

normal child.

It has been over 30 years since the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 was

passed, yet the practice continues in our country. As per the 2011 Census, India has 33 million

1
Writ Petn. (C) No. 465 of 1986
working children between the ages of 5-18 years. In parts of the country, more than half the child

population is engaged in labour.2

This is a clear indication that the methods currently employed are not sufficient. The Child

Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 sought to bring an end to Child Labour. It

provided safeguards to the rights of children. However all it could accomplish was a blanket ban,

and move the industry from the open, into the shadows. This act alone is not capable of standing

up against an industry like child labour. It lacks support on many fronts. At best this act can

protect children in courts of law, however the children outside, that are yet to be found remain in

danger.

To truly bring an end to such an industry, one must look beyond the end product, and cut it at its

roots. We must look to what causes child labour and where it exists and begin tackling such

issues, treating the cause rather than the symptoms.

WHAT CAUSES CHILD LABOUR?

Child Labour is a socio-economic problem that plagues our society. To begin solving a problem

of such nature, one must first deconstruct the problem and understand the root cause.

The following information has been collected through time volunteered as social workers;

interviews of staff belonging to child rights related NGOs and various studies conducted on

human trafficking. The most common trends observed as the causes for child labour from the

data collected are as follows:

2
http://www.cry.org/statistics-on-children
  Poverty
 Illiteracy
 Lack of employment opportunities
 Demand for cheap labour

The above factors are inter-related with one another and form an unfortunate circle.

In India, due to poverty, children are seen as partners in survival. They are forced to go into work

as the family cannot support itself only on the salaries of the parents. The parents are often

unemployed or are meagerly paid.

Children have little to no choice in choosing to work. They are forced to work either by their

families or by circumstances. After joining work, due to the nature of their work children are

forced to discontinue their education and drop out. As per International Labour Organization’s

World Report on Child Labour 2015 and CRY recent analysis of the Census 2011, 56% of the

working adolescents are no longer studying. And 70% of those in hazardous conditions are not

studying.3

They continue to work under the same exploitative employers, into their adulthood and continue

working in occupations in the same class as they are unqualified for better. Eventually they

marry and have their own families, passing on the circle of poverty and child labour onto the

next generations.

Children are preferred as employees as they are more gullible and easier to exploit. They are

often exposed to hazardous or grueling work and are paid even lesser than adults. Most of the

time, children are sent from villages to cities through traffickers in search of employment by

3
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/ZPALzwgvOLhyMfxWsobcHM/10-alarming-statistics-on-child-labour-in-
India.html
their parents. In cities, they are employed in bars, hotels, factories etc. by employers who in

many cases often withhold the salaries of the children, forcing them to remain as employees in

hope that they will be paid their due. Children are not allowed to leave their work place and are

not permitted to go home and visit their parents even if they wish.

Such situations were brought to light in the case of BachpanBachaoAndolan v Union of India15.

Urbanization is also thought to be a cause for child labour however it is more of an indirect

contributor. Families move from villages to urban centers in search of employment, ignorant to

the cost of living. This causes poverty. Poverty mixed with a need for cheap labour and

indifferent employers brings about child labour.

Where is child labour found?

Child labour is not limited to one such place. It occurs all across the country in many different

forms.

There is a false assumption that child labour occurs mostly in cities. Official reports indicate that

80% of working children are based in rural areas and three out of four of these children work in

agriculture, as cultivators or in household industries, most of which are home-based

employments.4

It is assumed otherwise, due to problems in media outreach and awareness. In most places, child

labour remains an accepted practice.

Cities however contribute largely as well to the numbers. Delhi, the capital of the country, is

4
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/ZPALzwgvOLhyMfxWsobcHM/10-alarming-statistics-on-child-labour-in-
India.html
accountable for over 1 million of these child labourers by itself5. Children are employed in

construction, as house-hold servants, in factories and hotels.

Consequences of Child Labour

Aside from hindering the development of the country, the child labour industry has led to dire

consequences.

With regard to education, the following numbers may shed some light

 1 in 4 children of school-going age is out of school in our country – 99 million children in

total have dropped out of school (Census 2011)

 Out of every 100 children, only 32 children finish their school education age
appropriately

(District Information System for Education (DISE) 2014-15)

 Only 2% of the schools offer complete school education from Class 1 to Class 12

(District Information System for Education (DISE) 2014-15)6

Labour imposed on children often has an adverse effect on their health as well, both mentally

and physically. In industry, the children may be exposed to dangerous chemicals and substances,

so burns and serious injury are common. They may also be exposed to toxic substances such as

mercury and lead, and can develop chronic health conditions such as silicosis (a respiratory

disease in the lungs). Agricultural work also presents great dangers, especially where children

have to work with dangerous tools and equipment or with chemical substances, like pesticides

for crops. Much of the time, the children have either no safety equipment, or it is adult

5
https://blog.timetoswipe.com/2016-report-child-labour-in-india/
6
http://www.cry.org/statistics-on-children
equipment, which does not fit properly and does not provide proper protection.

Many types of work are physically harmful to children, especially when done for long periods of

time. For example, children may have to sit bent over in one position, or crawl in small spaces

which can cause disfigurement, spinal injuries and difficulty walking straight. This could be

work such as sewing footballs or clothes, breaking bricks and rocks for road building, making

matchsticks, crawling through a mine, making bricks. Or they might constantly be bent over

from carrying loads that are too heavy.

Furthermore, child labourers are involved in hazardous work when they are exposed to all types

of weather conditions (e.g. scorching hot sun, hard rain) and may not have shoes or adequate

clothing. They can easily develop coughs and catch pneumonia or other illnesses.

Children are also exposed to hazardous work when the workplace is unsanitary, poorly lit and

poorly ventilated. This is also true when clean drinking water, health services and schools are

unavailable, especially in the more remote areas. In these conditions, children are more at risk of

catching illnesses and disease.7

Aside from the effects of child labour on children, this industry affects the society as well. Child

labour has sponsored the rising of other illicit industries such as child trafficking.

Children are trafficked across the globe for various purposes, such as the sex trade, organ trade

as well as for labour. Though trafficking for purposes of labour has been recognized by both the

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) vide Palermo Protocols, and the

International Labour Organization in Article 3 of ILO Convention 182, India has yet to create a

7
http://ilo.org/ipec/Campaignandadvocacy/Youthinaction/C182-Youth-orientated/worstforms/lang--
en/index.htm
statute that addresses this issue.

Trafficking for the purposes of Child Labour is not unheard of, as stated earlier. Parents send

their children to cities in search of employment, in most cases these children are never heard

from again. In some cases children are taken into another city under the guise of adoption or

marriage. Children are also abducted and trafficked. As per the National Crimes Record Bureau,

60% of trafficking victims are minors. Moreover 44,000 children are reported missing of whom

only 11,000 are traced. Every 8 minutes, a child goes missing in India – kidnapping and

abduction is the largest crime against children in our country (District Crime Record Bureau

(DCRB) 2014).8

The case of KalpanaPandit v State brought to light the result of such industries. A poor

household worker had to send her daughter to work in her place due to illness. Due to poverty

they had little choice. She believed her employer to be safe, and sent her daughter. She was not

aware that her employer was an agent of a “placement agency”, one where they provided

household-help for houses in Delhi. She was not aware that her daughter would be sent to other

houses to work. Upon recovery, when she sought she meet her daughter, she was shocked to find

her daughter was at another home. She was not allowed to contact her daughter and when she

approached the authorities they were unwilling to help. Fortunately at the end, mother and

daughter were reunited.

However this case only illustrates what the industry of child labour has created. Child Labour has

created a demand and Child Trafficking, a supply. It is essential that both are stamped out of

8
Report of NHRC Committee on missing children presented by P.C.Sharma
society for its betterment.

What are we doing ?

As of today the government authorities have been heavily involved in order to bring an end to

Child Labour. Measures have been taken by both Legislative and Executive authorities to curb

this menace.

Legislative Measures include the following:

 Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000

 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
 Factories Act,1948
 Apprentice Act, 1961
 Indian Penal Code
 Merchant Shipping Act, 1951
 Plantation Act 1951
 Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961
 Mines Act, 1952
 Beedi and Cigar Workers (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
 National Charter for Children 2003

On the International front, India is a part of several conventions and treaties. The Palermo

Protocol, Convention of the Rights of Child, 1989 and SAARC convention on regional

arrangement for the promotion of child welfare, 2002 are examples of a few.

Executive Measures:

Schemes such as the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) and Integrated Child

Development Services (ICDS) have been implemented, to not only stop child labour, but also to

rehabilitate the children and protect them.

The ICPS for example, offers Care, Support and Rehabilitation services. Within statutory support

services the scheme calls for strengthening of Child Welfare Committees, Special Judicial Police

Units and sets up these services in each district.

In furtherance of the above the ICPS outlines the need for human resource development in order

to achieve the specific objectives set out. Services such as counselling, training and capacity

building, creating and managing a child tracking system are such that need to be strengthened in

order to achieve said objectives.

The scheme acts as an umbrella under which programmes such as the Scheme of Assistance to

Homes (ShishuGreh) for Children and The Integrated Programme for Street Children fall. These

programmes seek to protect the interests of orphans and street children who are often prey to

exploitation.

Furthermore, the scheme discusses a specific implementation plan. It discusses the need of

convergence of services to give the child the integrated plan. This is achieved through

coordination of all department and ministries and NGOs involved. In order to achieve full

implementation the scheme provides for setting up of institutes at the National, regional, state

and district level, such as the CHILDLINE India Foundation- Headquarters, Four Regional

Centres of CHILDLINE India Foundation (CIF), State Child Protection Society (SCPS) and

District Child Protection Society (DCPS) respectively.

What must we do?

In order to bring about a successful change in the current situation we must first understand the
obstacles impeding the current efforts being made.

1. Efforts must be made to increase the outreach of these programs, along with monitoring

and regulating these efforts. Child Labour is predominant in rural areas. The poor levels of

outreach are reflected in the lack of data and statistics. Most NGOs that are instrumental in

battling child labour in urban areas are absent in rural regions. In addition to which the Special

Judicial Police Units established under the Juvenile Justice Act, are understaffed or absent. The

provision to establish Child Welfare Committees in every district has not been properly

implemented. Large areas and numerous villages are incorporated into one district; this makes

accessibility cumbersome and delays the process to a great extent. Until the current efforts are

fully implemented, introducing and implementing new measures would be ineffectual

2. Awareness must be spread. Most of the urban population is unaware of their participation

in the practice of child labour. Many a times in the course of our daily routines we may cross a

child who is a vendor, a beggar or even a busboy in eateries. This does not come to our notice,

let alone faze us as we have grown accustomed to it. The rights of children must be brought to

the light of the general public. Just as sexual education is mandatory in schools, children must be

made aware of their rights, parents as well. They must also be taught to look and care for others;

they must be made aware of the services provided by CHILDLINE 1098.

3. Society must be allotted a greater role. Society so far has been a resource that is yet to be

tapped in combatting child labour. It has immense potential. Monitoring and regulating child

labour only through state actors and NGO’s is neither practical nor implementable. By

employing the second suggestion mentioned above, society must be made aware of its role. In
the fight against child labour, everyone is a stakeholder and must protect their stake, in this case

our children.

4. Technology must be employed and utilized. If technology is utilized, all of the

aforementioned suggestions may be implemented. Technology can be used to keep a record of

both previous and new offenders far more effectively. Technology, in the form of Social Media

can also be used to facilitate a higher interaction with the public to greater extent. It will

introduce familiarity and an ease in accessibility. It will also promote awareness and outreach in

the process, in addition to monitoring and regulating the activities of those engaged in child

labour. These methods have been employed by the Bangalore and Mumbai City Traffic Police

and have produced positive results.

5. The Executive Authorities must be sensitized. The KalpanaPandit Case highlighted the

resistance of the authorities and difficulty in approaching them. Help was only received after

approaching activists. Society cannot afford such situations once again. Special Juvenile Police

Units must be increased in number. The authorities must be sensitized to the circumstances of a

child who has been exposed to labour. These children are often traumatized, frightened and are

in a mentally fragile condition. Approaching the authorities must not render fear but reassurance

to them.

6. Combatting child labour serves no purpose if the children are not looked after adequately.

We must ensure that ALL CHILDREN are provided with QUALITY healthcare, nutrition,

education, shelter and sanitation. If we pull children out of work to abandon them, perhaps they

are better off working.The Supreme Court of India has stated in Francis Coralie v. Union
Territory of Delhi24“The right to live includes the right to live with human dignity and all that

goes along with it, viz., the bare necessities of life such as adequate nutrition, clothing and

shelter over the head and facilities for reading writing and expressing oneself in diverse forms,

freely moving about and mixing and mingling with fellow human beings and must include the

right to basic necessities the basic necessities of life and also the right to carry on functions and

activities as constitute the bare minimum expression of human self.” Our children have a right to

live with human dignity, and the same must be provided with standards.

7. The fight against child labour must be a long term battle, with short term goals in mind if

it is to be truly eradicated. While we must work towards eliminating child labour, we cannot

ignore the current needs of families. Therefore rather than fully eliminating child labour, we

must promote “Earn as You Learn”, and explore vocational training and the Apprentice Act. This

is beneficial for all parties involved and can be easily monitored and regulated. This model has

been employed in countries like Norway and shown positive results.

The recent amendment is progressive and much needed, however it falls short on a few points. A

drawback of the 2016 amendment to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, is that is

allows children to work in family enterprises and the entertainment industries for a few hours,

provided it does not interfere with the child’s education. In the last five years, 5,254 child

labourers were rescued by BachpanBachaoAndolan. They report that of these children, one-fifth

of them worked in family run enterprises. The relaxation on employment in the Entertainment

industry is equally worrying as it has proved to be an exploitative and vicious industry. Rather

than relaxing restraints in these two industries which are difficult to regulate, it would serve
better to promote employment and training of children in work places that can easily be

monitored. Bringing child labour out in the open will be far more beneficial in combatting it,

than from the shadows.

8. The Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act, 1956, must be revisited. Trafficking for the

purposes of the labour amongst children is yet to be addressed in our country. The current

trafficking laws in our country do not address this menace; rather pertain solely to the sex trade.

The proposed amendment in the Act, urges the definition of trafficking to expand to organ trade

and labour in addition to making the law gender neutral. The amendments provide little else with

regard to trafficking for purpose of labour.

We must conform to International standards, such as the Palermo Protocol and the ILO

Convention No.182, if we truly intend to stop trafficking for such purposes. Trafficking has

created a supply to the child labour industry. Stopping the supply would be of more help, as it

would remove the problem from the roots rather than merely chopping off the branches. Without

a workforce, child labour would eventually have to come to an end. Curbing trafficking may not

end child labour directly, but would impede it to a great extent.

9. It is unfortunate that our country has an unemployment rate of 4.9% as of 20179. As per

the International Labour Organization’s 2017 World Employment and Social Outlook report,

Unemployment in India is projected to increase from 17.7 million last year to 17.8 million in

2017 and 18 million next year.” With a large number of unemployed such as this, why is there

a need for child labour, with over 33 million children being employed? The government must

9
https://tradingeconomics.com/india/unemployment-rate
utilize this unemployed workforce. First they must analyze and study where child labour is most

dominant. Then they must ensure that these work places are safe, not hazardous and conform to

the Factories Act’s provisions to ensure safety. After which, the minimum wage must be

increased such that these employment opportunities are attractive. If not, introduction of

employment schemes like the NREGA in such industries would be beneficial. This would aid in

bringing an end to child labour and assist the development of the country as well.

10. The Goa Children’s Act, 2003 must be adopted nationwide. As of today it is the most

progressive piece of legislation with regard to Children’s rights. Post the Freddy Peats case

where Goa’s image was tarnished, it has now emerged as the leader in children’s safety in our

country. It conforms to international standards and has produced positive results. Adopting this

legislation would be beneficial as it takes into all factors that need to be looked into when it

comes to protecting children, relating not only to safety but health and education as well.
Bibliography

 Debnath, B., 2016. 2016 Report on Child Labour in India. Swipe, 29 May.
 Ghosh, R. C. a. S., 2015. Amendments to the Child Labour Act: A Positive or Regressive
Step?.
 Tanwer, R., 2015. Child Labor in India- Causes & Consequences. SSB Crack, July.
 Times of India, 2017. Unemployment in India to increase marginally in 2017-18: UN
Report.
 DoIGov, 2015. 2015 Findings on Worst Forms of Child Labor, s.l.:
 Labor.<https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/india> accessed
11 April
 Gupta, R., 2016. A Law That Allows Child Labour. The Hindu, 10 August.
 Khan, D., n.d. Child Trafficking In India : A Concern. Department of Social Work, Jamia
 Orhant, M., 2001. Trafficking in Persons : Myths, Methods and Human Rights, s.l.:
prb.org.
 Reddy, N., 2015. Have we asked the children. The Hindu, 13 June.
 SHARMA, P., 2007. NHRC COMMITTEE ON MISSING CHILDREN, s.l.:
 s.n.<http://nhrc.nic.in/disparchive.asp?fno=1482> accessed 9 April 2017
 Siddiqui, N., 2014. Upgrading Trafficking and Prostitution : A Matter of Deep Concern.

Websites referred

 http://wcd.nic.in/
 http://www.childlineindia.org.in
 http://haqcrc.org/publication/combat-child-trafficking/
 https://www.unodc.org
 http://www.ohchr.org
 http://www.labour.nic.in
 http://www.advocatekhoj.com
 http://www.livemint.com
 http://www.cry.org