A Synopsis on

“Is it possible to justify Child labour under any circumstances?”

Submitted to

School Of Commerce and Management

Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University

Nashik.

As partial fulfillment of the Requirement for the award of the degree of

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

By: Phadnis Mukul Ulhas Urmila

PRN: - 2020017001945997

Under the Guidance of

_________________________________

Through
The Coordinator
Study centre code 35334
1. Introduction

In 2011, the national census of India found that the total number of child labourers, aged [5–14],
to be at 10.1 million, out of the total of 259.64 million children in that age group. The child
labour problem is not unique to India; worldwide, about 217 million children work, many full-
time.

As per the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, amended in
2016 ("CLPR Act"), a "Child" is defined as any person below the age of 14, and the CLPR Act
prohibits employment of a Child in any employment including as a domestic help. It is a
cognizable criminal offence to employ a Child for any work. Children between age of 14 and 18
are defined as "Adolescent" and the law allows Adolescent to be employed except in the listed
hazardous occupation and processes which include mining, inflammable substance and
explosives related work and any other hazardous process as per the Factories Act, 1948. In 2001,
an estimated 1% of all child workers, or about 1,20,000 children in India were in a hazardous
job. Notably, the Constitution of India prohibits child labour in hazardous industries (but not in
non-hazardous industries) as a Fundamental Right under Article 24. UNICEF estimates that
India with its larger population, has the highest number of labourers in the world under 14 years
of age, while sub-Saharan African countries have the highest percentage of children who are
deployed as child labourers. The International Labour Organization estimates that agriculture, at
60 percent, is the largest employer of child labour in the world, while the United Nations Food
and Agriculture Organization estimates 70% of child labour is deployed in agriculture and
related activities. Outside of agriculture, child labour is observed in almost all informal sectors of
the Indian economy.

India has a federal form of government, and labour being a subject in the Concurrent List, both
the central and state governments can and have legislated on child labour.
Factories Act, 1948

The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in any factory. The law
also placed rules on who, when and how long can pre-adults aged 15–18 years be employed in
any factory.

Mines Act, 1952

The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18 years of age in a mine.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986

A "Child" is defined as any person below the age of 14 and the CLPR Act prohibits employment
of a Child in any employment including as a domestic help (except helping own family in non-
hazardous occupations). It is a cognizable criminal offence to employ a Child for any work.
Children between age of 14 and 18 are defined as "Adolescent" and the law allows Adolescent to
be employed except in the listed hazardous occupation and processes which include mining,
inflammable substance and explosives related work and any other hazardous process as per the
Factories Act, 1948.

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act, 2015

This law made it a crime, punishable with a prison term, for anyone to keep a child in bondage
for the purpose of employment.

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009

The law mandates free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years. This
legislation also mandated that 25 per cent of seats in every private school must be allocated for
children from economically disadvantaged groups (implementation gaps remain).
India formulated a National Policy on Child Labour in 1987. This Policy seeks to adopt a gradual
& sequential approach with a focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous
occupations. It envisioned strict enforcement of Indian laws on child labour combined with
development programs to address the root causes of child labour such as poverty. In 1988, this
led to the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) initiative. This legal and development initiative
continues, with a current central government funding of Rs. 6 billion, targeted solely to eliminate
child labour in India. Despite these efforts, child labour remains a major challenge for India. No,
child below age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any
hazardous employment

2. Importance and Significance of the Study

The presence of a large number of child labourers is regarded as a serious issue in terms of
economic welfare. Children who work fail to get necessary education. They do not get the
opportunity to develop physically, intellectually, emotionally and psychologically. In terms of
the physical condition of children, children are not ready for long monotonous work because
they become exhausted more quickly than adults. This reduces their physical conditions and
makes the children more vulnerable to disease.

Children in hazardous working conditions are even in worse condition. Children who work,
instead of going to school, will remain illiterate which limits their ability to contribute to their
own well being as well as to community they live in. Child labour has long term adverse effects
for India.

To keep an economy prospering, a vital criterion is to have an educated workforce equipped with
relevant skills for the needs of the industries. The young labourers today, will be part of India's
human capital tomorrow. Child labour undoubtedly results in a trade-off with human capital
accumulation.
Child labour in India are employed with the majority (70%) in agriculture some in low-skilled
labour-intensive sectors such as sari weaving or as domestic helpers, which require neither
formal education nor training, but some in heavy industry such as coal mining.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are tremendous economic
benefits for developing nations by sending children to school instead of work. Without
education, children do not gain the necessary skills such as English literacy and technical
aptitude that will increase their productivity to enable them to secure higher-skilled jobs in future
with higher wages that will lift them out of poverty.

Following are the industries where significant amount of child workers found:

Diamond industry

Fireworks manufacture

Silk manufacture

Carpet weaving

Domestic labour

Mining

Brick kilns
3. Objectives of the Study
This study is undertaken with a view that is it possible to justify child labour under any
circumstances? Does child labour improve socio-economic status of family?

So the objectives of the study are as follows:

1. To study the Child Labour situation in Country.

2. To know the different reasons for Child becomes a labour.

3. To analyse and estimate the Child Labour importance in emerging economies.

4. To find possibility to justify child labour under any circumstances.

5. To give suggestions for the improvement if necessary.

4. Hypotheses
1. There are laws which are prohibiting child labour (Labour Under the age of 14 years).

2. Socio-economic condition of India and poverty in country which forced children to work for
bread and butter not just for them but also for the family.
5. Research Methodology

There are two ways to collect the data for the research, Primary data & Secondary data.
(a) Primary Data
Personal Interview with child labour and their family (if any).

Questionnaire is attached.

(b) Secondary Data

To be collected from Internet, Wikipedia, Government of India website, Books, Bare Acts, etc.

Sampling and sample size

The sample of 50 respondents from Mumbai Metropolitan Region of will be selected by the
random sampling method as representative units of whole population.

6. Expected Contribution

To check the possibility wheather we can justify Child Labour under any circumstances?

If yes how we can modify the labour laws (especially for those who are under age of 14 years)?

Will justify child labour is need of hour? Especially in emerging economies? (i.e. India)
7. Chapterisation

Chapter No. 1. Introduction and research design.

Chapter No. 2. Over view of Child Labour Situation in Country
Chapter No. 3. Child labour and socio-economic status of poor families in India : A
conceptual Discussion.
Chapter No. 4. Data Presentation, analysis and Interpretation
Chapter No. 5. Findings, Conclusions and Suggestions

Bibliography

Appendix

Sign of Research Candidate Sign of Research Supervisor