CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA; SITUATION AND POLICY

ANALYSIS

Ankit Kumar Lal

&
Shubham Khare

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
Status of Child Labourer’s in India
Prohibition of Child Labour in India: A short analysis
Scope and Nature of Government Policies
 The National Child Labour Policy
 Central Advisory Board on Child Labour
 Child Labor Technical Advisory Committee:
 National Child Labour Projects
 Rehabilitation of Children Working in Hazardous Occupations
Supreme Court Directives
Follow up Action on the Directions of the Supreme Court
Free and Compulsory Education
Govt. of India Report 2004 to the UN Committee on the Rights of Child
Bibliography

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 INTRODUCTION

Child labour is certainly a serious problem throughout the world (an estimated 158
million children aged 5-14 are engaged in child labor - one in six children in the world) 1
and it would be no understatement to say that India itself has a large force of child
labourers. For this the Indian government and the Industrial sector have both drawn flack
from not only foreign governments and International organizations but also brand
conscious MNC’s.

According to a report submitted by the Indian government to that of the United States and
also published on the web-site of the Indian Embassy in Washington, children under
fourteen constitute around 3.6% of the total labor force in India. Of these children, nine
out of every ten work in their own rural family settings. Nearly 85% are engaged in
traditional agricultural activities. Less than 9% work in manufacturing, services and
repairs. Only about 0.8% works in factories.2

While child labor is a complex problem that is basically rooted in poverty and is thus a
characteristic of developing and underdeveloped nations throughout the world. The
solution lies only in the economic strengthening of India as a nation to such an extent that
it passes down to grass root level. Only then will policies such as compulsory education
for all and other social legislations really serve their purpose completely.

India has already ratified six ILO conventions with relation to curbing child labour and
ancillary issues. But the real solution still lies in the social an economic strengthening of
the child and his family.

The first Act in India relating to child labor was the Enactment of Children (Pledging of
Labor) Act of February 1933. Since then there have been nine different Indian
legislations relating to child labor. The strategy of progressive elimination of child labor
underscores India's legislative intent, and takes cognizance of the fact that child labor is
not an isolated phenomenon that can be tackled without simultaneously taking into
account the socio-economic milieu that is at the root of the problem.

In the aforementioned report proclaims that the Government of India is determined to

eradicate child labor in the country and as such the world's largest child labor elimination
program is being implemented at the grass roots level in India, with primary education
targeted for nearly 250 million. In this a large number of non-governmental and voluntary
organizations are involved. Special investigation cells have been set up in States to
enforce existing laws banning employment of children in hazardous industries. The
allocation of the Government of India for the elimination of child labor was $10 million
in 1995-96 and $16 million in 1996-97. The allocation for the current year is $21
million.3
1
Child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse, March 6 2008, available at
http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html, (Last visited August 1st 2009).
2
Report on Child Labor in India; Embassy of India, Washington DC, available at
http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/Child_Labor/childlabor.htm (Last visited August 1st 2009).
3
Id.

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The International Program on Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) has the world's
largest international initiative on child labor in India. The total outlay under this program
between 1992 and 1996 has been $4.15 million.

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 STATUS OF CHILD LABOURERS IN INDIA

Child Labor is increasingly becoming an important issue of concern for the world
community, with over 250 million children working around the world. According to the
statistics provided by The Government of India around 90 million out of 179 million
children in the six to 14 age groups do not go to school and are engaged in some
occupation or other. This means that close to 50 per cent of children are deprived of their
right to a free and happy childhood.4 Most of these children work in the agricultural
sector, leaving about 15% of these children in the service and small-scale industries.

“Poverty has an obvious relationship with child labour, and studies have "revealed a
positive correlation - in some instances a strong one - between child labour and such
factors as poverty" (Mehra-Kerpelman 1996, 8).”5

Child labour is increasing day by day only because of a family’s financial situation. A
child cannot access the school because of poverty. In order to make the family survive, as
a member in the family, a child is forced to work. To avoid this government has made
several schemes including midday meal scheme. But the school drop outs are large in
number because education has no role in their life except surviving. Since poor are
becoming poorer and rich to richer, children have no other go, except to work.6 Human
Rights Watch estimates that about 15 million children work under these conditions.
Children are forced to work to help pay for their families’ debt, and have absolutely no
say in voicing whether they agree to working under the presented circumstances. They
are sold like objects, and are submitted to working under terrible conditions. Bonded
labor is clearly an abuse of their basic rights as humans. 7

Bonded labor is also becoming a major problem in India. Families who cannot pay their
debt sell or trade their children to their debtors in exchange for the money they owe.
Money owed to rural banks, the government, or local creditors is usually managed by the
local moneylender who takes labor in exchange. Reports estimate that 89% of those who
control such bonded labourers are agricultural landlords.8 Since the earnings of bonded
child labourers are less than the interest on the loans, these bonded children are forced to
work, while interest on their loans accumulates. A bonded child can only be released after
his /her parent makes a lump sum payment, which is extremely difficult for the poor

4
Fight for the rights of the children, available at
http://www.ecoindia.com/views/labour.html (Last visited August 4th 2008)
5
Dr. Mitesh V. Badiwala, M.D, Child Labour in India: Causes, Governmental Policies and the role of
Education, available at
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/9175/inquiry1.htm (Last visited 31st july 2009)
6
Chlid Labour, June12th 2008, available at
http://www.articlesbase.com/article-marketing-articles/child-labour-447182.html (Last visited July 31st
2009)
7
ILO Periodical Publication, Bonded Labour Trends in India, 2008, available at
http://www.ilo.org/ipec/ChildlabourstatisticsSIMPOC/lang--en/index.htm (Last Visited 1st August 2009).
8
Clarence James Coonghe, Introduction to Child Labour in India and Hazards faced by the Labourers,
available at
http://www.oikonomia.it/pages/ott2000/introducingchildlabourinindi.htm (Last visited July 15th 2009)

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(Human Rights Watch 1996, 17).9 Even if bonded child labourers are released, "the same
conditions of poverty that caused the initial debt can cause people to slip back into
bondage" (International Labour Organization 1993, 12). Poverty itself has underlying
determinants, one such determinant being caste. When analyzing the caste composition of
child labourers Nangia (1987) observes that, "if these figures are compared with the caste
structure of the country, it would be realised that a comparatively higher proportion of
scheduled caste children work at a younger age for their own and their families’
economic support" (p. 116)10 It is also stated that most of bonded labourers, both children
and adult belong to the Schedule castes or Schedule Tribes.11

The Beedi cigarette industry is an important example of a growing export commodity that
employs child labor. The carpet industry is also notorious for employing children.
Reports suggest that 80% of all child labourers are bonded labourers.12 An estimated 14%
of children in India aged 5-14 are engaged in child labor activities, including carpet
production.13 With enough children put to work, more carpets can be made in a shorter
period. Some reports state that majority of the children working in the looms and factories
are actually stolen and kidnapped from their families.14

These children, as young as 4 years of age, are forced to hand-weave carpets, under
inhumane conditions. They are barely fed, work on only few hours of sleep, and
sometimes have their hands burned with irons so that they do not bleed on the carpets. An
estimated 500,000 children are believed to be working in the hand weaving carpet
industry in South Asia today.

In silk industry one of the worst forms of child labour can be seen. Small children
generally between the ages of 6 to 14 have to work in extremely inhumane conditions and
dip their hands in boiling water to catch worms. Medical examinations in early 2000 of
two hundred children aged between six to fourteen working in reeling and twisting in
Ramanagaram and Channapatna taluks of Bangalore Rural District found high rates of
respiratory diseases15 and skin infections16.

Children also complained of cuts and other injuries from threads and machines;
headaches; pain in the back, legs, neck, and abdomen; colds and bronchitis; hearing loss;
and vision problems. The noise from the twisting factories was deafening, and employers
often play loud music in the mistaken belief that it will prevent hearing loss from the
machines. Dim lighting inside the factories and the close eye children must keep on the
9
Dr. Mitesh V. Badiwala, M.D, Child Labour in India: Causes, Governmental Policies and the role of
Education, available at
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/9175/inquiry1.htm (Last visited July 31st 2009).
10
NANGIA, CHILD LABOUR: CAUSE-EFFECT SYNDROME, 116 (1987).
11
Id.
12
Supra note 4.
13
Unicef, The State of the World’s Children 2006, available at
http://www.rugmark.org/index.php?cid=31 (Last visited July 31st 2009).
14
Sarkar, Child Labour in India- An Introspection, available at
http://news.indlaw.com/publicdata/articles/article216.pdf (Last Visited August 31st 2009)
15
In 86% of Children Studied
16
In 70% of Children Studied

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threads and machines also causes vision loss. When children are injured or ill, they often
must continue to work or lose the income, which forces them deeper into debt.

In addition to injuries related to the work itself, children reported being beaten and
verbally abused by their employers and older workers Girl factory workers also suffer
sexual abuse from their employers. Activists and investigators in Bangalore Rural District
have told Human Rights Watch that sexual abuse by factory owners is so prevalent that
factory girls are shunned as potential brides because everyone assumes that these girls
have been molested or raped by their employers.17

Children work for twelve to thirteen hours a day with breaks for breakfast and lunch. In
Kanchipuram, children work for seven days a week with two half-days off a month. Such
inhumane conditions of work are not just confined to silk industries similar violations of
child rights take place in the beedi and carpet industries too.

There are thousands of children who live and work in the city streets of India. According
to a study conducted among the street children in the city of Chennai (Madras), about
90% of them live with their parents in the streets.

Contrary to the general conception that many street children are delinquents, the study
revealed that only 6.6% of the total sample had served time in juvenile homes or
correctional institutions. Studies in a few other Indian cities showed that the majority of
the street children were doing rag picking for their living. Usually, these children are
unable to submit references or pay deposits to their employers to obtain any work. They
choose rag picking as it is the most convenient way of earning something for their living
that does not require much experience and investment.

Scavenging is the work that faces children with the most extreme risk. As many of them
work with bare feet, they get cuts; they are also exposed to extreme weather conditions,
sunstroke, pneumonia, influenza and malaria. They have to carry heavy loads, which
stunts their physical growth. They face digestive disorders and food poisoning as they eat
thrown away or left over food. A recent study conducted in Delhi found they were at risk
of catching AIDS, as they may accidentally come into contact with infected needles
deposited in the refuse. Since animals scavenge in the same heaps of refuse, dog bites are
quite common among these children.

The local police and even the municipal cleaners create great difficulties for the street
children in India. For any petty thefts, they are the first ones to be accused by the police.
The local municipal cleaners, in turn, demand money and labour from them. If the
children refuse to comply, they are threatened with the police, who will compel them to
pay even more. A memorandum presented at a 'street children’s rally' in Bangalore
alleged that the police extorted about half the earnings of the rag pickers as commission.
The children also had to pay some staff members of the municipality to ease the way for
rag picking.18

17
Supra note 4.
18
Supra note 4.

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 PROHIBITION OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: A SHORT ANALYSIS

For the purposes of this submission it is first necessary to set a definition as to what
would constitute child labour. It is clear that child labour need not be equated simply with
child work. Child labour may be held to include:
 Regular work (14-43 hours/week)
 Work which causes physical or psychological damage
 Which hinders education and mental and physical development
 Work done by children under the minimum age set by the ILO convention no. 138
 Hazardous work as defined by provisions of ILO convention no.18219

According to the Indian census of 1991, there are 11.28 million working children under
the age of fourteen years in India. Over 85% of this child labor is in the country's rural
areas, working in agricultural activities such as fanning, livestock rearing, forestry and
fisheries. This labor is outside the formal sector, and outside industry. Moreover, nine out
of ten working children work within a family setting. The government report on child
labour goes on to defend such high figures by stating that:
“Working
Working in family-based occupations, these children also develop skills in
certain traditional crafts, thus augmenting the human capital formation of India's
developing economy.”
economy

The Constitution of India in Article 39 of the Directive Principles of State Policy pledges
that:
“the
the State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards 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, that children are given opportunities and
facilities to develop in a healthy manner, and in conditions of freedom and
dignity, and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation, and
against moral and material abandonment."
abandonment

As a follow-up of this commitment, and being a party to the UN Declaration on the

Rights of the Child 1959, India adopted the National Policy on Children in 1974. The
policy reaffirmed the constitutional provisions and stated that:
“It
It shall be the policy of the State to provide adequate services to children, both
before and after birth and through the period of growth to ensure their full
physical, mental and social development. The State shall progressively increase
the scope of such services so that within a reasonable time all children in the
country enjoy optimum conditions for their balanced growth.”
growth

India has also ratified on December 2, 1992, the Convention on the Rights of the Child
which came into force in 1990. This ratification implies that India will ensure wide
awareness about issues relating to children among government agencies, implementing
agencies, the media, the judiciary, the public and children themselves. The Government's

19
JYOTSNA TIWARI, CHILD ABUSE AND HUMAN RIGHTS,P 6 ,(2004)

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endeavor is to meet the goals of the Convention and to amend all legislation, policies and
schemes to meet the standards set in the Convention.20

India is also a signatory to the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and
Development of Children. In pursuance of the commitment made at the World Summit,
the Department of Women and Child Development under the Ministry of Human
Resource Development has formulated a National Plan of Action for Children. Most of
the recommendations of the World Summit Action Plan are reflected in India's National
Plan of Action.

India's policy on child labor has evolved over the years against this backdrop and its
present regime of laws relating to child labor has a pragmatic foundation, consistent with
the International Labor Conference resolution of 1979. This ILO resolution calls for a
combination of prohibitory measures and measures for humanizing child labor, wherever
such labor cannot be eliminated altogether in the short turn. It should also be mentioned
that India is second to none in its commitment to and in the upholding of the core
international labor standards such as freedom of association, collective bargaining, non-
discrimination, etc. India is signatory to a record 36 ILO labor conventions.

The Child Labor (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 of India prohibits the
employment of children below the age of 14 in factories, mines and in other forms of
hazardous employment, and regulates the working conditions of children in other
employment. India has announced a National Policy of Child Labor as early as 1987,
and was probably the first among the developing countries to have such a progressive
policy.

Through a notification dated May 26, 1993, the working conditions of children have been
regulated in all employment not prohibited under the Child Labor (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act. Further, following up on a preliminary notification issued on October 5,
1993, the government has also prohibited employment of children in occupations such as
abattoirs/slaughter houses, printing, cashew de-scaling and processing, and soldering.

With the setting up of the National Authority for the Elimination of Child Labor
(NAECL) under the Chairmanship of the Labor Minister, Government of India, a
convergence of services and schemes for eliminating child labor is being achieved.21 The
NAECL, comprising representatives from the Central Ministries, meets the need for an
umbrella organization to coordinate the efforts of the different arms of the Government
for the progressive elimination of child labor.22

The child labor program in India is national in character and involves the Government of
India, the governments of the States and the Union Territories of India, as well as such
20
Embassy of India, Washington DC, Report on Child Labor in India, available at
http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/Child_Labor/childlabor.htm (Last visited July 30th 2009)
21
Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, Initiative towards Elimination of Child
Labour – Action Plan and Present Strategy, available at
http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabour.htm (Last visited July 31st 2009)
22
Id. See para 4.

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tripartite for as the Indian Labour Conference and the Standing Labour Committee. A
massive national and regional media campaign has been launched to sensitize society
against child labor.23 Funds have been allocated to districts identified as child-labor
endemic for surveys to identify child labor, and for awareness generation programs
among employers, parents and the working children themselves.

India's first act on the subject was the enactment of the Children (Pledging of Labor) Act
of February 1933. This was followed by the Employment of Children Act in 1938.
Subsequently, twelve additional legislations were passed that progressively extended
legal protection to children. Provisions relating to child labor under various enactment
such as the Factories Act, the Mines Act, the Plantation Labor Act etc. have concentrated
on aspects such as reducing working hours, increasing minimum wage and prohibiting
employment of children in occupations and processes detrimental to their health and
development.

The Child Labor (Prohibition & Regulation) Act 1986 of India was the culmination of
efforts and ideas that emerged from the deliberations and recommendations of various
committees on child labor.24 Significant among them are the National Commission on
Labour (1966-69), Gurupadaswamy Committee on Child Labour (1979), and the Sanat
Mehta Committee (1984).25

The Act aims to prohibit the entry of children into hazardous occupations and to regulate
the services of children in non-hazardous occupations. The Act, in particular,

 Bans the employment of children, i.e. those who have not completed their 14th
year, in specified occupations and processes.
 Lays down a procedure to make additions to the schedule of banned occupations
or processes;
 Regulates the working conditions of children in occupations where they are not
prohibited from working;
 Lays down penalties for employment of children in violation of the provisions of
this Act and other Acts which forbid the employment of children;
 Brings uniformity in the definition of the "Child" in related laws.

23
DR. MEENU GUPTA; RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: PREVAILING AND THE EMERGING SCENE,
235, (2000).
24
JYOTSNA TIWARI (ED), CHILD ABUSE AND HUMAN RIGHTS 78 (2004)
25
Embassy of India, Washington DC, Report on Child Labor in India, available at
http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/Child_Labor/childlabor.htm (Last visited July 30th 2009)

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 SCOPE AND NATURE OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES

At different intervals of time the govt. has enacted a number of legislation in conformity
with the international scenario and under them it has drafted several different policies the
implementation of most of which have been very erratic.
Some of these are:-

THE NATIONAL CHILD LABOUR POLICY

Increasing attention is now being paid to strengthening the enforcement machinery

related to child labor. Soon after the enactment of the comprehensive Child Labor
(Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, the Government of India adopted a National Child
Labor policy in 1987, in accordance with the constitutional provisions and various
legislations on child labor.

The idea of adopting a separate policy on child labor was not only to place the issue on
the nation's agenda, but also to formulate a specific program of action to initiate the
process of progressive elimination of child labor. The policy consists of three
complementary measures:

 Legal action plan: This policy envisages strict enforcement of the provisions of
the Child Labor (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 and other child-related
legislation.

 Focus on general development programs benefiting children wherever possible:

The policy envisages the development of an extensive system of non-formal
education for working children withdrawn from work and increasing the provision
for employment and income generating schemes meant for their parents. A special
cell - Child Labor Cell - was constituted to encourage voluntary organizations to
take up activities like non-formal education,- vocational training, provisions of
health care, nutrition and education for working children.

 Area specific projects: To focus on areas known to have high concentration of

child labor and to adopt a project approach for identification, withdrawal and
rehabilitation of working children.

CENTRAL ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILD LABOUR

The Central Advisory Board on Child Labor was constituted on March 4, 1981. The
following are the terms of reference of the Board:

 Review the implementation of the existing legislation administered by the Central

Government.
 Suggest legislative measures as well as welfare measures for the welfare of
working children.
 Review the progress of welfare measures for working children.

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  Recommend the industries and areas where there must be a progressive
elimination of child labor.26

The Board was reconstituted last on November 2, 1994. The Union Labor Minister is the
Chairman of the Board.27 The other Members of the Board include representatives from
the various sister ministries, Members of Parliament, non-governmental organizations,
representatives of major trade unions and employers' organizations.

CHILD LABOR TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE:

Under Section 5 of the Child Labor (P&R) Act 1986, the Government of India is
empowered to constitute a Child Labor Technical Advisory Committee for the purpose of
addition of occupation and processes in the Schedule to the Act. The Committee consists
of a Chairman and members not exceeding ten. The Committee has been reconstituted on
February 51996 under the chairmanship of Director General of Indian Council of Medical
Research.

NATIONAL CHILD LABOUR PROJECTS

Under the action plan of the National Policy on Child Labor, there have been National
Child Labor Projects (NCLP) set up in different areas to rehabilitate child labor. A major
activity undertaken under the NCLP is the establishment of special schools to provide
non-formal education, vocational training, supplementary nutrition etc. to children
withdrawn from employment.

Under the project based action plan of the policy, 12 NCLPs were started in the States of
 Andhra Pradesh (Jaggampet & Markapur),
 Bihar (Garwah),
 Madhya Pradesh (Mandsaur),
 Maharashtra (Thane),
 Orissa (Sambalpur),
 Rajasthan (Jaipur),
 Tamil Nadu (Sivakasi)
 Uttar Pradesh (Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Moradabad, Aligarh & Ferozabad).

AS such there is need for a further increase in such institutions and projects for there to be
any realistic affect on the position on children in general throughout India. The govt. has
announced extending the project to 150 more districts.28

REHABILITATION OF CHILDREN WORKING IN HAZARDOUS OCCUPATIONS

26
Govt. Report on CABCL, submitted to the ILO in March 2006, available at
http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabour.htm (Last visited July 30th 2009)
27
Child Labour, available at
http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabour.htm (July31st 2009)
28
Id.

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A major program was launched on 15th August 1994 for withdrawing child labor
working in hazardous occupations and for rehabilitating them through special schools.
Under the program a total of two million children are sought to be brought out of work
and put in special schools where they will be provided with education, vocational
training, monthly stipends, nutrition and health-checks.

As a follow-up, a high powered body, the National Authority for the Elimination of Child
Labor (NAECL) was constituted on 26th September, 1994 under the Chairmanship of the
Minister for Labor, Government of India29. The functions of NAECL are:

 To lay down policies and programs for the elimination of child labor, particularly
in hazardous employment
 To monitor the progress of the implementation of programs, projects and schemes
for the elimination of child labor;
 To coordinate the implementation of child labor related projects of the various
sister Ministries of the Government of India (to ensure convergence of services
for the benefit of the families of child labor)

29
NCLP – An Overview, Ministry of Labour and Employment, available at
http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabour.htm (Last visited July 31st 2009)

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 SUPREME COURT DIRECTIVES

A PIL was filed before the Supreme Court in which it was again pointed out that in
violation of the constitutional mandate under Article 24, children were being employed in
several hazardous industries. A particular reference was made to the firework industries
in Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu. Using the wide scope of powers provided to it, the Supreme
Court created a special committee consisting of various advocates and a report was
submitted by this committee.

Following the committee report, the Supreme Court submitted a landmark judgment on
10th December, 1996 in Writ Petition (Civil) Number 465/1996 M.C. Mehta v. State of
Tamil Nadu30, has given certain directions regarding the manner in which children
working in the hazardous occupations are to be withdrawn from work and rehabilitated,
and the manner in which the working conditions of children working in non-hazardous
occupations are to be regulated and improved.

The judgement envisages that:

 Simultaneous action be taken for child welfare in all districts of the country;
 Survey for identification of working children (to be completed by June 10, 1997)
 Withdrawal of children working in hazardous industries and ensuring their
education in appropriate institutions;
 Contribution of Rs.20,000 per child to be paid by the offending employers of
children to a welfare fund to be established for this purpose;
 Employment to one adult member of the family of the child so withdrawn from
work, and if that is not possible a contribution of Rs.5000 to the welfare fund to
be made by the State Government;
 Financial assistance to the families of the children so withdrawn to be paid out of
the interest earnings on the corpus of Rs.20,,000/25,000.00 deposited in the
welfare fund as long as the child is actually sent to the schools;
 Regulating hours of work for children working in non-hazardous occupations so
that their working hours do not exceed six hours per day and education for at least
two hours is ensured. The entire expenditure on education is to be borne by the
concerned employer;
 Planning and preparedness on the part of Central and State Governments in terms
of strengthening of the existing administrative/regulatory/enforcement frame-
work (covering cost of additional manpower, training, mobility, computerization
etc.) implying additional requirement of funds.

30
M.C. MEHTA V. STATE OF TAMIL NADU 1996 (9) SCALE 42.

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 FOLLOW UP ACTION ON THE DIRECTIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT

As a follow up of the directions of the Supreme Court, all the State Governments were
sent detailed guidelines on December 26, 1996 indicating the manner in which the
directions of the Supreme Court were to be implemented.

A meeting of the NAECL was convened on 31st December 1996 to discuss the directions
of the Supreme Court on child labor. It was decided in the meeting that the Ministry of
Labor should immediately release funds to the State Governments so as to enable them to
conduct surveys of working children before June 10, 1997.

A conference of the Labour Ministers of State/Union Territories was convened on

January 22, 1997 to finalize an action plan for the implementation of the directions of the
Supreme Court on withdrawal and rehabilitation of working children. In the conference,
all the participating States and Union Territories welcomed the judgement and
demonstrated their political will to eliminate child labor.

However, all the States pleaded for additional and liberal financial assistance from the
Central Government for implementing the judgement of the Supreme Court.31

The following significant recommendations were made in the Conference32:

 The survey envisaged in the judgement of the Supreme Court would be in two phases.
In the first phase the survey would be conducted in all industries, establishments,
shops, work places in urban and semi-urban catchment areas where hazardous
processes will be identified.
In the event of any child labor being found employed in any such process,
simultaneous action would be taken to recover an amount of R.20, 000/from the
offending employer.
Hazardous establishments in the rural areas would also be fully covered by the survey
in the first phase. The door-to-door survey for the purpose of identification and
enumeration of working children will be taken up in the second phase.

 While primarily it is the responsibility of the State Governments to provide necessary

funds for taking up activities in compliance of the directions of the Supreme Court,
funds for conducting the survey will be released by the Central Government to the
agencies at the district level immediately.
If the funds released for the first phase of survey fall short of the actual requirement in
any district, the State Governments will provide the additional funds for this purpose.
Since this first phase of the survey is concentrated on industrial establishments, the
requirement of funds would be worked out by the Central Government and the same
would be released immediately.
31
Sarkar, Child Labour in India- An Introspection, available at
http://news.indlaw.com/publicdata/articles/article216.pdf (Last Visited August 31st 2009)
32
Embassy of India, Washington DC, Report on Child Labor in India, available at
http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/Child_Labor/childlabor.htm (Last visited July 30th 2009)

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 Immediate action will be initiated by the State Governments for strengthening the
enforcement machinery at various levels and for creation of a separate cell at the State
level to monitor and coordinate the activities to be taken up in compliance of the
directions of the Supreme Court.
They will also send their requirements of funds in this regard, if any, to the Planning
Commission at the earliest.

 If the State Governments are not in a position to complete the survey by 10th June,
they will apprise the Hon'ble Supreme Court about the reasons for delay and seek
extension of time from the Hon'ble Supreme Court well in advance.

 If for some reason, the State Governments find it difficult to give effect to any one or
more directions of the Supreme Court, they will seek necessary
clarification/directions from the Hon'ble Supreme Court well in time.

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 FREE AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION

Even the ILO recognises education as the primary means of fighting child labour in all its
forms. It is the step preceding and post eradication of child labour.33 India's National
Policy on Education, 1986 gives the highest priority to the program of universal
elementary education, and recommends that free and compulsory education of sufficient
quality be provided to all children up to the age of 14 years before we enter the 21st
century.

The present thrust is on three aspects, namely, universal access and enrollment, universal
retention of children up to 14 years of age, and substantial improvement in the quality of
education to enable all children to achieve essential levels of learning. All these aspects
have been incorporated in the various initiatives taken up by the Ministry of Human
Resource Development. All the State Governments have abolished tuition fees in
government schools up to the upper primary level Education. In schools run by local
bodies and private-aided institutions is almost free. However, unaided institutions (3% to
7%) do charge fees.

Compulsory Education Acts have been enacted in 14 states and 4 Union Territories viz.
Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, J. & K., Karnataka, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Chandigarh,
Pondicherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
GOVT. OF INDIA REPORT 2004 TO THE UN
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF CHILD

Despite such gross violations of child rights in India the

government of India in its report submitted to the United
Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child maintained a
stoic silence on the torture of children. It appears from the
document that India is a model state as far as rights of
children is concerned.

It restricts the depiction of the violation of the right to life in

India to female infanticide, presumably because it is
practiced by society and the state’s role is to heroically resist
such obscurantist practices. And despite the Union Home
Ministry providing information about internal armed
conflicts in 14 out of 28 states, there is not a single reference
to the effects of armed conflicts on children.

The only reference in the report to armed conflict is about

Punjab where the problem ended almost a decade ago.34
33
IPEC, International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour, available at
http://www.ilo.org/ipec/lang--en/index.htm (Last visited July 29th 2009)
34
Suhas Chakma, The Child Rights Machinery, available at
http://www.himalmag.com (Last visited 16th August 2008)

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Though the awareness regarding the rights of child has
increased over the past few years and a number of laws and
legislations have been passed but no concrete result has be
seen in this regard. This clearly reveals the ineffectiveness of
the state in implementing these laws and legislations. A
number of NGO’s have been working in this field but unless
the state and central government take some stern steps no
concrete result will be seen.

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 CONCLUSION

As a concluding remark we would like to put forward certain

ideas towards the fight against child labour from a few
varied viewpoints. On the economic forefront the modern
market society has seen a the great power of consumers and
in the case of child labour this becomes particularly
important. Major MNC’s set up their factories in developing
or under-developed nations and as such these factories and
sweatshops are infamous for human rights abuse and
specially for employing child labourers. There are a number
of NGO working towards exposing such MNCs. The point to
be noted herein is that the MNC try desperately to avoid
getting any bad publicity out of such situations as the
consumers in developed countries are very discerning and
would readily boycott the goods which are even suspected of
being made using child labour. Public awareness in this
regard needs to be improved so as to push NGO’s further
into carrying out such investigation and publicise the
activities of any organization that is know to abuse child
rights.

On the political front child labour is still not seen as a matter

of great importance in developing countries such as India
and the only way to tackle this is tocreate more awareness
amongst the urban population and so that they may presurise
the politicians into taking action.

On the policy frontier the government keeps providing new

schemes to battle child labour and as such making
employment of child labourers would not really solve the
situation. Forced labour is a different game altogether. Most
child labourers are forced into this situation because of lack
of resources or family support. For this the government
needs to create better infrastructural support mechanisms to
cope with the immense number of child labourers. Another
plan of action would be to provide the elder children with
skill development opportunities because very often a child
labourer is not paid at par with an adult worker even if he
works as hard or provides the same productivity. The
cheapness of their labour is one of the biggest factors behind
their exploitation on such a large scale.

On an ending note we would like to submit that to truly

eradicate child labour in a short while is nothing short of a
utopian dream because only when we have truly

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strengthened the bottom rung of our population economically
can we truly get rid of this menace.

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