CHILD

LABOUR

CONTENTS
Introduction
Categories of child labour
Child labour in India
Basic reasons for child labour
Consequences of child labour
Some facts about child labour
Child labour in Statistics
Child labour laws in India
(legal)
Child labour: STILL A BIG

INTRODUCTIO
N
Child labouris the practice

of
having children engage in economic
activity, on part or full-time basis.
The practice deprives children of
their childhood, and is harmful to
their
physical
and
mental
development. Poverty, lack of good
schools and growth of informal
economy are considered as the
important causes of child labour

Harvesting
rice

Poverty and
Hazardous Child
Labour: A Vicious
Circle

Preparing tobacco
leaves

CHILD LABOUR IN
INDIA
According to the Census 2001 figures
there are 1.26 crore working children in
the age group of 5-14 as compared to the
total child population of 25.2 crore. There
are
approximately
12
lacs children
working
in
the
hazardous
occupations/processes which are covered
under the Child Labour (Prohibition &
Regulation) Act i.e. 18 occupations and 65
processes.
However,
as
per
survey
conducted by National Sample Survey
Organization (NSSO) in 2004-05, the

Meta
l
work
er

CAUSES
PRIMARY CAUSES
CULTURAL CAUSES
MACROECONOMIC
CAUSES

PRIMARY CAUSES
International Labour Organization (ILO)
suggests poverty is the greatest single
cause
behind
child
labour.
For
impoverished households, income from
a child's work is usually crucial for his or
her own survival or for that of the
household.
Income
from
working
children, even if small, may be between
25 to 40% of these household income.
Other scholars such as Harsch on
African child labour, and Edmonds and

CULTURAL CAUSES
In European history when child labour was
common, as well as in contemporary child labour
of modern world, certain cultural beliefs have
rationalized child labour and thereby encouraged
it. Some view that work is good for the characterbuilding and skill development of children. In
many cultures, particular where informal economy
and small household businesses thrive, the
cultural tradition is that children follow in their
parents' footsteps; child labour then is a means to
learn and practice that trade from a very early
age. Similarly, in many cultures the education of
girls is less valued or girls are simply not
expected to need formal schooling, and these

MACROECONOMIC
CAUSES

Biggeri and Mehrotra have studied the macroeconomic

factors that encourage child labour. They focus their study
on five Asian nations including India, Pakistan, Indonesia,
Thailand and Philippines. They suggest that child labour is
a serious problem in all five, but it is not a new problem.
Macroeconomic causes encouraged widespread child
labour across the world, over most of human history. They
suggest that the causes for child labour include both the
demand and the supply side. While poverty and
unavailability of good schools explain the child labour
supply side, they suggest that the growth of low paying
informal economy rather than higher paying formal
economy is amongst the causes of the demand side. Other
scholars too suggest that inflexible labour market, size of
informal economy, inability of industries to scale up and

This is how child labour affects

the nation:

Electropl
ate
worker

Consequences of child
The presence of labour
a large number of child laborers
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 monotous 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

Stitching soccer
balls

SOME FACTS ABOUT CHILD

LABOUR
According to the Indian census of 1991, there are 11.28
million working children under the age if fourteen years in
India.
Over 85% of this child labour is in the countrys rural
areas, working in agricultural activities such as farming,
livestock, rearing, forestry and fisheries.
The worlds highest number of working children is in
India. ILO estimates that 218 million children were involved
in child labour in 2004, of which 126 million were engaged
in hazardous work.
The Hindi belt, including Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, account for 1.27 crore working
children in the country, engaged in both hazardous and nonhazardous occupations and processes.
Over 19 lakh children labourers in the 5-14 age group are
in Uttar Pradesh. Rajasthan accounts for over 12.6 lakh
workers followed by Bihar with over 11 lakh and Madhya

A child
repairing
tyres

Where does most child labour

occur?

Child labour
laws &
initiatives
After its independence
from colonial rule, India

has passed a number of constitutional

protections and laws on child labour. The
Constitution of India in the Fundamental
Rights and the Directive of State Policy
prohibits child labour below the age of 14
years in any factory or mine or castle or
engaged in any other hazardous employment
(Article 24). The constitution also envisioned
that
India
shall,
by
1960,
provide
infrastructure and resources for free and

The
major
national
legislative
developments include the following:
The Factories Act of 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 1518
years be employed in any factory.
The Mines Act of 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of
children below 18 years of age in a mine.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986:
The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14
years in hazardous occupations identified in a list by the law. The
list was expanded in 2006, and again in 2008.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of
2000: This law made it a crime, punishable with a prison term, for
anyone to procure or employ a child in any hazardous employment
or in bondage.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act

Initiatives against
child
labour
1979, the Indian government

In
formed the Gurupadswamy Committee
to find about child labour and means
to
tackle
it.
The
Child
Labour
Prohibition and Regulation Act was not
enacted
based
on
the
recommendations of the committee in
1986.[citation needed] A National
Policy on Child Labour was formulated
in 1987 to focus on rehabilitating
children
working
in
hazardous
occupations.[73]
The
Ministry
of

Non-governmental
organizations
Many NGOs like Bachpan Bachao Andolan,
CARE India, Child Rights and You, Global march
against child labour, RIDE India etc. have been
working to eradicate child labour in India.
Pratham is India's largest non-governmental
organization with the mission 'every child in
school and learning well.' Founded in 1994,
Pratham has aimed to reduce child labour and
offer schooling to children irrespective of their
gender, religion and social background. It has
grown by introducing low cost education
models that are sustainable and reproducible.

CHILD LABOUR: STILL A

BIG CHALLENGE
Despite a law in force in India, prohibiting child
labour, millions of children to be employed in
homes, at roadside restaurants and in factories
across the country. These young kids are also
subjected to exploitation in various other ways,
including sexual and mental abuse.
With June 12 being observed as anti- child labour
day, activists alleged that lack of
enforcement of the Child Labour Act and no
rehabilitation has been fueling child labour.

Forward Steps
The
scenario on Child Welfare would be when every
:childideal
enjoys the fullness of childhood through education,
recreation and adequate health facilities. It is impossible to
attain these facilities by the child labour. All the children
were able to enjoy the completeness of childhood only :
When the true conscience of the nation is awakened.
When all the policy makers and the bureaucrats take the
issue of child labour seriously and commit themselves to
the cause of the holistic development of every child in India.
When the employees would not even contemplate the
idea of employing a child for any work which might deny the
child of a normal childhood.
When all Policies laid down by the Government under
various Plans and Laws were implemented properly.

What We can do as a
person to stop child labour?
To donate funds in NGOs working for the
rehabilitation of street children.

To contact NGOs and make them aware about child

labour happening in our society.
To make the rural people aware about the benefits
of education.
To provide free education for the orphans.
To start campaign against child labour.
To help the government to stop child labour.

SAY
NO
TO
CHILD
LABOU
R

Conclusion
The problem of child labour continues to pose a
challenge before the nation. Government has been
taking various pro-active measures to tackle this
problem. However, considering the magnitude and
extent of the problem and that it is essentially a
socio-economic problem inextricably linked to
poverty and illiteracy, it requires concerted efforts
from all society to make a dent in the problem.
The social evil of child labour can be brought under
control, if each individual takes responsibility of
prevailing child labour. Each and every citizen should
be aware of their responsibilities and should take
corrective measures to stop child labour, so that we
can have a better and developed India. Child labour
can be controlled if the government functions