GEETA INSTITUTE OF LAW , PANIPAT

SESSION 2020-2025

SUBMITTED TO – Mrs. JYOTI PATHANIA [ ASST, PROFESSOR , GIL]

SUBMITTED BY- KARTIKEY PUROHIT [ BBA LLB SEM 6]

20766

LABOR LAW -II ASSIGNMENT

THE CHILD AND ADOLESCENTS LABOUR ( PROHIBITION AND

REGULATIONS ) ACT , 1986

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 INTRODUCTION

The term “child” is considered equivalent to the universe for parents. Children are the source
through which humanity exists. They are the most prone category to exploitation and abuse
(both physical and mental). A child is deprived of the basic needs and facilities of education
and health, which are significant for the growth and development of a child. Child labour has
been in practice since ancient times and was considered normal. The Indian Constitution lays
emphasis on the fact that no child below the age of 14 is allowed to work in any mine or
factory as per Article 39. A child shouldn’t be engaged in any sort of dangerous employment.
But still, for many years, child labour has remained the biggest problem in the path of social
development. In present times, child labour is the most crucial and detestable form of
violation of a child’s rights. The exploitation of the rights of children is not a recent issue but
has now gained momentum with the growth of human rights. Many international
organisations like the International Labour Organisation (ILO), UNICEF, etc. are working
dedicatedly to protect the interests of children and facilitate them with basic amenities like
education. Article 21A deals with compulsory education for children. The Government of
India had promulgated the legislation of The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,
1986 to regulate provisions related to child labour practices in India. The Government made
substantial changes in the provisions of the Act in the year 2016 and from thereon a complete
prohibition has been imposed on the employment of children who are below the age of 14
years. Many provisions have been made under the Act regarding the employment for the
children who are above the age of 14 years. 

 What is Child Labour?

Child labour can be defined or explained as a practice where children are forced to engage or
employed in any sort of economically beneficial activity on a part-time or a full-time basis.
Children engaged in this are generally deprived of basic childhood experiences such as
schooling and are physically and mentally scarred. 
The primary reasons leading to Child Labour can be traced to poverty, lack of decent
schooling and education and growth of the informal economy.
Child labour results in the victimised child being deprived of a healthy and nurturing
environment in which to grow. He/she also generally suffer physical and mental trauma
which can be scarring for life. Apart from not getting an education, the child is also subjected
to various kinds of abuse and this prevents him/her from blossoming into a happy and healthy
adult.1

 The International Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989

The International Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 is a human rights treaty that
includes the rights of children which are related to civil, political, social, health and cultural
rights. A child is defined by the Convention as a human being who is under the age of

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 eighteen years unless the law applicable to the child specifies a different age clause for the
age of majority.

The Nations which ratified the Convention are bound to follow it under international law and
compliance of the same is checked by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The
Nations that have ratified the Convention are required to report to the United Nations
Committee on the Rights of the Child. The Committee checks on their advancement in the
implementation of the Convention for providing rights to children in their respective Nations.

The Convention works for the basic needs and rights of children in order to protect their
interests. A child has a right to life which includes the right to identity, and the right to be
raised by both parents even in case they are separated. The Convention works towards
preserving such rights of children by putting an obligation on parents to perform all their
responsibilities towards their child as parents. The Convention protects children from any
kind of exploitation and excessive interference.

The disputes which involve a child have to be tried separately with care and the child’s
viewpoint has to be heard in such cases. Courts are not allowed to sentence a child with
capital punishment. It is an obligation of Nations to ensure that no child is sentenced with
cruel or degrading forms of punishment. 

 Rights of Child and the Indian Constitution

According to the Indian Constitution, the rights are ensured to the citizens of the country. The
children are also given rights under the Constitution as they are considered citizens of the
country. Considering their special status, special provisions are made for children under the
Constitution. The Government can make special provisions for the protection of the rights of
children. 

The leading amendment made for the protection of the rights of children is the 86th
Constitutional Amendment i.e. Right to Education. Right to Education was made a
Fundamental Right in order to protect the basic right of children to receive an education. 86th
amendment guarantees the following:

1. The right to free elementary education that was made compulsory under Article 21
A of the Indian Constitution.
2. Right to protection till the age of fourteen years from any kind of hazardous
employment which is provided under Article 24 of the Indian Constitution.
3. Article 39(e) of the Constitution protects children from any kind of abuse or forced
employment which is not suitable for their age and ability.
4. The children are provided with equal opportunities, facilities, freedom, dignity, and
protection under Article 39 (f) of the Indian Constitution.

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 5. Article 45 of the Constitution ensures early childhood care and education to the
children until the age of 6 years.
Besides the special provisions which are made under the Constitution, the children also have
equal rights as any other adult citizen of the country. 

 Prohibition of Employment of Children in certain occupations and processes

Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 aims to eradicate any kind of child
abuse in the form of employment and prohibit the engagement of children in any kind of
hazardous employment, who have not completed 14 years of age. The Act prohibits the
employment of children in certain occupations and processes. The occupations which are
prohibited are mentioned in the Act under the Schedule in Part A. The prohibited occupations
for children under 14 years are:

1. Occupations that are related to the transport of passengers, goods or mails by railway;
2. Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or building operation in the railway premises;
3. Working in a catering establishment which is situated at a railway station and if it
involves moving from one platform to another or from one train to another or going
into or out of a moving train;
4. The occupation which involves work related to the construction of a railway station or
any other work where such work is done in close proximity to or between the
railway lines;
5. Any occupation within the limits of any port;
6. Work which involves the selling of crackers and fireworks in shops having a
temporary license;
7. Working in Slaughterhouses.
Prohibited processes for children under the age of 14 years are mentioned under the Schedule
in Part B.2 They are as follows:

1. The process involving the making of Bidi;

2. The process which involves carpet-weaving;
3. Manufacturing cement or bagging of cement;
4. The processes such as Cloth printing, dyeing, and weaving;
5. The processes that involve the manufacturing of matches, explosives, and fireworks;
6. Mica-cutting and splitting;
7. Any manufacturing process such as shellac manufacture, soap manufacture, tanning;
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https://labour.gov.in/childlabour/child-labour-acts-and-rules

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 8. The process of wool-cleaning;
9. Work that is related to the building and construction industry;
10. Manufacture of slate pencils;
11. Manufacture of products from agate;
12. Manufacturing processes in which toxic metals and substances such as lead, mercury,
manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene, pesticides and asbestos are used;
13. Cashew and Cashew Nut descaling and processing;
14. Soldering processes in electronic industries.
The Act in total prohibits approximately 13 occupations and 51 processes for the employment
of children. Article 24 of the Indian Constitution includes the provision for the prohibition of
employment of children in factories. The Act also lays down certain guidelines for
employers, which is to be followed in case the employee is a child of age less than 14 years.
According to the Act, the employer cannot make a child employee work between 7 p.m. and
8 a.m. and no overtime is allowed for them. It is not allowed for an employer to make a child
work for more than 3 hours without an interval of at least one hour and in total, an employer
should not make a child work for more than six hours a day. Adequate provisions must be
made by the employer for the health and safety of the child employees. Basic facilities such
as drinking water, toilets, disposal of waste, ventilation, etc must be provided by the
employer. The employer needs to notify the Factory Inspector if in case he employs a child
for employment. Production of age certificate of the child employee is also needed according
to the rules of the Act.

 Power to amend the Schedule

The Central Government has the power to amend the Schedule after giving notification in the
Official Gazette. The notification for such amendment must be given in advance of not less
than three months3. The notice can be given by notification to add any occupation in the
schedule or any process to the schedule. After such notice is provided to Official Gazette to
add any occupation or process, it is deemed to be amended accordingly.

 Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee

The Central Government may, if it thinks it to be necessary can constitute an advisory
committee i.e. the Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee by giving notification about
it in the Official Gazette. It is the duty of the Committee to advise the Central Government if
there’s a need to add occupations or processes to the Schedule. The Central Government
appoints the members of the Committee but the Committee should not exceed more than 10
members. The Committee shall also consist of a Chairman. There isn’t any limitation on the
number of meetings Committee shall have. The Committee shall meet whenever they feel
necessary and the meetings shall be regulated according to the procedure which shall be
decided by them.

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https://vikaspedia.in/education/child-rights/child-labour-policies

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 The Committee may itself constitute one or more sub-committees if they feel a need to do so. 

The Chairman and other members of the Committee are entitled to an allowance.

 Fall of child labour in previous years

From 2006 to 2014
The schemes were launched by the Government to curtail the issue of child
labour. MNREGA, Mid-day meal, Right to Education, etc. were brought into force with
stricter norms and facilities were made available to every child. These schemes helped
children to study and acted as an incentive for the parents as well, to make them understand
how important education is. The NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) came into the
picture to spread awareness and campaigns like ‘save the children’ and ‘stop child labour’
helped to mainstream the labourers into schools.

2015 onwards
The campaigns and awareness that started in 2012 gave more optimistic signs. In the year
2015, there was a significant decrease of 59% in child labourers. Between the years 2001 and
2011, there was a significant drop from 1.35 crores to 77.1 lakhs in child labour cases. There
were several rescue missions for saving the children from labouring in mines and factories.
The team saved around 1650 child labourers in the year 2014-15.

2019 onwards
The total child population between the age groups of 5- 14 years in India is 259.6 million.
The child population working as marginal workers constitutes 3.9% of the total child
population, i.e., 10.1 million. The data further reveals that more than 42.7 million children are
not in school. In the year 2019, around 10,826 cases were reported of violations of the Child
Labour Act for the previous 4 years. However, only 56% of cases passed through the stage of
prosecution. In the years 2015 and 2018, only 25% of cases were convicted for the violation
of the Child Labour Act. 

 Strategies and laws adopted after the rise in child labour

Despite having legislative norms and a Constitution (fundamental rights), India has many
cases of child labour. Every 4th child is child labour between the ages of 5-14 years of age
and there is at least 1 child in each 3rd family who is again child labour, as per the  Labour
Ministry’s report. 4

The situation was really severe, but this doesn’t mean that the Indian government hasn’t
taken any steps. For a decade, the government has continuously been working on it and has
passed various laws to prevent child labour. A few of them are as follows-

1. The Factories Act 1948– The child below 15 years of age is not allowed to work in
factories.
2. The Minimum Wages Act 1948– The person who has not completed the age of 14 is
termed a child and hence is prohibited from working as labour. 

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https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/1848?sam_handle=123456789/1362

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 3. The Plantation Labour Act 1951– The Act mentions the age restriction on labour.
Hence, preventing child labour.
4. The Mines Act 1952– As per the Constitution, the Mines Act has put a bar on the age
limit. The Act doesn’t allow children less than 14 years to work.
5. The Child Labour Act 1986– The Act has especially be made to protect the rights and
stop the exploitation of children in work industries.
6. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 – The Act
emphasises the rights and needs of children with respect to education. Free and
compulsory education is made mandatory for children of a certain age. Hence, it
helps in the decrease of child labour.
To propose actions and address the issue of child labourers, India formed its first board to
resolve the matter of child labour in the country. The board was named Gurupadswamy in
1979. The duty of the board was to examine the troubles and issues of child labour in the
industries. The board believed that the issue could not be removed in its entirety. So, it would
be impractical on the part of the board to think that they can vanish the issue. So the board
took a realistic approach to reduce the problem of child labour. The board found a way to
prohibit child labour in unsafe areas. On the recommendations of the board, the team
implemented and proposed the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986.

 GIRL CHILD LABOUR

The contribution of girl child labour doesn’t contribute to the majority of child labour but it is
a significant part of the number. The world doesn’t see household work as a job or labour. A
girl is expected to do  household work, which is considered to be work that every girl should
know how to do. In many areas, a girl child is deprived of education and health facilities and
is forced to do household work. The parents of the girl child don’t seem to be investing in her
education because they believe that she will be married one day. Many times, the girl child is
made to do work in other houses to earn money for the family. Since the girl child lacks
education and required literacy, she is made to do inexpert jobs at low rates. The girl child
ends up growing into a woman who is broken and doesn’t see her work to be of economic
benefit and undervalues herself. 5

A report issued by the Andhra Pradesh Rights Advocacy Foundation (AP CRAF) showed

worldwide data of around 145 million children being involved in child labour. Out of this
data, there was a significant contribution of girl child labour. If we break down this data, then
we can see that in the first class, 39% of child labour is girls. 93 million children are between
the ages of 5- 14 years. In the second class of children between the ages of 14- 18 years, there
are around 69.2 million, of which 42% are girls. 

The category of girl child labour includes the following jobs-

5
https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwi68prsjq7-
AhUImWYCHfLYBm8YABAAGgJzbQ&ohost=www.google.co.in&cid=CAESbOD2tJubAJ4vp52jq21BeN2O
zB46_BicbdBBdtvuwYUR7N_puzks2nygLyZnnULXKlX-rxjtu5Jew3c9y-
dvuFByMZU_FAy9aXAc4XdKeMvZF73dK8UW9eQt3pqBnDU-FNef-fyZJ0Ass1W2-
w&sig=AOD64_2DhxAmbRCTNh2YukoajW2S4bYCGw&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwjw8pTsjq7-
AhWoS2wGHfYTCUoQ0Qx6BAgGEAE

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 1. Home-based work
2. Non-economic activities that are below the eyes of the law
3. Long working hours
4. Less pay
5. Poor working conditions
6. No skills arrangement
7. Physical cruelty
8. Sexual nuisance 
The girl child ratio in rural and urban areas is of 4:1 i.e. 80% of girl child labour resides in
rural areas and 20% in urban areas. A girl child in rural areas is usually made to work in
agricultural and household activities; whereas, in the urban sector, the girl child labourer is
pushed into informal and unorganised places, which include factories and cottage industries.
So, in general, a girl child labourer works in the following sectors and conditions-

1. Domestic Service– 1. wherein the girl child is subject to physical and sexual abuse;
wherein the girl child is made to do work for long working hours and is not given
even sick leave and proper food
2. Agricultural Area– wherein the girl child does extensive labour work, which is not
good for a growing adolescent girl’s health and is exposed to harmful chemicals
and hazardous types of machinery
3. Streets of Urban cities– wherein girls are made to do jobs like rag picking, begging,
vendors, and even as sex workers
4. Home of rich people– wherein the girl child is subject to taking care of the babies
and  doing household chores like cleaning, washing clothes, and preparing food.
This kind of labour is usually hidden and doesn’t come into the picture so easily. 
5. Bonded labourers and export industries– wherein the girl child is subject to
outright slavery

 REGULATION AND WORKING CONDITIONS

There are certain regulations provided under the Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act, 1986 which the employer needs to follow while employing a child in
the establishment. Proper work conditions are to be provided by the employer.6

o Hours and period of work

As per the Act, no child employee shall be allowed to work in any establishment in excess of
the number of hours that have been decided on and prescribed for such an establishment or
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https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/child-labour-prohibition-act/

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class of establishment. The number of hours shall be fixed by the establishment and the child
employee must not be allowed to work for more than three hours without a break of one hour.
The total number of hours of work for a child employee shall not exceed six hours. Six hours
shall also include one hour of interval. According to the Act, the employer cannot make a
child employee work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. and no employer must permit the child
employee to work overtime. If a child has already worked in an establishment in a day, then
such a child must not be permitted to work in another establishment on the same day.

o Weekly Holidays
Every child who is employed in an establishment shall mandatorily be allowed a holiday each
week. The holiday must be for a whole day. The day of the week must be decided on which it
would be a holiday for the employees of the establishment and the notice regarding the same
must be exhibited in a conspicuous place of the establishment. The notice should be of a
permanent nature and should not be altered more than once in three months.

o Notice to Inspector
Notice is needed to be sent to the Inspector within whose local limits the establishment is
situated by the employer of such establishment if he employs a child employee or by the
occupier of an establishment in which a child is employed or is permitted to work. The notice
to be sent must be in writing. It must contain the following particulars:

1. the name of the establishment and place in which it is situated,

2. name of the person who manages the establishment, 
3. the postal address of the establishment,
4. the details such as the nature of occupation or process which is carried on in the
establishment.
Every employer who permits a child to work in his establishment is needed to send a notice
within 30 days to the Inspector within whose local limits the establishment is situated. Where
a process is carried on by the occupier with the aid of Government or it receives assistance or
recognition from Government for it then such establishment shall not be subject to the
provisions of Section 7, 8, 9 of the Act.

o Maintenance of register
The occupier shall maintain a register which shall include information with respect to
children who are employed or permitted to work in his establishment. The register which is
made available by the occupier for inspection at all times shall contain:

1. The  name and date of birth of the children who are employed by the occupier;
2. Number of hours and period of work for which the child employee is made to work;
3. The nature of employment and the work which the child employee is made to do;
4. Other particulars which may be prescribed.

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 o Health and Safety
The Government may by giving a notification to the Official Gazette make rules for the
health and safety of the children who are employed or permitted to work in an establishment
or any class of establishments if the Government feels necessary to do so. 7According to the
Act the rules which must be followed by the establishment for the purpose of safety and
cleanliness are as follows:

1. The cleanliness of the place of work must be taken care of and it should be free from
any kind of nuisance;
2. There must be a proper place for disposal of wastes and effluents;
3. Proper provisions for ventilation should be made and an adequate level of temperature
should be maintained in the place of work;
4. Provisions should be made to reduce dust and fumes;
5. Artificial humidification shall be made;
6. Lighting must be proper in the place of work;
7. Drinking water must be provided;
8. Toilets must be made in the place of work for the employees;
9. Spittoons should be provided in order to keep the workplace clean;
Bachpan Bachao v. Union of India(2010)
In this case, the Delhi High Court decided the duties and responsibilities of the committees
that have been formed for the protection of the interests of the children. The Commissions
were directed to hear the matters related to the abusive workinh environment wherein the
child faces physical abuse as well as mental for the age group of 14- 18 years. The
commissions shall also look into the absence of the basic requirement of medical care and
food requirements. The bench directed these commissions to determine their objectives and
plan of action within 30 days of this judgment. 

Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India(1995)

In this case, a Public Interest Litigation(PIL) was filed to protect the interests of children
below the age of 14 years. It was alleged that these children were made to work in the carpet
industry as child labourers8. The reports of the commissions also showed that a high number
of children below the age of 14 were employed in the industry of Uttar Pradesh. Most of
these children were the SCs and STs of Bihar. The Court directed the State to provide the
socio economic justice to these children and provide proper opportunities for their personality
development. 

 Child Labour during COVID-19

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The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986: Rights of a child (ipleaders.in)
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https://clc.gov.in/clc/acts-rules/child-labour-prohibition-and-regulation-act-1986

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In the past two decades, India has seen a significant decrease in  child labour. However, the
COVID-19 pandemic brought back the fear of an increase in child labour again.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO), along with the United Nations Children’s
Fund, gave a joint report which showed that a rise of around 1% in poverty leads to a rise of
0.7% in child labour. As per the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there is an
expectation that 60 million people will fall into the category of poverty, which will directly
affect the child labour ratio. Because whenever a family gets below the poverty line, they are
forced to send every capable family member out to earn money.  

In March 2020, there were 2473 interventions related to child labour. The numbers came
down to 446 in April but rose to 734 in May. The number of cases didn’t show the exact
number of child labour. However, the dip might reflect the disruption of the normal reporting
processes and investigation of the child labour cases caused due to the pandemic. There were
3653 interventions for child labour across the country, as reported on the child helpline
number. The further breakdown of this data was into-

1. Begging- 35%
2. Hazardous activities- 21%
3. Restaurants- 14%
4. Domestic worker- 10%
5. Family Units- 8%
6. Bonded labourers- 4%
On 29 August 2020, the District Task Force of Ludhiana rescued 13 child labourers from two
factories in Punjab.

 CONCLUSION

 
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 prohibits children from working in
hazardous employment. The Act provides a minimum age limit for employment as 14 years.
The provision of the Act has helped in reducing the rate of child employment in India. It has
reduced various hazardous risks to which child employees are exposed at the workplace as
well as the exploitation by laying down the provisions for maximum number of hours or
period of work and various other related issues. The Act has played an important role in
reducing hazardous employment for children in India.9 If it is found that the employer is
employing a child in contravention of the provisions of the Act then, such employer will be
liable for punishment which includes imprisonment or fine or both. Although the Act has
reduced the number of child labors, this evil is still lingering in our society due to the socio-
economic issues i.e. poverty and illiteracy and for overcoming the evil of child labor,
collective responsibility has to be taken up by the society at large as Justice Subba Rao, the
former Chief Justice of India rightly said that; “Social justice must start with the child. Until
and unless a tender plant is properly tended and nourished, it has a small chance of growing

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https://www.tn.gov/workforce/employees/labor-laws/labor-laws-redirect/child-labor.html

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into a strong and useful tree. So, the first preference in the plate of justice should be stated to
the well-being of children.”

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