INDIAN INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES

SUBJECT – “LABOUR & INDUSTRIAL LAW”

PROJECT TOPIC – “A Survey on the adherence of the provisions

relating to Child Labour (Prohibition and regulation )act, 1986 Siliguri
Junction area.”

SUBMITED BY

NAME ────── RUPESH CHETTRI

COURSE ──── 3 YEARS L.L.B.

SEMESTER ── 4th SEMESTER

ROLL NO. ─── 62

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

T he idea of the project has been received from our respected

Teacher Asst. Prof of Law“” she is the main inspiration
behind the project. Besides this she has helped me with the
valuable time, advice and guidance. I must acknowledge her for the
help which has made it possible for me to prepare the whole
project on the topic of “A Survey on the adherence of the provisions
relating to Child Labour (Prohibition and regulation )act, 1986 Siliguri
Junction area.”

Under the guidance of Prof of Law“” I have gone through the

books and internet sites which she had referred in the class. The
names of the books and internet sites I have further mentioned in
the “Bibliography” with the names of authors, which had helped
me a lot while preparing the whole project.

I also owe gratitude towards our institution (Indian Institute Of

Legal Studies) for offering me the scope of making the project
work which will give me a wonderful experience of learning and
gaining more knowledge in the path of my life.

Siliguri, Dagapur, Darjeeling RUPESH CHETTRI

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
DETAILED CONTENTS

Acknowledgement ------------------------------------------------- (i)

Table of Cases ----------------------------------------------------- (ii)

Chapter Contents Page No

I Synopsys. ------

a. Statement of problem.
b. Research Objectives
c. Research Questions.
d. Hypothesis.
e. Research Method.
f. Sources of Data.
II HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

III. PROVISION OF CHILD LABOUR

(PROHIBITION & REGULATION), ACT 1986

IV.THE REAL SITUATION OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA

V. CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY

VI. SCOPE AND OBJECT

VII. CASE STUDY

VIII. SURVEY ON CHILD LABOUR, SILIGURI JUNCTION AREA

IX. CONCLUSION
 CHAPTER 1
SYNOPSYS

A) Aims and Objectives.

The main aim and objective of this Act is to find out the relevance of this statute. This
Provision/Act aims about the rights of a child under the prescribed age under the law which
is 14 yrs prohibits employment of child under the work. This Act also aims to implement
certain rules and regulations relating to the working conditions and hours of children. The
main object of this Act is to regulate the law relating to child labour and to check every
safety measures to ensure the provision is properly followed in the ground level.

B) Statement of problem.
Statement of problem relating to this research work is to examine the ground problems
relating to this Act. While adopting this Act the legislature ignored the law relating to
domestic labour of a child, but the “International LabourOrganisation”(ILO) has not ignored
and raised the topic in world wide.

C) Research Questions.
i) What is a Child Labour?
 Practice of having children engage in economic activity, on full time basis or on part
time. Such kind of practice shall deprive children of their childhood, their potential and
dignity and this is harmful for their mental physical and social development.
ii) Whether the employers are following the proper guideline and norms provided by
the Government and the safety measures of Child Labours Act?
D) Hypothesis.
The Child labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 is based on the principle
of enjoying the rights of a child and to enjoy the childhood life of a child. This Act prohibits
the employer who employees the child as a labour with less amount of money and deprive of
their every rights and making them to work as bondage labour for their whole life or in
hazardous industries.

E) Mode of Research.
The methods of Research which is followed in this research work is ‘Doctrinal&
Empirical ’ which means research is done from various Books, internet site and articles, but
the field work is not followed in this research work.
 Mode of Citation.
In this research work uniform mode of citation is followed throughout the research.

PRIMARY SOURCES
Statutes:
 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation), Act 1986.
 The Constitution of India, 1950.
SECONDARY SOURCES
Articles:
 www.firstpost .com/tag/child – labour.
 Global news. Ca/tag/child – labour
Journals:

 Nill
Books
 S.N. Mishra, “Labour& Industrial Laws”, Centran Law Publication,
27thEdn. (Reprint 2014).
Websites:
1. http://www.gktoday.in/iaspoint/current/child - labour
 CHAPTER II
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Child Labour is such an evil practice which has been practiced by certain
unsocialised and antisocial people of our society which has been prevailed by many
centuries. Looking back to our past at the historical time people were captured by the
opponent king while acquiring the neighboring territorial. Thus women and the children were
sold out in the market as a mean of bondage labour as a result they were weaker enough and
unable to raise their voice against the monarchy.More or less parents or the guardians are
also responsible for the labouring of a child. The minor child are expected to accompany
them by their parents due to low income of a family so they engages their children such as
working in a field or any house hold work. Even in India many family exploits their female
child and makes them engage in household work as a slave depriving their every rights,
education and proper commodities equivalent to the male child. Even today such kind of
work are not considered as exploitive in nature by the parents. The worst forms of the
exploitation of children started during the time of Industrial Revolution. The owner of the
industries realized that the starting ofany machinery tools a child can also perform well. As
per the child labours can be hired much more cheaper than the adult labour. Thus to gain
more profit children are largely exploited and engaged in every industries. Specially the
children’s are bound to work in farming, coal mines, chimney sweepers, domestic servants
etc. Due to their body structure the could perform work in a small space so the industrialist
and the aristocrats use to exploit the children. Thus in this form the children are captured and
bound to work by many industrialist.

During the time of British Empire new industries started exploiting large scale of children’s
and started to hire and forced to work in inhuman condition with less than the minimum
wages. Thus due to the political pressure by our Indian politicians the British Empire passed
a law against child labour was passed under Employment of Children Act of 1939. But due
to the absence of the suppressing the main cause which was “poverty” this act failed to
stand. But now the situations had been changed in huge manner through we have unified and
codified law for child labour under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986
which was recently amended by the Parliament on 2016. This recent amendment bill has
widened up the meaning and scope of law against child labour with strict punishment for
violators. There are other certain acts which were passed for the welfare and safe guards the
children and their rights to enjoy the childhood of the child carefree and healthy with good
memory of their past. Thus the child should be prohibited from working and if child is
working there are certain rules and regulation which shall ensure that a child should not work
beyond that limit and obstructing certain hazardous jobs which is also dangerous for their for
their life.
 CHAPTER III
PROVISION OF CHILD LABOUR(PROHIBITION&
REGULATION), ACT 1986
INTRODUCTION:
The population of the children is huge around the world it is almost one third. They
are an important part of the society. In fact they are the future of our generation so they
deserves to be cared and protected make our future better. Therefore social justice demands
justice to children.

Hence for the first time protection and safeguard to children was stated in Geneva
Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1924 and was recognized by the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, 1948. The Statutes of specialized agencies of U.N.O. of the
U.D.H.R., 1948 under Article 25 and 26 states that “Motherhood and childhood are
entitled to special care and assistance”, “Rights to free and compulsory elementary
education to children”.1

Later on the Legislatures of India enacted an Act regarding the child labour which is
known as The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. This is an Act which
prohibits the engagement of children in certain employments and to regulate the conditions
of work of children in certain other employments. Thus it was enacted by the Parliament of
India in the Thirty-seventh Year of Republic of India.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 consists of four parts.

i) Part I – It contains preliminary part.

ii) Part II – It contains Prohibition of employment of children in certain occupations
and processes.
iii) Part III – Regulation of conditions of work of children.
iv) Part IV – Miscellaneous.
i) PART I- PRELIMINARY

Section 1: Short title, extent and commencement.

Section2: Definitions.

Definitions are mentioned below,

(i) "appropriate Government" means, in relation to an establishment under the control of

the Central Government or a railway administration or a major port or a mine or oilfield, the
Central Government, and in all other cases, the State Government ;

1.S.N. Mishra, “Labour and Industrial Laws”, CLP 27th Edition (Reprint 2014).
 (ii) "child" means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age ;

(iii) "day" means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at midnight ;

(iv) "establishment" includes a shop, commercial establishment, workshop, farm,

residential hotel, restaurant, eating house, theatre or other place of public amusement or
entertainment;

(v) "family", in relation to an occupier, means the individual, the wife or husband, as the
case may be, of such individual, and their children, brother or sister of such individual ;

(vi) "occupier", in relation to an establishment or a workshop, means the person who has
the ultimate control over the affairs of the establishment or workshop ;

(vii) "port authority" means any authority administering a port ;

(viii) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under Section 18 ;

(ix) "week" means a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night or such
other night as may be approved in writing for a particular area by the Inspector ;

(x) "workshop" means any premises (including the precincts thereof) wherein any
industrial process is carried on, but does not include any premises to which the provisions of
Section 67 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), for the time being, apply.

ii) PART II- PROHIBITION OF EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN IN CERTAIN

OCCUPATIONS AND PROCESSES.

Section 3.Prohibition of employment of children in certain occupations and processes.

No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the occupations set forth in Part A
of the Schedule or in any workshop wherein any of the processes set forth in Part B of the
Schedule is carried on :

Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any workshop wherein any process is
carried on by the occupier with the aid of his family or to any school established by, or
receiving assistance or recognition from, Government.

Section 4.Power to amend the Schedule.

Section 5.Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee.
iii) PART III- REGULATION OF CONDITIONS OF WORK OF CHILDREN

Section 6.Application of Part.

The provisions of this Part shall apply to an establishment or a class of establishments in

which none of the occupations or processes referred to in Section 3 is carried on.
Section 7.Hours and period of work.

(1) No child shall be required or permitted to work in any establishment in excess of such
number of hours as may be prescribed for such establishment or class of establishments.
(2) The period of work on each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed three hours
and that no child shall work for more than three hours before he has had an interval for rest
for at least one hour.
(3) The period of work of a child shall be so arranged that inclusive of his interval for rest,
under sub-section (2), it shall not be spread over more than six hours, including the time
spent in waiting for work on any day.
(4) No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.
(5) No child shall be required or permitted to work overtime.
(6) No child shall be required or permitted to work in any establishment on any day on which
he has already been working in another establishment.

Section 8.Weekly holidays.

Every child employed in an establishment shall be allowed in each week, a holiday of one
whole day, which day shall be specified by the occupier in a

notice permanently exhibited in a conspicuous place in the establishment and the day so
specified shall not be altered by the occupier more than once in three months.

Section 9. Notice to Inspector.

i) Every occupier in relation to an establishment in which a child was employed or

permitted to work immediately before the date of commencement of this Act in
relation to such establishment shall, within a period of thirty days from such
commencement, send to the Inspector within whose local limits the establishment is
situated, a written notice containing the following particulars, namely :

(a)the name and situation of the establishment ;

(b)the name of the person in actual management of the establishment ;
(c)the address to which communications relating to the establishment should be sent ; and
(d)the nature of the occupation or process carried on in the establishment.

ii) Every occupier, in relation to an establishment, who employs, or permits to work, any
child after the date of commencement of this Act in relation to such establishment,
shall, within a period of thirty days from the date of such employment, send to the
Inspector within whose local limits the establishment is situated, a written notice
containing the particulars as are mentioned in sub-section (1).
Explanation: For the purposes of sub-sections (1) and (2), "date of commencement of this
Act, in relation to an establishment" means the date of bringing into force of this Act in
relation to such establishment.

(3) Nothing in Sections 7, 8 and 9 shall apply to any establishment wherein any process is
carried on by the occupier with the aid of his family or to any school established by, or
receiving assistance or recognition from. Government.

Section 10.Disputes as to age.

If any question arises between an Inspector and an occupier as to the age of any child who is
employed or is permitted to work by him in an establishment, the question shall, in the
absence of a certificate as to the age of such child granted by the prescribed medical
authority, be referred by the Inspector for decision to the prescribed medical authority.

Section 11.Maintenance of register.

There shall be maintained by every occupier in respect of children employed or permitted to

work in any establishment, a register to be available for inspection by an Inspector at all
times during working hours or when work is being carried on in any such establishment,
showing:

(a)the name and date of birth of every child so employed or permitted to work ;
(b)hours and periods of work of any such child and the intervals of rest to which he is
entitled ;
(c)the nature of work of any such child ; and
(d)such other particulars as may be prescribed.

Section 12.Display of notice containing abstract of Sections 3 and 14.

Every railway administration, every port authority and every occupier shall cause to be
displayed in a conspicuous and accessible place at every station on its railway or within the
limits of a port or at the place of work, as the case may be, a notice in the local language and
in the English language containing an abstract of Sections 3 and 14.

Section13. Health and safety.

(1) The appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for
the health and safety of the children employed or permitted to work in any establishment or
class of establishments.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions, the said rules may
provide for all or any of the following matters, namely :

a) cleanliness in the place of work and its freedom from nuisance ;

b) disposal of wastes and effluents ;
c) ventilation and temperature ;
d) dust and fume ;
e) artificial humidification ;
f) lighting ;
g) drinking water ;
h) latrine and urinals ;
i) spittoons ;
j) fencing of machinery ;
k) work at or near machinery in motion ;
l) employment of children on dangerous machines ;
m) instructions, training and supervision in relation to employment of children on
dangerous machines ;
n) device for cutting off power ;
o) self-acting machines ;
p) easing of new machinery ;
q) floor, stairs and means of access ;
r) pits, sumps, openings in floors, etc. ;
s) excessive weights ;
t) protection of eyes ;
u) explosive or inflammable dust, gas, etc. ;
v) precautions in case of fire ;
w) maintenance of buildings ; and
x) safety of buildings and machinery.

PART IV- MISCELLANEOUS

Section 14.Penalties.

(1) Whoever employs any child or permits any child to work in contravention of the
provisions of Section 3 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be
less than three months but which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be less
than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both.

(2) Whoever, having been convicted of an offence under Section 3, commits a like offence
afterwards, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than
six months but which may extend to two years.

(3) Whoever:

a) fails to give notice as required by Section 9, or

b) fails to maintain a register as required by Section 11 or makes any false entry in
any such register ; or
 c) fails to display a notice containing an abstract of Section 3 and this section as
required by Section 12 ; or
d) fails to comply with or contravenes any other provisions of this Act or the rules
made thereunder,

shall be punishable with simple imprisonment which may extend to one month or with fine
which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.

Section 15.Modified application of certain laws in relation to penalties.

Section 16.Procedure relating to offences.

(1) Any person, police officer or Inspector may file a complaint of the commission of an
offence under this Act in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) Every certificate as to the age of a child which has been granted by a prescribed medical
authority shall, for the purposes of this Act, be conclusive evidence as to the age of the
child to whom it relates.
(3) No court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class
shall try any offence under this Act.

Section 17.Appointment of inspectors. The appropriate Government may appoint

Inspectors for the purposes of securing compliance with the provisions of this Act and any
Inspector so appointed shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the
Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).

Section 18.Power to make rules.

1) The appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette and subject to
the condition of previous publication, make rules for carrying into effect the
provisions of this Act.
2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules
may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely :
a) the term of office of, the manner of filling casual vacancies of, and the allowances
payable to the Chairman and members of the Child Labour Technical Advisory
Committee and the conditions and restrictions subject to which a non-member may be
appointed to a sub-committee under sub-section (5) of Section 5 ;
b) number of hours for which a child may be required or permitted to work under sub-
section (1) of Section 7 ;
c) grant of certificates of age in respect of young persons in employment or seeking
employment, the medical authorities which may issue such certificate, the form of such
certificate, the charges which may be made thereunder and the manner in which such
certificate may be issued
Provided that no charge shall be made for the issue of any such certificate if the
 application is accompanied by evidence of age deemed satisfactory by the authority
concerned ;
d) the other particulars which a register maintained under Section 11 should contain.

THE SCHEDULE PART A- Occupations

Any occupation connected with:

1) Transport of passengers, goods or mails by railway ;

2) Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or building operation in the railway premises ;
3) Work in a catering establishment at a railway station, involving the movement of a
vendoror any other employee of the establishment from one platform to another or
into or out of a moving train ;
4) Work relating to the construction of a railway station or with any other work where
suchwork is done in close proximity to or between the railway lines;
5) A port authority within the limits of any port;
6) Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks in shops with temporary licences;
7) Abattoirs/Slaughter Houses.

PART B- Processes

1) Bidi-making.
2) Carpet-weaving.
3) Cement manufacture, including bagging of cement.
4) Cloth printing, dyeing and weaving.
5) Manufacture of matches, explosives and fireworks.
6) Mica-cutting and splitting.
7) Shellac manufacture.
8) Soap manufacture.
9) Tanning.
10) Wool-cleaning.
11) Building and construction industry.
12) Manufacture of slate pencils (including packing).
13) Manufacture of products from agate.
14) Manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances such as lead,
mercury,manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene, pesticides and asbestos.
15) "Hazardous processes" as defined in Section 2(cb) and 'dangerous operations' as
notifiedin rules made under Section 87 of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948).
16) Priming as defined in Section 2(k)(iv) of the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948).
17) Cashew and Cashewnut descaling and processing.
18) Soldering processes in electronic industries.
 CHAPTER IV
THE REAL SITUATION OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA.
While discussing this topic and looking back throughout the history it can be noticed that the
child labour has become the socialization process. The skill of the work or the artisan can be
seen those skills were transferred by the parents to the children through generations. Thus
India is a developing nation and the main economy of this country is agriculture and a
country where numbers of small industries are emerged from the evolution of the historical
times. AS a natural process the trade and crafts such as weaving, pottery, carpentry, barbers,
etc are the skills which are learned by the children through their parents.

Thus in this way the laboring the child came from history and till the present era many
no. of children are been employed in many hotel, restaurants, shops, workshops or at the
domestics, atc.

It is very sad to know that according to the survey of “UNESCO” representatives in a

seminar of “Elimination of Child Labour” revealed on 22nd Feb, 1997 that total of 375 billion
are working as labour in the world, where India has 70.36 billion where out of that every
fourth child within the age of 5-15 years in India is employed.

There are certain main reasons such as:-

i) Poor economic condition.

ii) Parents unable to maintain & Population growth.
iii) Cheapest source of human labour.
iv) Lack of political and legal conscience.
 CHAPTER V
CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY
India has passed a number of laws on child labour since Independence. Article 24 of
the Constitution prohibits employment of children below the age of 14 in factories, mines,
and other hazardous employment. Article 21A and Article 45 promise to provide free and
compulsory education to all children between the ages of 6 and 14. In 2009, India passed the
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE). But the amendments in the
new law make it practically impossible to implement the RTE. Its clauses put such a burden
on poor low-caste families that instead of promoting education, the Act actually increases the
potential for dropouts. And parents, scared of the huge fines that they may have to pay for
employing their children, are likely to lie about school attendance and may unwillingly
comply with contractors in employing them.

Article 15(3)

Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women
and children.

Article 23

Prohibition of Traffic in human beings And Force Labour.

23(1) – Traffic in human beings and beggar and other similar forms of forced labour are
other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention of this provision
shall be an offence punishable in accordance in law.

23(2) – Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from imposing compulsory service for
public purposes and in imposing such service the State shall not make any discrimination on
grounds only of religion, race, caste or class or any of them.

Article 39(e) – That the health and strength of workers, men 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.

Article 39(f) – That children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in health
manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected
against exploitation and against moreal and material abandonment.

Thus the Constitution of India which is the Holy book of India itself provides the
security and relief towards the child who is in any unusual act.
 CHAPTER VI
SCOPE AND OBJECT
India has taken a significant step towards prohibition and regulation of the social evil
of child labour which has consumed the society to a large extent. Mere enactment of the law
would not be sufficient unless it is accompanied by the society to stop the child labour.
Because the children are the future generation and they should be protected from any kind of
evil practice and they should be grown up with proper care and education. They should not
have such kind of memory that shall ruin their care childhood and many valuable feeling.

Thus this Act objects that the child of minor age should not be engaged in any kind of
work and if they are engaged beyond the age 14 years which is prescribed by the Act itself
then there are certain norms that should be followed. If any one has found they are violating
the rules and regulation regarding the child labour they should be punished strictly.

A separate provision also should be implemented regarding the domestic labour.

SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF CHILD LABOUR.

Many children in hazardous and dangerous jobs are in the danger of injury to their
body or even death. Between 2000 and the year 2020, the vast majority of new workers,
citizens and new consumers — whose skills and needs will build the world’s economy and
society — will come from developing countries. Over that 20-year period, some 730 million
people will join the world’s workforce — more than all the people employed in the most
developed nations in 2000. More than 90 percent of these new workers will be from
developing nations, according to research by Population Action International.

In order to meet the demand of labour or workers in such tremendous globalization a country
should make certain preservative and preventive solution to control the child labour. Thus
some of them are mentioned below:-

1. Increased family incomes.

2. Education — that helps children learn skills that will help them earn a living and they
can raise their voices against the wrongdoer.

3. Social services — that help children and families survive from crisis, such as disease,
or loss of home and shelter through natural calamities or any unusual act.

4. Family control of fertility — According to the tremendous growth in the field of

population there should be hard and fast rule regarding the controlling of family just
like china.
 CHAPTER VII
CASE STUDY:

In the light of these Supreme Court Judgments disfavoring the employment of children, if we
observe the decision given in M.C. Mehta vs. State of Tamil Nadu & others AIR, 1991
SCC 283.This is a land mark case which issaid to be an important judicial pronouncement in
the term of child labour in India, we find that the Supreme Court went against the
constitutional spirit and aspirations envisaging a fair deal for children. In this case the Court
allowed the child workers- where admittedly hazardous manufacturing process of matches
and fireworks is carried on- to be employed in match factories of Shivkashi in Tamil Nadu,
when it said that, “ the children must be provided basic diet during working period”. The
Court, Which could not foresee that risk is also involved in sorting out of processing for the
purpose and packing of such objects, went a step further against the rights of the child, when
it observed that “the tender hands of young workers are more suited, considering
children’s special adoptability, working in match and fire workers in sorting out and
packing manufactured products” and ordered that “ at least 60% of the prescribed
minimum wages for an adult worker doing the same work should be given to the child
worker.” The court, however, has given certain directions regarding the manner in which the
children working in the hazardous processes and occupations are to be withdrawn and the
manner in which the working conditions of children working in non hazardous occupations
are to be regulated and improved. The court also directed to rehabilitate and provide them
with quality education, for which Child Labour Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund be set up,
using contributions from employers who contravene The Child Labour Act, which is now
incorporated in the amendments to the proposed legislation. Probably the decision of the
Supreme Court here might beto protect the human dignity, an important aspect of the right to
life, and here it is the rights of the poor and child laborers living in the rural areas of the
country. But an important aspect of the right to life guaranteed under Art.21 of the
Constitution of India. Another such kind of case, for instance Maneka Gandhi v.
Union of India case,1978,1,SCC,248 it is observed by the honorable Court that “the little
workers are not provided adequate medical care, rehabilitation, good food, educational
facilities, and payment of normal subsistence allowance” and so on. Furthermore, “the
child laborers are firstly children and then laborers.
 CHAPTER VIII
SURVEY ON CHILD LABOUR,SILIGURI JUNCTION AREA.

Report:-
Though there are clear provisions in our Constitution to safeguard the interest of children by
ensuring that they receive education and are not forced to work for a living, it is unfortunate that the
problem of child labour exists to a large extent in our country. In fact, child labour is the result of
various ills in the society. Poverty and illiteracy are two such manifestations, which are visible but
there are many other factors inbuilt in our society, like the position of women in the family,
traditional and cultural practices and feudal attitudes in the country, perpetuating this problem.

As per our project topic it required the survey of adherence and provisions taken by the local
administration and authorities in accordance with the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act
1986. We also visited some local shops and eateries but they refused to provide any information on
their child workers. As per the data available, 11583 children in the age group of 5-14 years are
working in non-agricultural sector in the Siliguri, out of which 6513 children are working in
hazardous occupations. Their distribution in some major hazardous occupations is given below:

Number of child workers (5-14 years) engaged in Hazardous Occupations

1 Pan, Bidi& Cigarettes 574

2 Construction 1345

3 Domestic workers 905

4 Brick-kilns, tiles 478

6 Dhabas/ Restaurants/ Hotels/ Motels 1398

7 Auto-workshop, vehicle repairs 657

12 Others 1156

6513
Total
As per Article 24 of the Constitution, no child below the age of 14 years is to be employed in any
factory, mine or any hazardous employment. Further, Article 39 requires the States to direct its
policy towards ensuring that the tender age of children is not abused and that they are not forced by
economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength. With the insertion of Article
21A, the State has been entrusted with the task of providing free and compulsory education to all the
children in the age group of 6-14 years.

Consistent with the Constitutional provisions, Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act was
enacted in 1986, which seeks to prohibit employment of children below 14 years in hazardous
occupations and processes and regulates the working conditions in other employments. In the last
few years, the number of hazardous processes listed in the schedule of the Act has increased from 18
to 57 and occupations from 7 to 13. Recently, Government has also decided to include children
working as domestic servants and those working in dhabas/roadside eateries/motels etc. in the
category of hazardous occupations.

Realizing the multifaceted and complex nature of this problem, Government had embarked on a
holistic and a multi-pronged programme to eliminate child labour from the city in a phased manner
beginning with children working in hazardous occupations and progressively covering the children
working in other occupations also. The National Policy on Child Labour announced in 1987,
emphasizes the need for strict enforcement measures in the areas of high child labour concentration
along with appropriate rehabilitative measures to curb this menace.

Although Government is committed to the task of elimination of child labour in all its forms,
considering the nature and magnitude of the problem, gradual and sequential approach has been
adopted to withdraw and rehabilitate children beginning with those working in hazardous
occupations and processes.

In order to translate the above policy into action, the Government of India initiated the National
Child Labour Project Scheme to rehabilitate the working children. Under the Scheme, working
children are identified through child labour survey, withdrawn from work and put into the special
bridge schools, so as to provide them with enabling environment to join mainstream education
system. In these Special Schools, besides formal education, they are provided stipend @ Rs.500/- per
month, nutrition, vocational training and regular health check ups. In addition, efforts are also made
to target the families of these children so as to cover them under various developmental and
income/employment generation programmes of the Government. The Scheme also envisages
awareness generation campaigns against the evils of child labour and enforcement of child labour
laws.
The NCLP Scheme is implemented through a district level Project Society, headed by the District
Collector. This Project Society, includes prominent NGOs and Trade Unions of the district, in
addition to the State Government officials from Education, Health, Rural Development, Labour,
Social Welfare and Women & Child Development Departments, etc. The involvement of different
departments in the Project Society is to ensure better convergence with these Departments for
implementation of the Scheme. As far as possible, running of Special Schools for child labour is
entrusted to NGOs. It may, however, be taken up by the Project Society itself, if competent and
experienced NGOs are not available in the district for this purpose. The Scheme offers lot of
flexibility and decentralization, wherein based on the broad guidelines laid down by the Government
of India, all decisions concerning running of the schools or selecting the NGOs etc. are taken at the
level of Project Society. The funds under the Scheme are sanctioned by the Ministry directly to the
District Collector, who in turn, disburses them amongst the NGOs for running these Special Schools
for working children. The funds are also provided under the Scheme for conducting regular child
labour surveys, awareness generation programmes and training of instructors/teachers, etc.

The revised strategy emphasized the need to continue the programme in a more focused, integrated
& convergent manner. As such, it was decided to enroll working children in the age group of 5-9
years directly under the SarvaShikshaAbhiyan, which had started in 2001-02, whereas those in the
age group of 9-14 years to be covered under the Special Schools run under NCLP Scheme.
Considering the fact that the number of child labour does not remain static, it was also decided to
conduct at least two surveys to correctly assess the extent of child labour in the districts. For this
purpose, a provision of Rs.12 lakh per survey was made for every NCLP district. In addition, a
budgetary provision of Rs.5 lakh per year was also earmarked for raising public awareness against
the evils of child labour.

Further, the nutritional component was doubled from Rs.25 per child/day to Rs.50. Beside,
components of health care and vocational training was also greatly reinforced. Project Societies can
now engage a doctor for conducting health check-ups for every 20 Schools at an honorarium of Rs.
8,000/- per month. Provision of Rs. 6000/- per month was also made to engage a Master Trainer in
the district to impart specialized skill training to Vocational Instructors & children in skills/trades,
which are financially rewarding. In addition, funds @ Rs. 5000/- per teacher were earmarked for
their training and skill upgradation during the 10th Plan, with a view to improve the quality of
teaching in NCLP Schools.
 CHAPTER IX
CONCLUSION

This is to conclude that taking into consideration the clause of Child Labour gives all
the rights towards the children but it still prevails a gap which can be seen in the law in the
real situation. There should be strict law regarding the child labour as it is the matter of
future generation of the society. So, they should not be deprived of their rights, childhood,
etc. There is no such rule for the child domestic worker in India.

Thus it makes clear that the law regarding the child labours have many loop holes. If a
child is free from any labour than it should be implemented and executed and should be
checked by the authorized personalities who considers this matter as a serious matter and
should ensure the child is enjoying his rights.