CHILD LABOUR

One of the many curse of industrialization has been the exploitation of human beings for cheap or at
times free labour. This demand for labour is intrinisic to all industries. It does not spare the innocent
child as well. Child Labour has been around for sometime now since 20 th century and has continued
to exist in the 21st century. Poor and slum dwellers are often ignorant about the welfare of the
children and this leads to them being exploited by industries for employing. They are often
employed in hazardous idustries such as fireworks factory, collection of waste, etc. As these
children are easy to tame and work for meagre or no amount they have been the targets of the
inustry brokers for decades.

CHILD LABOUR SCENARIO IN INDIA

Many agencies have worked to curb the menance of the child labour from the society. But its
complete eradication still remains a dream. As per the 2011 report there are about 10.2 million
“economically active” children between the age group of 5-14 years. Out of which 4.5million are
girls. Almost 2 million children are employed in the urban areas, this an increase from the 2001
when in the then census it was found that 1.3 million are employed in the urban areas1. This poses a
question on the implementation of the child labour programmes. Further as per the campaign
against child labour (CAC) study five states are biggest employer of child labour in india, they are
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Out of this Uttar Pradesh is the
biggest hub with 20% of child labour working there.
Further in the years from 2001 to 2011 there has been a change in the nature of the work and job
that these child indulge in. Earlier, approximately 77.5% of child labour was enagaged in farm
relate activities. This has gone down to 65.7% in 2011, but a siginificant increase in the child
employment in services such as hospitality, entertainment etc, has been observed. The child labour
in service sector was up from 11.4% in 2001 to 29.9% in 2011. Similiar is the situation with the
child emloyement in construction related activities. Where the percentage was 0.4% in 2001 has
now increased to 2.4% in 2011.2
although on the positive side there has been a decrease in the child labour in rural areas from 11
million to 8 million as reported in the 2011 census.

UNDERTSTANDING CHILD LABOUR

Child" as defined by the child labour (prohibition and regulation) Act 1986 is a person who has not
completed the age of 14 years .As a layman we can understand that Child labour is the practice of
having children engage in economic activity, on a part or full time basis. The child labour is not an
isolated phenomenon it is coupled with socio economic problem of the society so in order to
eliminate child labour first we should focus on socio economic issues of the society. It is in the
hands of administrative .It should bring effective measures to eliminate child labour.
Therefore following have been outlined as some of the causes of the child labour :-
1. Poverty :- Due to lack of affluent means and proper livelihood, there is severe poverty in
India, this forces parents to involve their children in supporting the family and are thus
employed, at times even in hazardous works. Due to poverty there is illiteracy and many
family are unable to send their children to school for education.
2. Debt :- Due to lack of means, many a times poor families are forced to borrow money
from money lenders. At times they are unable to pay back the debt alongwith the interest and
thus they are employed in order to pay off the debt. This forces the family to drag the
children in this endeavour.
1 http://unicef.in/whatwedo/21/child-labour (accessed on 11-09-2019)
2 https://labour.gov.in/childlabour/census-data-child-labour (accessed on 13-09-2019)
 3. Expensive Education :- Education is not a cheap commodity. For some it is a luxury. Poor
families often struggle to send their children to schools. Although in recent years, especially
since the last decade, owing to numerous schemes designed by the government for imparting
education many families have started to send their child to govt schools. Yet there still
remains a large section of the society who have to employ their children in order to support
the family.

Therefore the vice of child labour still continues to linger in the society. It is a problem which is
surrounded by many socio-economic factors. And in order to eradicate the problem of child labour
we should eliminate these factors first.

Over the years, the state has come up with numerous provisions ranging from law related to
abolishing child labour to partenering with international institutes for their assistance in this regard.

HISTORY OF CHILD LABOUR PREVENTION

The actual need to safeguard the interests of the children were felt in 1924 at the Geneva
Declaration of the rights of the child, 1924 and was susbsequemtly recongnised in Universal
Declaration of Human rights 1948. Article 26 of the Universal declaration of human rights provides
for the Rights to free and compulsory elementary education to children.
A concrete step was taken through the Declaration of the rights o the child in 1959. It’s aim is to
enusre that a child may have a happy childhood and enjoy for his own good and for the good of the
society. The premable to the declaration raises concern of the international community as a whole
on this issue. The ten principle of the declartion emobody within themselves the rights that are to be
ensured and provided by the national governments. These principles are as follows :-

Principle 1 - The child shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. Every child, without
any exception whatsoever, shall be entitled to these rights, without distinction or discrimination on
account of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status, whether of himself or of his family.
Principle 2 - The child shall enjoy special protection, and shall be given opportunities and facilities,
by law and by other means, to enable him to develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and
socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. In the enactment
of laws for this purpose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.
Principle 3 - The child shall be entitled from his birth to a name and a nationality.
Principle 4 - The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security. He shall be entitled to grow and
develop in health; to this end, special care and protection shall be provided both to him and to his
mother, including adequate pre-natal and post-natal care. The child shall have the right to adequate
nutrition, housing, recreation and medical services.
Principle 5 - The child who is physically, mentally or socially handicapped shall be given the
special treatment, education and care required by his particular condition.
Principle 6 - The child, for the full and harmonious development of his personality, needs love and
understanding. He shall, wherever possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of his
parents, and, in any case, in an atmosphere of affection and of moral and material security; a child
of tender years shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated from his mother. Society
and the public authorities shall have the duty to extend particular care to children without a family
and to those without adequate means of support. Payment of State and other assistance towards the
maintenance of children of large families is desirable.
Principle 7 - The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least
in the elementary stages. He shall be given an education which will promote his general culture and
enable him, on a basis of equal opportunity, to develop his abilities, his individual judgement, and
his sense of moral and social responsibility, and to become a useful member of society. The best
interests of the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his education and
guidance; that responsibility lies in the first place with his parents. The child shall have full
opportunity for play and recreation, which should be directed to the same purposes as education;
society and the public authorities shall endeavour to promote the enjoyment of this right.
Principle 8 - The child shall in all circumstances be among the first to receive protection and relief.
Principle 9 - The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation. He
shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form. The child shall not be admitted to employment before
an appropriate minimum age; he shall in no case becaused or permitted to engage in any occupation
or employment which would prejudice his health or education, or interfere with his physical, mental
or moral development.
Principle 10 - The child shall be protected from practices which may foster racial, religious and any
other form of discrimination. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance,
friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, and in full consciousness that his
energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his fellow men3.
After 30 years of this declaration a major step was taken in the year 1989 in the form of
International Convention on the Rights of Child, 1989. The same has been held binding piece of
legislation by the general assembly on all its members. And the ratification requires all its member
country to bring all its laws into line with the convention. The convention defines the term child as
“a child is any human being below the age of eighteen years, unless under the law applicable to the
child, majority is attained earlier.”
The convention also entails 12 rights of the child that are being considered fundamental. They are
as following -

1. The right to live in a family environment

2. The Right to a Stable, Loving and Nurturing Environment
3. The Right to Healthcare and Nutrition
4. The Right to Clean Water, Electrical Power and a Safe Environment
5. The Right to a Quality Education
6. The Right to Equal Opportunities
7. The Right to Guidance from a Caring Adult
8. The Right to be Heard and Participate in Decisions that Affect Them
9. The Right to be Prepared for Active and Responsible Citizenship
10.The Right to be Protected from Abuse and Neglect
11.The Right to Dignity and Freedom
12.The Right to Spiritual Development

3Declaration of the Rights of the Child G.A. res. 1386 (XIV), 14 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 19, U.N. Doc.
A/4354 (1959).