SOCIOLOGY project

On
CHILD LABOUR AND INDIAN SOCIETY

NAME:
ENROLLMENT No.:
PROGRAMME:
SEMESTER
BATCH:
AMITY LAW SCHOOL, NOIDA
AMITY UNIVERSITY, UTTAR PRADESH, SECTOR- 125

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and

deep regards to my guide (Faculty Name) for her exemplary
guidance, monitoring and constant encouragement
throughout the course of this thesis. The blessing, help and
guidance given by him time to time shall carry me a long way
in the journey of life on which I am about to embark.

I am really thankful to them.

Secondly i would also like to thank my parents and friends
who helped me a lot in finishing this project within the
limited time.
I am making this project not only for marks but to also
increase my knowledge .
THANKS AGAIN TO ALL WHO HELPED ME.

CONTENTS
CHAPTERS
1. Child Labour in Indian Society
2. Child Labour (Meaning)
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3. Reasons
4. Child Labour In India
4. Indian Constitution And Child Labour
5. National Framework To Eliminate Child Labour
6. National Child Labour Project
7. Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act,
1986
8. Present Scenario
9. Role Of Judiciary In Solving Child Labour
10. Conclusion

Child Labour in Indian Society

The child is a soul with a being, a nature and capacities of its
own, who must be helped to find them, to grow into their
maturity, into a fullness of physical and vital energy and the
utmost breadth, depth and height of its emotional, intellectual
and spiritual being; otherwise there cannot be a healthy growth of
the nation.--- P N Bhagawati, Former CJI.
Almost one-third of the world population consists of children.
Therefore they need to be cared and protected, to keep up and
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improve posterity. Children are important component in social

structure and potential future carries to the culture. Now the
question arises, who is a child? Or who can be considered as a
child? Finding a single definition to describe a "child" is becoming
an uphill task. The plain dictionary meaning of the word child is
that, a young person especially between infancy and youth.1
Biologically, a child is anyone between the stages of infancy and
adulthood, or child is a human being between the stages of birth
and puberty. The legal definition of "child" refers to a minor, or
somebody who is yet to become an adult. It is used as an
opposite to adult. It is not concerned with the age. The only
qualification is that the child should be unable to maintain
himself. Hence a child though not a minor is still a child as long as
it is unable to maintain himself.2
In contrast to the preceding decades India seems to have done
enough for the protection of children from all untoward
circumstances. In keeping with international development in the
area of child welfare, India as a democratic state has launched
scores of program and policies devised on statutory footing. The
Ministry of Women and Child has been instrumental in this
direction and it has particularly catered to children in crisis
situation such as street children, children who has been abused,
abandoned, children in conflict with law etc.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines
a child as "every human being below the age of 18 years unless
under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained
earlier."3 "Child" means a person who, if a male, has not
completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not
completed eighteen years of age.4
A child is a person who is going to carryon what you have
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startedthe fate of humanity is in his hands.--- Abraham Lincoln.

Whether children have any rights? Yes. Of course, like other
human beings, even children have certain rights. They shall not
be deprived of it. The childrens right is a world widely accepted
phenomenon. Moreover, UN adopted the Declaration of the Rights
of Child.5 Children have rights as human beings and need special
care and protection. "A child is any human being below the age of
eighteen years, unless under the law applicable to the child,
majority is attained earlier."6
Recognizing that the child, for the full and harmonious
development of his or her personality, should grow in a family
environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and affection.
Considering that the child should be fully prepared to live an
individual life in society he has to be guaranteed with the spirit of
peace, dignity tolerance, freedom equality and solidarity.
Children's rights are the perceived human rights of children with
particular attention to the rights of special protection and care
afforded to the young,7 including their right to association with
both biological parents, human identity as well as the basic needs
for food, universal state-paid education, health care and criminal
laws appropriate for the age and development of the child.8The
compulsory education law says children up to 14 are entitled to
free education.9
Child10 labour refers to the employment of children at regular
and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by
many international organizations and is illegal in many countries.
Children' who are below 14 cannot take out a livelihood. If they
are found working in an establishment,11 the employer is charged
under labour laws that prohibit employment of any child until they
attain adulthood.
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In this project researcher tries to identify the rights of children,

the problem of child labour and its socio-ethical and legal
dimensions in the Indian society.

Child Labour
Meaning
The children should not have to work is universally accepted, but
there are no universal answer why the problem of child labour
persist and how it needs to be tackled. India is faced with the
crucial task of eliminating the child labour which is prevalent in all
spheres of life. Thousands of children are engaged in the carpet
factories, glass factories and other hazardous industries all over
the country.
The term child labour has generally two-fold interpretations.
Firstly, it is implied to be an economic necessity of poor
households and secondly, the explosive aspect in childrens work
concerned with the profit maximizing urge of commercial
establishment wherein children are made to work for long hours,
paid low remuneration and deprived of educational opportunities.
International Labour Organisation12 (ILO) defines child labour to
include children leading permanently adult lives, working long
hours for low wages under conditions damaging to their health
and physical and mental development, sometime separated from
their families, frequently deprived of meaningful educational and
training opportunities that could be open up to them a better
future.

Reasons For Child Labour

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There are many reasons for the existence of child labour and it
varies with place and place to place. In India, poverty is one of the
important factors for poverty, but its not the sole factor. Children
provide cheap labour, the person who wants labour has to pay
less to them than adult labour. The child can be commanded more
than an adult. The pull factor of the child labour is the profit
maximization.
The main causes to failure to control the child labour are; poverty,
low wages than adult, unemployment, absence of schemes for
family allowance, migration to urban areas, large family size,
children being cheaply available, non existence of strict provisions
for compulsory education, illiteracy, ignorance of parents and
traditional attitudes13.

Child Labour In India

India accounts for the second highest number where child labour
in the world is concerned. Africa accounts for the highest number
of children employed and exploited. The fact is that across the
length and breadth of the nation, children are in a pathetic
condition.
Child labour in India is a human right issue for the whole world. It
is a serious and extensive problem, with many children under the
age of fourteen working in carpet making factories, glass blowing
units and making fireworks with bare little hands. According to the
statistics given by Indian government there are 20 million Child
labours in the country, while other agencies claim that it is 50
million.
The situation of Child labours in India is desperate. Children work
for eight hours at a stretch with only a small break for meals. The
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meals are also frugal and the children are ill nourished. Most of
the migrant children, who cannot go home, sleep at their work
place, which is very bad for their health and development.
Seventy five percent of Indian population still resides in rural
areas and are very poor. Children in rural families who are ailing
with poverty perceive their children as an income generating
resource to supplement the family income. Parents sacrifice their
childrens education to the growing needs of their younger
siblings in such families and view them as wage earners for the
entire clan.
In Northern India the exploitation of little children for labour is an
accepted practice and perceived by the local population as a
necessity to alleviate poverty. Carpet weaving industries pay very
low wages to Child labours and make them work for long hours in
unhygienic conditions. Children working in such units are mainly
migrant workers from Northern India, who are shunted here by
their families to earn some money and send it to them. Their
families dependence on their income, forces them to endure the
onerous work conditions in the carpet factories.
While experts blame the system, poverty, illiteracy, adult
unemployment; yet the fact is that the entire nation is responsible
for every crime against a child. Instead of nipping the problem at
the bud, child labour in India was allowed to increase with each
passing year. And today, young ones below the age of 14 have
become an important part of various industries; at the cost of
their innocence, childhood, health and for that matter their lives.

Indian Constitution And Child Labour

Article 2314 of Indian Constitution prohibits the trafficking in
human beings and forced labour. And Article 2415 prohibits the
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employment of children in factories. It says that No child below

the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any
factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.
The general understanding was that right secured by Article 24
will hardly be effective in the absence of legislation prohibiting
and penalising its violation. However, Supreme Court clearly
stated that Article 24 must operate proprio vigour even if the
prohibition lay down in it is not followed up by appropriate
legislation.16 In Labourers, Salal Hydro Project v. State of J&K17
it was again held that the employment of children below 14 in
construction work violates Article 24.
It was noted in M C Mehta v. State of Tamilnadu,18 that menace of
child labour was wide spread. Therefore it issued wide ranging
directions in the context of employment and exploitation of
children in Sivakasi, prohibiting employment of children below the
age of 14 and making arrangement for their education by creating
a fund and providing employment to the parents or the able
bodied adults in the family. These directions were reiterated in
Bandhu Mukti Morcha v. Union of India19, concerning the
employment of children in carpet weaving industry in U.P.
The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing 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.20 Also the State shall, direct its policy towards securing
the 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 to the children.21
Article 4522 of Indian Constitution made provision for early
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childhood care and education to children below the age of six

years. As per this Article the State shall endeavours to provide
early childhood care and education for all children until they
complete the age of six years.

National Framework To Eliminate Child Labour

Our Constitution provides special provisions for the protection of
children. Some Articles are as follows 15(3)31, 2132, 21-A33,
2334, 2435, 39 (e)36, 39 (f)37, 4338, 4539 and 51-A (k)40. In
relation with the above mentioned Conventions and Constitutional
provisions, we have enacted special laws to eliminate the child
labour; some important ones are as follows.
1. The Children (Pleading of Labour) Act, 1933.
2. The Factories Act, 1948.
3. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
4. Plantation Labour Act, 1951.
5. The Mines Act, 1952.
6. The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958.
7. The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961.
8. The Apprentices Act, 1961.
9. The Schools and Establishments Act, 1961.
10. The Beedi Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment)
Act, 1966.
11. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act
1986.

Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation)

Act, 1986

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Recognizing the increasing problem of child labour in India, the

Parliament passed The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)
Act, 1986. The purpose of this Act was to declare child labour as
illegal and make it a punishable act by any citizen of India. The
Act is to bring to the notice of the people of this nation that there
are child labour laws to protect the child. However, in spite of this
the situation has not improved, nor has it been brought under
control.

National Child Labour Project

The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act was enacted in the
year 198641. Under the provisions of this Act a National policy on
child labour was formulated in the year 1987. The policy seeks to
adopt a gradual and sequential approach with a focus on
rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations and
process in first instance. As poverty is the root cause of child
labour, the action plan emphasizes the need to cover these
children and their family under various poverty alleviation and
employment generation schemes of the government.
Pursuant to this, in 1988, the NCLP scheme was launched in 9
districts of high child labour population in the country. The
scheme envisaged special schools for the child labour withdrawn
from work. The coverage of the NCLP scheme has increased from
12 districts in 1988 to 250 district in 10th plan. Some of the
salient features of the plan strategy 200142 are focused and
reinforced action to eliminate child labour in the hazardous
occupation by the end of plan period.

Present Scenario
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At national level as well as local level many organizations43 are

busy to protect the rights of child as well as to solve the problem
of child labour with the help of funding agencies and with the help
of government machinery. Governments commitment to
addressing the problem of child labour is reflected in the National
Agenda of governance. And when we looks in to the statutes on
child labour, minimum wage is not prescribed for the occupation
permitted for children and no provision exists for working
children.

Role Of Judiciary In Solving Child Labour

The Supreme Court of India, in its judgement dated 10th
December, 1996 in Writ Petition (Civil) Number 465/1986, 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 of the Supreme
Court envisages:
(a) Simultaneous action in all districts of the country;
(b) Survey for identification of working children (to be completed
by June 10, 1997)
(c) Withdrawal of children working in hazardous industries and
ensuring their education in appropriate institutions;
(d) Contribution of Rs.20, 000 per child to be paid by the
offending employers of children to welfare fund to be established
for this purpose;
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(e) 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;
(f) 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;
(g) Regulating hours of work for children working in nonhazardous 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;
(h) 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.

Conclusion
Children of the nation are supremely important asset. Childrens
programs should find a prominent part in our national plans for
the development of human resources. So that our children grow
up to become robust citizen, physically and mentally fit, and
morally healthy; endowed with the skills and motivations needed
by the society.
Child labour is a significant problem in India. The prevalence of it
is shown by the child work participation rates which are higher in
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Indian than in other developing countries. Equal opportunities for

development to all children during the period of growth should be
our aim. For this purpose even we citizen should join hands with
government and other institutions which are set up for this
purpose.
Educating the child can be a solution for solving the problem of
child labour. To provide compulsory primary education and in
order to reduce the burden on parents to meet the expenditure
for their childrens education, while they are struggling for a
days meal, our Government had allotted funds. But due to the
lack of awareness most of the poor families are not availing these
facilities. So, proper steps have to be taken to create awareness.
Child labour cannot be eliminated by focusing on one
determinant, for example education, or by brute enforcement of
child labour laws. The government of India must ensure that the
needs of the poor are filled before attacking child labour. If
poverty is addressed, the need for child labour will automatically
diminish. No matter how hard India tries, child labour always will
exist until the need for it is removed.
The development of India as a nation is being hampered by child
labour. Children are growing up illiterate because they have been
working and not attending school. A cycle of poverty is formed
and the need for child labour is reborn after every generation.
India needs to address the situation by tackling the underlying
causes of child labour through governmental policies and the
enforcement of these policies. Only then will India succeed in the
fight against child labour.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCE

NONE

SECONDARY SOURCE

NONE

OTHER SOURCES

o SEARCH ENGINE

GOOGLE.COM
Wikipedia.com
www.academia.edu

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