Wednesday, August 26, 2015

CHILD LABOUR IN INTERNATIONAL VIEWS, International Labour Organization



CHILD LABOUR IN INTERNATIONAL 

PERSPECTIVE

In the International arena, on the rights of a human being including the right of

a child has been recognized by the United Nations at San Francisco in 1945.

The Charter of United Nations requires that body to promote that universal

respect and observance of human rights for all –without distinction as to race,

According to the United Nations Charter’s Fund “Human Rights are

those rights which are essential to live as human being these are basic standards

without which people cannot survive and develop in dignity. They are inherent

to the human person, inalienable and universal.” (The Human Rights

Framework, UNICEF). Children possesses to kinds of human rights: General

human rights that every human possesses, universally, simply by reason of

being a human being and special human rights that every child possesses,

universally, simply by reason of minority.

      UNICEF explains that human rights apply to all age groups; children

have the same general human rights as adults. But children are particularly

vulnerable and so they also have particular rights that recognize their special

      The General Assembly of the United Nations, acting to fulfill its

obligations under the Charter, adopted the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights (UDHR) 1948. The UDHR recognizes the rights of all to security of the

person (Article 3), to freedom from inhuman, cruel, or degrading treatment

(Article 5), and the rights of motherhood and childhood to special protection

(Article 25.2), all of which are applicable to protection against child labour.

1  Charter of the United Nation (1945), chapter IX, Article 55.

2  Protecting and Realizing Children’s Right, UNICEF.

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      The General; Assembly of the United Nations has acted twice to enunciate

and protect the rights of the child. First, in 1959, The General Assembly

adopted the Declaration on the rights of the child (DRC), which expended and

further defined the rights of the child to special protection. The DRC

enunciated ten general principles for the protection of children, all o9f which

are applicable to protect a child against child labour.3

   After this, there was a resolution passed in 1976 declaring the year 1979

to be International year of the child. The International Labour Organization had

adopted several conventions dealing with the minimum age for employment,

Medical Examination, Night work etc. These conventions adopted by the ILO

helped tremendously with regards to labour laws in several countries.4

     After this, there was a decade during which there was collaboration

between small group of non-governmental organizations and United Nations

Human Rights experts. On November 1989, the United Nations General

Assembly adopted a convention on the rights of the child 9CRC) that consisted

of 42 Articles. This became the International standard to measure states

compliance with International law and the protection of children. The rights

granted by the convention are divided into three parts. The first part stipulated

the rights of the child to life, care, and belonging. Other parts dealt with the

rights of children to growth and participation.

       As a follow–up this commitment and being a party to the UN

Declaration on the rights of the child 1959, India adopted the National Policy

on children in 1974. The policy reaffirmed the constitutional provisions and

stated that “it shall be the policy of the state to provide adequate services to

children, both before and after birth and through the period of growth to ensure

their full physical, mental, and social development. The state shall

progressively increase the scope of such services so that within a reasonable

time all children in the country enjoy optimum conditions of their balanced

3  Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

4  Available at www.ilo.org/public/english/comp/child/standards/index.htm

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     India has also ratified the convention on the rights of the child on

December 2, 1992. This ratification implies that India will ensure wide

awareness about issues relating to children among government agencies,

implementing agencies, the media, the judiciary, the public and children

themselves. The government’s endeavor is to meet the goals of the

Conventions and to amend all legislation, policies and schemes to meet the

standards set in the Convention.

I.  Universal Declaration Of The Human Rights  1948

         The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, which proclaims a

catalogue of Human Rights, applies to all human beings including children.

Some important rights under this declaration relating to child are as under:

     Art. 3 recognize that the child has the inherent right to life.

     Art. 25 emphasize the right of children to special care and assistance and it

provide this through the direct protection of the child and indirectly through the

     Art. 26(1) assures that everyone has the right to education which shall be

free, at least at the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education

shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made

available and higher education shall equally be accessible to all on the basis of

merit. Education enables development of human personality and strengthens

the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms. It promotes

understanding, tolerance and friendship among people. It is, therefore, the duty

of the state to provide facilities and opportunities to the children driven to child

labour to develop their personality as responsible citizens.5

II. Declaration On The Rights Of The Child

     There has been equally great concern for the welfare of children at the

International level culminating which is seen in the Declaration of the rights of

the child. Its principles enunciating for the protection and development of child

5  Available at www.un.org/overview/rights.html

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     “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

   “The child shall enjoy the benefits of social security. He shall be entitled

to grow and develop in health, special care and protection shall be provided

both to him and to his mother, including adequate per-natal care. The child

shall have the right to adequate nutrition, housing, recreation and medical

 “The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and

exploitation. He shall not be the subject of traffic, in any form.6

III. International Convention On The Rights Of The Child:

    It would be apposite to apprise ourselves also about our commitment to

world community for the case  at hand it would be enough to note that India

has accepted the Convention on the Rights of the Child., 1989.This Convention

affirms  that children’s right require special protection and its aims, not only to

provide such protection, but also to ensures the continuous improvement in the

situation of the children all over the world , as well as their development and

education in conditions of peace and security.

   Thus the Convention not only to protect the child’s civil and political

rights but also extends protection to child’s Economical, social, cultural and

 Art.1 defines “Child” as every human being below the age of 18 years unless

the law applicable to child, majority is attained earlier.

6 Available at www.unhrc.ch/html/menu3/b/25.htm

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 Art. 3 Provides that in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by

public or private social welfare institutions, Courts of law, administrative

authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be the

  Art. 26(1) provides that the states parties recognize for every child the right to

benefit from social security, including social insurance, and shall take the

necessary measures to achieve the full realization of this right in-accordance

  Art. 27(1) provides that the state parties recognize the right of every child to a

standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and

       1.   State parties recognize the right of the child to education and with a

view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity,

 (a)  Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;

 (b)   Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education,

including general and vocational education, make them available and

accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the

introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need;

(c) Make them available and accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every

 (d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and

(e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction

     2.    State parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that school

discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human

dignity and in conformity with the present convention.

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    3.   State parties shall promote and encourage international cooperation in

matters relating to education, in particular with a view to contributing to the

elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating

access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods in

this regard. Particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing

  Art. 31(a)  recognizes the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage

in play recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to

participate freely in cultural life and the arts.

   Art.  32,   which is material for the purpose, read as under:

 (1)  State parties recognize the rights of the child to be protected from

economic exploitation and fro performing any work that is likely to be

hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the

child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

  (2)  State parties shall be take legislative, administrative, social and

educational measures to ensure the implementation of present Article. To this

end, and having regard to the relevant provision of other international

instruments, Stats parties shall in particular:

a. Provides for a minimum age or minimum age for admission to employment’s

b. Provides for appropriate regulation for the hours and conditions of

c. Provides for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to ensure the effective

enforcement of the present article.

 Art. 36    state that “state parties shall protect the child against all other forms

of exploitation prejudicial to any aspects of the child’s welfare.7

IV.   International Labour Organization

        International Labour Organization, 1919 (hereinafter referred to as “ILO”)

had felt that there should be international guidelines by which the employment

of children under a certain age could be regulated in industrial undertakings.

7  Available at www.cirp.org/library/ethics/UN-CONVENTION.

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May it be stated that the ILO is playing an important role in the process of

gradual elimination of child labour and to protect child from industrial

exploitation. It has focused five main issues:

       1. Prohibition of child labour.

       2. Protecting child labour at work.

       3. Attacking the basic causes of child labour.

       4. Helping children to adapt to future work.

       5. Protecting the children of working parents.8

V. IPEC: ILO’S International Program For The Elimination Of

The International program on the Elimination of child labour is a global

program launched by the International Labour Organization in December 1991.

India was the first country to join it in 1992 when it signed a Memorandum of

understanding with the ILO. The long term objective of IPEC is to contribute to

the effective abolition of child labour. Its immediate objectives are:

 Elimination of the capability of  ILO constituents and Non-Government

Organizations  to design, implement and evaluate programs for child

labour  Elimination;

 To identity interventions at community and national levels which could

serve as models for replication; and

 Creation of awareness and social mobilization for securing elimination

 At the international level, IPEC has a program Steering committee

consisting of representatives of the ILO, the donors and participating countries.

At the national level in India, there is a National steering Committee of which

the labor secretary is the chairman. This is tripartite in its composition with

representation from NGOs as well. There is a National Program Coordinator

based at New Delhi who coordinates IPEC work between the ministries of

labour, the agencies receiving assistance and ILO Headquarters. ILO has made

8  Raghvendra Singh Raghuvanshi, Child Labour-Taking the Problem.

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an allocation of 54.15 million between 1992 and 1996 for the IPEC program in

India.9                                                                                                

VI.  The United Nations Children’s Educational Fund(UNICEF)

     The UNICEF has played a significant role in improving the conditions

of child labour and has been a major founding agency for improving the lot of

children in general and child labour in particular, especially in developing

countries. It also declared that every child has inherent right to life survival and

development. This means the right of every child to a standard of living

adequate for physical, mental, spiritual and moral development. The United

Nations Children’s Emergency Fund is not a U.N.  Specialized agency, as it

was created by the U. N. General Assembly in December 1946 as one of its

subsidiary bodies. In 1965, UNICEF was awarded the Novel peace Prize in

recognition that the well being of today’s children is inseparable from the peace

VII.  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO)

    The Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was adopted by the London Conference in

November 1945 and entered into effect in November, 1946 when 20 states had

deposited instruments of acceptance. The purpose of  UNESCO  Convention

on Discrimination includes; any distinction , exclusion, limitation or preference

which being on race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,

national or social origin economic condition or both has a purpose or effect of

nullifying or impairing equally treatment in education.11

VIII.   The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

   A brief mention must be made of the action of SAARC in the area of

child welfare and protection. Although SAARC is not a specialized agency of

9  Child Labour and India embassy of India, Washington. DC.

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the UN but is a regional organization, it works in tandem with the UN. A

quarter of the words children live in SAARC countries. And about 37 million

newborns swell their ranks each year, and more than 3.5 million under 5 years

old die from poverty related causes. Almost two thirds of the regions children’s

are under nourished and fewer than half the children are likely to complete five

years of primary education. The main obstacles to child survival and

development in the region are malnutrition, poor sanitations and unhygienic

conditions poverty and illiteracy. The child Rights Convention places the

child’s right and child labour at the center of the agenda of the SAARC

countries to ensure a bright future for the children of the regions.12

     As part of its campaign to eliminate child labour, the International

Labour Organization is proposing the adoption of new international legal

instruments to combat the worst forms of child labour, supplemented by

recommendations for practice action and assistance. The proposal, put forward

by its three constituent group- Governments, Employers and Workers.

IX.   Global March Against Child Labour

      The journey from 1998-2010 has been very special for all of us, the

entire Global March Family. The march seeks to eliminate child labour by

questioning, attacking and changing the very systems that compel children to

work at the global, regional and national levels.

     In this period, various efforts   are being made for the elimination of

child labour and constituencies in this regard, have been expended:

 The   Anglophone Africa coordination was activated with the presence

of Brother Andrews of the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union. The

European and Euro- Mediterranean consultation in Sofia mid -2007 was

very successful and has paved the way for more concrete partnerships.

These have been instrumental in cementing our collaborations with the

trade Unions and the teachers associations.

12  Available at www.saarc-sec.org

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 Built a vibrant global movement involving NGOs, trade Unions,

committed individuals and organized.

 Focused the world’s attention on child labour through research and

actions and information dissemination.

 Launched Global Campaign for Education in association with

Educational International, Oxfam International, Action Aid and other

 Launched Global Campaign for Education in association with Education

International, Oxfam International, Action Aid and other civil society

organization to push for urgent transnational action to provide quality

 Launched World Cup Campaign 2002, to focus on use of child labour in

the sports goods industry.

 Organized “Fair Chocolate for the World” campaign, to focus attention

on the use of child labour in the chocolate industry. Global March

Chairperson is on the Board of the cocoa Foundation, an initiative to

create a child slavery free cocoa beans industry in Africa.

 Launched Domestic Child Labour Campaign 2001, which revealed the

hidden form of child labour to the world.

 Engaged and drew attention of the international community through the

international Advocacy office-international center on child labour and.

Education, to the need for convergent policies, planning and actions for

elimination child labour, achieving EFA goals and eradicating poverty.

 As one of the three civil society representatives in the High Level Group

review meeting of the Dakar Framework of Action on the EFA.

 Organized the two children’s World congresses  on Child Labour and

Education at Florence (Italy) and New Delhi  ( India) in year  2004 and

2005  respectively, and providing a platform  to former child labourers

and child activists from across the World  to voice their opinions and

become the four runners of the fight for children’s rights.

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 Organized high level round table meetings on the Triangular Paradigm

of Development in New Delhi (2003), Brasilia (2004), and Beijing

(2005) in conjunction with ILO, UNESCO, World Bank and UNICEF.

Beijing Round Table led to the declaration of a joint global task force on

child labour and education.

Trafficking  for forced labour has been placed on top of the global

agenda through the South Asian  March Against Child  Trafficking and the

announcement of the global initiative to Fight Trafficking. Our partners in

Asia, Latin America and Africa were on the forefront in the fight against child

labour and trafficking taking the struggle to the grassroots across the world.

          The direct impact of the month long anti trafficking and child labor

march was held on 26-04-2007. This was the first step towards, the success of

our core marchers and all the NGOs , civil societies, Teachers Unions, trade

unions  and UN agencies who joined hands with us and the leaders who walked

with  us during the 5000 km. long South Asian March Against Child Labour.

        Global action Week, 23-29th April 20007 The EFA goals must be met and

the leaders of the world should not let another generation of children and adults

go without an education was the main agenda and Global March and its

partners actively participated in GAW and organize awareness campaign.

        World day against child labour 12, June, Global March observed this year

World day against child labour 12-06-2007 as “stop Child Labour In

Agriculture Day”. Through its members and partner organizations Global

March against child labour conducted rallies, demonstrations, public meetings,

in America, Uganda, and Bangladesh.

        07, July, 2007 (07-07-07) marks the midway to the International

community’s commitments for creating a better world for its citizens. What

have we achieved is the big question now. Global March against Child Labour

launched “Keep Your Promises” Campaign with objective to recommend

changes in the current strategy to achieve   MDG the first step will be to

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recognize the fundamental importance of investing in children as the future of

our world. This must then be translated into concrete commitments for

development aid debt relief and budgetary allocations for children. These are

straightforward steps but they will make a per found difference in the lives of

countless young people today and in the hope for humanity tomorrow. When

we Endeavour to build a fair and just world, the very best way to begin is by

   Pan-European and Euro-Mediterranean regional consultation was

organized with the view of new realities within GM and also pressed the need

to reposition ourselves in a newly expanded European Union and the

development of a pan European Trade Union Council including the countries

of East Europe. The expansion of the EU offers a great opportunity to promote

decent work and fundamental rights in the new EU member States and in the

      Regional Consultation on the good practices on the elimination of child

labour the consultation saw the participation of over 150 delegates from over

15 states. The best practices on the elimination of child labour and trafficking

of children for forced labour was shared with all organization and esteemed

     The Global Task Force on Child Labour and Education in making

progress with its researches and partnership at country level. ILO Convention

182, Worst Forms of Child Labour has been ratified by 165 countries. This is

the fastest ratified convention ever. This is due to Global March  vibrant

movement  to bring together NGOs, trade unions, committed  individuals from

over  140 countries for the cause of making the world free of child labour  and

achieving education for all.

    The March seeks to eliminate child labour by questioning, attacking the

very systems that compel children to work at the global, regional and national

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  All the  above  mentioned international efforts clearly signify the awareness

and urgency to remove child labour and protection  of children initiatives taken

by various organizations are also appreciable , but for its full success it seeks

the commitment of member states to van and prevent child labour in hazardous

work and  to remove children without delay form such work. An international

observation committee should be made for the effective implementation of

policies by the member states, which must be entrusted with powers against the

states not complying with the standards mentioned.

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CONCEPT, PROBLEMS AND CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR


CONCEPT, PROBLEMS AND CAUSES 

OF CHILD LABOUR

 Child Labour refers to physical or manual labour done by a child. The next

question arises up to what age a person would be called child? In fact there is

no uniform opinion on treating a person as a child. Child Labour, as a common

parlance refers to a child who is engaged in physical labour and it is prohibited

by law as it adversely affects his all round development in this regard the

questions arise: who is a child and what kinds of work would be regarded as

child labour?

(A) CONCEPT OF CHILD LABOUR:

These questions are properly evaluated in the light of observations which are

made after through study of different DICTIONARIES, LEGISLATIONS, and

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS etc.

1) Definition of the Child:

     Chamber’s Twentieth Century Dictionaries: - Child a very young person

(up to age of 16 years for the purpose of some Act of Parliament)

     Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (4th Edition) 1989:- ‘Child’

young human being below the age of poverty; boy or girl; son or daughter

unborn or newly born human being; baby.

Webster’s New Colligate Dictionary (Eight Edition):- ‘Child’ unborn or

recently born person; a young person esp. between infancy and youth; a person

not yet of age.

 In the question of defining a ‘Child’ in literature we have a number of

different opinions. Many studies have defined a child from the biological point

of view. In their opinion child is a young person of either sex below the age of

poverty. The age of poverty is not same all over the world. It varies from

regions to region with different climatic settings. Some people want to

distinguish between childhood and adulthood with the help of criteria of mental

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maturity. According to them child is a person who has immature experience

and judgment and approaching or entering upon adulthood.1 Over the time

many Laws and Acts have been passed in India to protect the children from

exploitation. A mager loophole in these laws lies in the definition of the term

‘Child’. In Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab a Child means a person less

than 16 years”,  in  “Gujarat, West Bengal and in Andhra Pradesh a person

under 18 years” a person to “Union Territories defined a child as a boy under

16 years and a girl less than 18 years”. Censuses of India total population and

workforce have been divided into four groups of child (0-14), Young  (15-19),

Adult (20-59) and Old (60+).The present study will be carried out with the help

of secondary data of Census of India. Due to our convenience and dependency

on the census data, we shall consider those persons as children who are

belonging to the age group of 0-14 Years.2 The census of India defines

children as being below the age of 14. Social scientists include females in the

age group 15-19 years under the category of ‘girl child’.

         The legal conception of child tends to very. While the age of majority is

18 years for girls and 21 years for boys, under the Indian Majority Act, 1875 a

child is defined differently for deferent purposes.

The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 defines a child as “a person who has not

completed his 14 years of age. 3Factories Act, 1948 a child below 14 years of

age is not allowed to work in any factory. The Mines Act, 1952 prohibition of

the presence of persons below 18 years of age in mines – subject to the

provisions of sub section 2 of section 40 after such date as such date as the

central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint in this

behalf, no person below 18 years of age shall be allowed to present in any part

of mine above ground where any operation connected with or incidental to any

mining operation is being carried on.

1  J.A. Simpson, and E.S.E. Weiner, The Oxford English Dictionary, VOLL.III. 1990, Clarendon Press

2  Dipendtra  Nath , Das Child Labour in India, 1996 Sane Publications, Delhi-5.

3 Sec. 2 (bb) of the Act. Inserted by Act. 61 of 1986

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     The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 Employment of children ---No person

under 14 years if age shall be engaged or carried to sea to work in any capacity

in any ship. Moter and Transport Workers Act, 1961 defines Children as being

below the age of 14 years. Apprentices Act, 1961 a person qualified to be

engaged as an apprentice only if he is not less than 14 years of age. Bidi and

Cigar Workers Act, 1966 defines a child as a person who has not completed his

14 years of age.

    The child labour ( Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 “Child

Labourers” are the children, who are engaged as physical as mental labourers

in an industry, agriculture or profession, are called, child labourers . Section

2(ii) defines “Child “as a person who has not completed the age of 14 years.

    The age of the child is the sole factor for determination as to who is a

child. The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, which India has

ratified, defines children as persons below the age of 18 years. However, in

India there is no unanimous definition for a ‘child’ According to Convention a

child means every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law

applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.

     Article 1 defines the holder of rights under the CRC as ‘every human

being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child,

majority is attained earlier.’ The Convention clearly specifies the upper age

limit for childhood as 18 years, but recognises that majority may be obtained at

an earlier age under laws applicable to the child. The article, thus,

accommodates the concept of an advancement of majority at an earlier age,

either according to the federal or state laws of a country, or personal laws

within that country. However, the upper age limit on childhood is specified as

an “age of childhood rather than majority” recognizing that in most legal

systems, a child can acquire full legal capacity with regard to various matters at

different ages.4

4  Savitri Goonesekere, Children, Law and justice: A South Asian Perspective. SAGE. 1998. Page 141.

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    Thus, while the Convention defines a ‘Child’ as every human being

below the age of 18 years, it allows for minimum wages to be set, under

different circumstances, balancing the evolving capacities of the child with the

state’s obligation to provide special protection. Accordingly, Indian legislation

has minimum ages defined under various laws related to the protection of child

     Through legislation has been enacted to make 18 years the general age

of majority in India, 21 years continues to be the upper limit for childhood for

same purposes, partly due to the influence of nineteenth-century English law

and partly due to current exigencies. For example, India recognizes 21 years as

the age of majority in circumstances where a guardian has been appointed by

the court for a child below the age of 18 years.6

    Varying ages of legal capacity is a phenomenon that can be seen in

many countries. However, while the CRC’s definition of childhood can be

perceived as setting a basic minimum standard in view of Article 41, which

declares that ‘nothing’ in the Convention or any of its provisions shall effect

realization of the rights of the child’ under the law of a state party, it is

essential that there is some synchronization of the upper age limit for

childhood. India has achieved this to a large extent, for instance, the minimum

compulsory age of education is 14 years. The various laws relating to labour

prohibit a person under the age of 14 years to work thus, the minimum age at

which compulsory education ends synchronises with the minimum age of

employment.7

     For economic and employment reasons the child has been grouped into

different classes depending upon the age group to which he belongs. Children

below 14 years are prohibited from working in hazardous industries. Provision

of basic minimum wages is also applicable to them.  

5  Implementations Hand Book for the Convention on the Rights of the Child UNICEF.

6  Child and Law, India council for Child Welfare, Chennai, Tamilnadu India 1998.

7  NO, NLPC/SAP/132/2000/908dated July 31 2008, National Institute for public cooperation and

child Development .

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      The minimum age for entering into the labour market has not been

precisely fixed by law or convention, either at the national or international

level. Hence, child labour should be understood in the context of given

circumstances and the nature of occupation. The child normally constitutes

children between the age group of 14 to 17 years. But, in fact, children of even

much younger age are also coerced, or forced by the family circumstances, to

undertake various jabs for hire or reward, or without any economic gain

     Almost all countries have enacted legislation prohibiting the

employment of children below a certain age and, where they are legally

permitted to work, specifying the condition under which they may work.

Many have set higher minimum age for 18. There are still shortcomings,

especially in the coverage of many of these laws and in their applications in

practice. Legislative commitments often lie doorman, sometimes due to lack of

resources for effecting monitoring and enforcement, sometimes due to lack of

political will, but often simply because the authority do not know how to tackle

the problem of eliminating child labour given the invisibility of so many child

workers and the fact that the poverty, discrimination and cultural attitude that

foster it are so deeply entrenched in society.8

2) Meaning of Child Labour:

Your Dictionary, Com define ‘Child Labour’ the regular, full time employment

of children under a legally  defined age in factories, stores, offices, etc.: in the

U.S., the minimum legal age under federal law is 16.( in hazardous

occupations,)9

The term ‘Child Labour’ has many definitions depending on who is

talking about it. Unfortunately, this means that there is no way to give a

concrete, rock-solid definition of child labour.

8  Child Labour Targeting the intolerable, International Labour Office, Geneva.

9  www. Yourdictionary.com/child-labour.

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    The International Labour Organization ( ILO), defines ‘Child Labour’ as

“some types of work” done by children under the age of 18 years. The ILO also

says that child labour includes full-time work done by children under the age of

15 years that prevents them from going to school (getting an education), or that

is dangerous to their health.

     Statutory provision in India, defines the term ‘Child Labour’ in prices

terms. Even the numerous legislative provisions which prescribe the minimum

age for employment in different vocations does not fix any uniform age,

presumably, for reasons of multiplicity in the nature of activities in which

children are employed.

   In fact, the term ‘Child Labour’ in law, is used for, Employed Child’ or

Working Child ‘. In this sense it is co-extensive with any work done by a child

for profit or reward. But more commonly the term Child Labour’ is used as

derogatory sense. It suggests something which is hateful and exploitative. But

the child labour is recognized by the sociologists, lawyers, educationists and

medical professionals as hazardous and injurious to the child, both physically

and mentally.

    According to V.V.Giri The term Child Labour’ is commonly interpreted

in two different ways: first, as an economic practice and secondly, as asocial

evil. In the first context it signifies employment of children in gainful

occupations with a view to add to the labour income of the family. In the

second context, the term ‘child labour’ is now more generally used in assessing

the nature and extent of the social evil. It is necessary to take into account the

character of jobs on which the children are engaged, the dangers to which they

are exposed and the opportunities of development which they have been

    The United state National committee on child labour has, therefore,

concluded in its report that “ Child Labour” can broadly be defined as that

10  V.V. Gin, - Labour problems in Indian Industries.” 1958, Asia Publishing House, Bombay.

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segment of the ‘ Children Population’ which participates in work, either paid or

    Child Labour, thus, means the engagement of children in gainful

occupation which are often hazardous to their health, and deny them the

opportunities of development. Three factors should, therefore, be necessarily

present in employment or engagement of a child so as to bring it within the

concept of child labour. Firstly, the child should be engaged in some gainful

activities; secondly, the work to which he is exposed, must be deter mental to

his natural growth; thirdly, it must deprive him of the opportunity for

development. Hence, obviously, any work taken by a father from his child on

his field or at his business places for long hours also get covered by this

definition , but any work done by the student at school workshops cannot be

termed as ‘Child Labour.’

     Child Labour is not child work can be beneficial and can enhance a

child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development without

interfering with schooling, recreation rest. Helping parents in their household

activities and business after school in their free time also contributes positively

to the development of the child. When such work is truly part of the

socialization process and a means of transmitting skills from parents to child, it

is not child labour. Such working children can increase their status as a family

member, citizen, and gain confidence and self-stem 12

      On the other hand child labour hampers the normal physical,

intellectual, emotional and moral development of child. Children who are the

growing process can permanently distort or disable their bodies when they

carry heavy loads or are forced to adopt unnatural positions at work for long

hours. Children are less resistant to diseases and suffer more readily from

chemical hazards and radiation than adults. UNICEF classifies the hazards of

11  Report of the Committee on Child Labor,1979.

12  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/child labour.

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child labour into three categories, namely (i) Physical; (ii)Cognitive;

(iii)Emotional, social and moral:-

(i) Physical Hazards

       There are jobs that are hazardous in nature and affect child immediately.

They affect the overall health, coordination, strength, vision and hearing of

children. One study indicates that hard physical labour over a period of years

stunts a child’s physical stature by up to 30 percent of their biological potential.

Working in Mines, quarries, construction sites, and caring heavy loads are

some of the activities that put children directly at risk physically. Jobs in the

glass and brassware industry in India, where children are exposed to high

temperatures while rotating the wheel furnace and use heavy and sharp tools,

are clearly physically hazardous to them.

    (ii) Cognitive Hazars

        Education helps a child to develop cognitively, emotionally and socially,

and needless to say, education is often gravely reduces by child labour.

Cognitive development includes literacy, numeracy and the acquisition of

knowledge necessary to normal life. Work may take so much of a child’s time

that it becomes impossible for them to attend school, even if they do attend,

they may be too tired to be attentive and follow the lessons.

    (iii) Emotional, Social and Moral Hazards

        Some jobs may jeopardize a child’s psychological and social growth more

than physical growth. For example, a domestic job can involve relatively ‘Light

Work’. However, long hours of work, and the physical, psychological and

sexual abuse to which the child domestic labourers are exposed make the work

hazardous. Studies show that several domestic servants in India on average

work for twenty hours a day with small intervals. According to a UNICEF

survey, about 90 percent of employers of domestic workers in India preferred

children of 12 to 15 years of age. This is mostly because they can be easily

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dominated and obliged to work for long hours and can be paid to an adult

worker. Moral Hazards generally refer dangers arising for children in activities

in which they are used for illegal activities, such as trafficking of drugs, the sex

trade, and for the production of pornographic materials.13

 But the biggest lacuna is that there is no universally accepted definition

of ‘Child Labour’. Varying definitions are used by International Organisations,

non-governmental organizations, trade unions and other interested groups.

Writers and speakers don’t always specify what definition they are using, and

that often leads to confusion.

   Not at all work is bad for children. Some social scientists point out that

some kinds of work may be completely unobjectionable----except for one thing

about the work that makes it exploitative. For instance, a child who delivers

newspapers before school might actually benefit from learning how to work,

gaining responsibility, and earn a bit of money. But what if he child is not

paid? Then he or she is being exploited. As UNICEF’s 1997 State of the

world’s Children report puts it. Children’s work need to be seen as happening

along a continuum, with destructive or exploitative work at one end and

beneficial work – promoting or enhancing children’s development without

interfering with their schooling recreation and rest –at the other. And between

these two poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect’s a child

development” Other social scientists have slightly different ways of drawing

the line between acceptable and unacceptable work.

   International Conventions also define ‘Child Labour’ as activities such

as soldiering and prostitution. Not everyone agrees with this definition. Some

child workers themselves think that illegal work (such as prostitution) should

not be considered in the definition of child labour. The reason is that these

child workers would like to be respected for their legal work.

13  Introducing Child Labour in India, with special reference to the hazards child labourers Faces-

Charence James coonghe.

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In order to conclude we can say that there is no uniformity in the

definition of child. Further criteria of basic minimum age as well as wages are

also not followed strictly. The age of working child is also not implemented in

letters as well as spirit of the Acts. A need of constant monitoring is required

by appropriate authorities.

   3) Rights of Children:

     Children are human beings and require safety and opportunities for

development. Protection of basic Human Rights is now recognized as a primary

obligation of every society irrespective of its political ideology or level of

development. Arbitrary exercise of power and denial of equality, justice and

dignity have been fought by individuals and groups through legal and political

processes in country during the last fifty years in scale.

   Every child shall have without any discrimination as to race, colour, sex,

language, religion, national, or social origin, property or birth, the right to such

measures of protection as are required by his status as minor, on the part of his

family, society and the state.14

   It may be concluded that due to lack of universally acceptable definition

of child labour there is problem faced by the authorities and the society in

eradicating this evil. No doubt there is increasing awareness of the ‘Child

Dimension’ in the development and implementation of social policies. Much

has been done, Law is supposed to protect the weak particularly against the

strong for a just share of resources and for fair treatment in mutual relationship.

     Children and young people should be protected from economic and

social exploitation. Their employment in work harmful to their morals or health

or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be

punishable by law. State should also set age limit below which the paid

employment of child labour should be prohibited and punishable by law.

(B) PROBLEMS OF CHILD LABOUR

14  Article 24 (1) of ICCPR.

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  Children have been integral part of human labour force in all societies.

With the socio economic development and modernization, economic role of

children vanishes and child participation in labour force is curtailed to a

considerable extent. But this fact has been achieved only in few western or

developed countries. In most of the third world or developing countries, a large

number of children continue to be at work. According to ILO estimates, in

1973, some 55 milion children under the age of 15 years were at work around

the world. Of these, 30.5 milion were in south Asia, 9.9 milion in East Asia, 9.6

milion in Africa, 3.3 milion in Latin America and only 1.3 milion in all the

developed and western countries. In India, the 2001 census listed 12.59 milion

children as full time workers. In1991 census this number was 11.28 milion,

including that the absolute number of child workers is increasing in this

    Now an obvious question; why child participation in labour force is a

menace to their development? Why must be curtail it? Work at direct

fulfillment a child’s natural abilities and creative potentialities as also

conducive to its healthy growth. But work, when taken up as means for

fulfillment of some other need, become in slaving in character and deleterious

in its impact. The letter type is harmful because the energy that should have

been spent on nurturing talent, capacity and power; is used for the purpose of

bare survival. It becomes a total evil when the energy generated by a child is

appropriated by some others and the child is left with a fraction of it, which

cannot meet even this basic problem in so for as it arrests or distorts the natural

growth process of a child to full adulthood. The use of children as a source of a

child force, raise many other question with demographic and economic

Demographically speaking, the economic contribution of children is an

important contributing factor in the demands for more children and

consequently leads to population growth. Among other implications, child

labour deprives children of educational opportunities, minimizes their change

Concept, Problem and Causes of Child Labour                                                                                               Page

for vocation training and forces them to remain unskilled labourers with low

wages as long as they are economically active. Thus, the participation of

children in labour force runs country to the whole thesis of the human resource

development which is so essential for the over-all socio-economic development

     On the other hand it is argued that the child labour cannot be totally

banned in India, solely on the grounds of child development. For a poor man,

working child is an economic necessity. For the large number of people below

the poverty line (37 percent in India) measure earnings of children is a

necessity of sheer survival.15

        1) Statement of the Problem

    “Child Labour” the terms seem very simple in its meaning but it is actually a

very complex problem that has come into existence due to a host of socio-

economic factors and prominent among these factors is poverty. The term

brings before the eyes, picture of exploitation of little, and weak, tender and

underdeveloped bodies. Child Labour detracts the children from activities such

as, education, play, leisure etc. that is essential for their physical, mental and

emotional development and hence involves an element of exploitation.

Child Labour has several dimensions that vary from region to region and

society to society. However, child labour like any other phenomenon may be

analyzed in terms of demand and supply. Poverty is the main determinant of

the supply of child labour. It is a burning issue throughout the global economy

that has constantly agitated the minds of jurists, legislators, social thinkers,

politicians, economists, philanthropists from time immemorial. The problem

has changed its avenue and from public platforms it has reached the inner

circles of legislative, executive, and judicial chambers. However, the problem

is so acute particularly in the underdeveloped and developing countries that

there is no easy and shortcut solution in sight.

15  S.R. Goyal, Problems of child Labour in India.

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An effort is made by the International Organizations concerned with the

problem to accord priority to some aspects of child labour. ILO, for example, at

its 87th session, called for immediate abolition and Elimination of Worst forms

of child labour.

Children engaged in child labour are not only deprived of their dignity

but also of their freedom to play, and their scope to develop physically,

mentally and emotionally is also lost. It is really disheartening to note that child

labour in India is an alarming one and constitutes an egregious violation of

children’s rights. These children are denied education, which is a fundamental

right and should be available to them under any circumstances.

In India, education is the joint responsibility of both the state and the

central government, and the Constitution of India envisages free and

compulsory education for all children till the age of 14. Ironically, in reality,

large numbers are denied these fundamental rights and are subjected to back-

breaking labour in pathetic conditions. The result is illiteracy-a factor

inseparably linked with child labour.

Millions of children below the age of 14 years work in fireworks, carpet,

bidi and matchbox industries. Continuous exposure to hazardous condition

leads to their falling prey to various diseases, like chronic bronchitis,

tuberculosis, asthma, skin and eye ailments etc. Children working in various

offices, shops, rehris, dhabas etc, also face exploitation at the hands of their

     It’s a common sight to see grubby-faced children working alongside

roadside dhabas on the Indian highways. They are hardly 10-13 years old but

their faces bear an expression of constant exhaustion and agony. Their names

to get lost in the daily routine of grinding work and are called as (little man) by

the customers. They work morning till night, serving customers. Cleaning and

washing utensils and listening to the constant abuses of their masters. These

children are often lured away from different villages on false promises of good

wages and decent life and become victims of abuse and exploitation.16

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    These child labourers are paid a meager sum for all their hardship,

which generally fails to ensure even one square meal a day. Driven to work at a

crucial formative age and burdened with hard labour these-ill fated children are

deprived of nutritious food, playtime, and education. They lead miserable lives,

devoid of simple childhood pleasures and do not even get the opportunity to

develop into valuable human resource.

    Children are important assets of any nation, they are the future citizens.

The destiny of a country depends directly on how its children are nurtured to

fulfill the requirements of its society.

     India has always stood for constitutional, statutory and development

measures required eliminating child labour. The Indian Constitution has

consciously incorporated provisions to secure compulsory universal elementary

education as well as labour protection for children .Labour Commissions in

India have gone into the problems of child labour and have made extensive

recommendations.

   In India, the post independence era has seen an unequivocal

commitment of the government to eradicate the causes of child labour through

constitutional provisions, legislation, policies and programs. The constitution

of India in Article 39 of the Directive Principle of State Policy pledges that the

state shall in particular, direct its policy towards securing… that 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, that children are 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.”

     The first Act, in India relating to child labour was the Enactment of

Children (Pleading of Labour) Act, in February 1933. Since then there have

16  Ravindra Kaur Pasricha, Violation of Child Right and Victimization of Child Labourers Working in

Restaurants & Dhabas, 2007, New Delhi.

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been various other Indian Legislations relating to child labour. Way back in

1979, Government formed the first committee called “Gurupadswamy

Committee” to study the issue of child labour and to suggest measures to tackle

it. The committee examined the problem in child detail and made some for-

reaching recommendations. It observed that as long as poverty continued, it

would be difficult to totally eliminate child labour and hence, any attempt to

abolish it through legal recourse would not be a practical proposition. The

committee felt that in the circumstances, the only alternative left was to ban

child labour in hazardous areas and to regulate and ameliorate the conditions of

work in other areas. It recommended that a multiple policy approach was

required in dealing with the problems of working children. Based on the

recommendations of Gurupadswamy Committee, the child labour (Prohibition

& Regulation) Act, was enacted in 1986.

    However, the problem of child labour continues to pose a challenge

before the nation. It constitutes an egregious violation of children’s rights.

Besides the violation of rights, the practice of child labour makes children easy

victim of other forms of crime as well such as child sexual abuse, prostitution,

etc. Although all the children are vulnerable and easy prey of social vices but

child labourers living a barren life with no identities, no hopes are more

vulnerable and thus falls victim of many other forms of crimes besides being

exploited as labourers.17    

     2) World Context

           Child labour remains a serious problem in the world today. According to

revised estimates by the ILO’s bureau of statistics, the number of working

children between the age of 5 and 14 is at least 120 million. As may be

expected given the prevailing economic conditions, the overwhelming majority

of these are in developing countries in Africa. Asia and Latin America but

pockets of child labour also exist in many industrialized countries. Numerous

17  Ravindra Kaur Pasricha, Violation of Child Right and Victimization of Child Labourers Working in

Restaurants & Dhabas, 2007, New Delhi.

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children work in occupations and industries which are plainly dangerous and

hazardous. They are found in mines, factories, making glass bangles, match

and fireworks, in deep-sea fishing, in commercial agriculture and so on. The

list is endless, as are the dangers and hazards and the consequences:-

 Working children suffer significant growth defects compared with

children in school: they grow up shorter and lighter, and their body

size continues to be smaller even in childhood.

 Both anecdotal evidence and statistical survey indicate that for too

many working children are exposed to hazardous conditions which

expose them to chemical and biological hazards.

 Large numbers of working children work under conditions which

expose them to substances with long latency period.

 In rural areas, more children are believed to die of exposure to

pesticide than from the most common childhood diseases put together.                                                                        

Children in certain occupation are especially vulnerable to particular

types of abuse.

Many Governments have embarked on a review and updating of national

legislation on child labour and adopted practical policies and programmes on

child labour (Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines,

United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand, and Zimbabwe). The ILO’s

International programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is now

operational in more than 25 countries.18

   3) Indian Context

India being a developing country has the largest number of working

children. According to 2001 Census 12.6 million children engaged in

hazardous occupations in India. In spite of protection legislations the social evil

of child labour persisted in India from the early days of the industrial system.

The evil still persist in many unorganized sectors of Industry and Agriculture.

18  Report VI(I) Child Labour Targeting the intolerable, sixth item on the agenda International Labour

Conference 86th Session 1998, Geneva.

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In India child worker constitutes a significant protection of the totally of

main workers. According to 1971 Census enumeration, child labour constituted

about 5.9 percent of the total labour force in the country, while the total

children were about 42 percent of the Indian population. Although slight

decline is noticed in the work participation rate for main workers between 1971

and 1981, in substantive terms, the gravity of the situation has drawn

everybody’s attention. As per 1991 census the total number of children

between ages 5-14 years in India was 203.3 million of which 11.28 million

were working children (6.18 million boys and 5.10 million girls). This number

was reported to have risen to 12.59 million in census 2001.

In absolute numbers, the problem is large. As per the census 2001, there

are 1.26 crores economically active children in the age group of 5-14 years.

The number was 1.13 crores in the 1991 census. The state with the highest

child labour population in the country is Uttar Pradesh, followed by Andhra

Pradesh. Other states where child labour population is more than 1 million are

Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and west Bengal. While there has been a

decline in the incidence of child labour in few states like Andhra Pradesh,

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Orissa & Tamilnadu, there has been an

increase in Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal.19

The Registrar General of census has recently provided occupation-wise

data of children in this age group working in the non-agricultural sector.

Though the classification of occupations in the Census data is not exactly

matching with the occupations listed as hazardous under the child labour(

Prohibition & Regulation ) Act, a tentative segregation of data into hazardous

& non hazardous occupations has been done to enable us to have a broad

estimation of children working in deferent occupations. As per this data, 36.43

lack children in the age group of 5-14 years are working in non-agricultural

sector in the country, out of which 12.19 lack children are working in

19  www.labour.nic.in/cwl/Census 1971 to 2001 .pdf

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hazardous occupations ( 2001 Census ) for instance India has the largest

number of child labourers in the world.20

4) The Nature and Magnitude of Problem

 UNICEF’S states of the world’s Children report say only that although

the exact number is not known, it is surely in the hundreds of millions. In 2003

survey by the ILO suggested that there are 246 million child labourers ( aged

14 years or less) in the world and that as many as 180 million of them are

engaged in work that by its nature is hazardous to their safety, physical or

mental; health, and moral development and thus put them in direct risk.

However there are widely divergent views as to the magnitude of child labour

in India, due to various reasons that including differences in definitions,

typology of the work involved, the different methods of estimation used which

range from pure guesswork to over-generalization from small samples and

varying perceptions of the different agencies working for curbing this problem.

Ahead count of the number of working children, however, has been done only

during the decennial Census. The census Commissioner of India is the sole

authority with the requisite machinery (manpower and resources) capable of

undertaking an operation of this magnitude. Census figures, therefore, give by

far the most accurate and authentic data on child labour population in India.

UNICEF estimates that there are more than 35 million such children.

These estimates are for less compared to the non-governmental estimates,

ranging between 60 and 125 million child labourers in India because it

considers every out-of-school child either engaged as child labour or as

potential child labour.

       a) Child Labour Today

 Much has been achieved, but there is still so far to go. Statistics on child

labour are elusive not only because of the special and practical difficulties

involved in the design and implementation of child surveys but also because of

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differences in perception about what constitutes a child, or child work, or child

labour, and specially in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Limited statistical information obtained from about 100 countries

indicated that there were 246 million working children between 10 and 14

years of age in these countries in 2005. According to survey carried out by

ILO’s Bureau of statistics in a number of countries indicates that even children

below 10 years of age are at work in substantial numbers. The bureau now

estimates that, in the developing countries alone, there are at last 120 million

children between the ages of 5 to 14 who are fully at work and more than twice

as many if those for whom work is a secondary activity are included. Of those,

61 percent are found in Asia, 32 percent in Africa, and 7 percent in Latin

America. Although Asia has the largest number of child workers, Africa has

the highest incident at around 40 percent of children between 5 and 14 years

old. Though primarily a developing country problem, child labour also exists in

many industrialized countries and is emerging in many East European and

Asian countries which are in transition to a market economy.21

     b) Children in Hazardous Work

The most common situation in which children are venerable is when

they work in hazardous occupations and industries. Health and safety in the

working environment can be related to the nature of the work to their exposure

to hazardous substances and agents or to their exposure to poor working

conditions. Chemical, Physical, biological and Psychological herds are often

found in combination in the workplace. Often, too, their adverse effects are not

only cumulative but magnified through their synergic interaction. It is not easy

to isolate one single source or cause of an occupational hazard.

Children are susceptible to all of the dangers that are faced by adults

when placed in the same situation, and survival and physical integrity are of

course as important to them as to older people. Even if most child labourers

work side by side with adults, the conditions of work of children and of adult

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workers may not be the same. Children may be more exposed to an

occupational hazard than adult workers in the same trade because of the type of

task they carry out.

Some example of occupation hazards in specific occupations and

industries are set out below:-

 Agriculture: Children work in agricultural throughout the world and are

subject to occupational hazards such as exposure to machinery, biological and

chemical agents. They can be found mixing, loading and applying pesticides,

fertilizers or herbicides, some of which are highly toxic and potentially

carcinogenic.

Mines: child labour is used in small-scale mines in man; countries in Africa,

Asia and Latin America. The children work long hours without adequate

protective equipment, clothing and training, and are exposed to high humidity

levels and extreme temperatures.

Ceramics and glass factory work:  child labour in this industry is common in

Asia but can also be found in other regions as well. Children carry molten loads

of glass dragged from tank furnaces at a temperature of 1,500-1,800   OC .They

work long hours in room with poor lighting and little or no ventilation.

Match and fireworks industry:  The production of matches normally takes

place in small cottage units or in small scale village factories where the risk of

fire and explosions is present all the time. Children as young’s as 3 years of age

are reported  to be involved in the production of matches in unventilated rooms

where they are exposed to dust, fumes vapors and airborne concentrations of

hazardous substances-asbestos, potassium chlorate and antimony disulphide

amorphous red phosphorous mixed with stand or powdered glass tetra

phosphorus disulphide. Intoxication and dermatitis from these substances are

Deep- sea fishing:  Murayama fishing, which involves deep sea diving without

the use of protective equipment, is common in Asia, particularly in Burma,

Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. It relies on children who bang on coral

Concept, Problem and Causes of Child Labour                                                                                               Page

reefs to scare the fish into nets. Each fishing ship employs up to 400 boys

between 10 and 15 years old requited from poor neighborhoods. Drivers rest

the net several times a day and therefore children are in the water for up to 12

 Carpet Industry: An ILO study estimates that there could be 4, 20,000 child

labourers in India employed in the carpet industry.23 According to some

NGOs, between 1979 and 1993 the value of extort earnings in the hand-knotted

carpet industry in India tenfold. They also claim that the number of children

working at the looms has increased from 100,000 in 1975 to 300,000 in 1990.

The Indian ‘Carpet Belt’ is found mostly in Uttar Pradesh stretching over a vast

area. There are usually about 20 or so loom sheds in each village. Some

children work as bonded labourers: others are kidnapped from their poverty

stricken home villages, including villages in Bihar, the neighboring state.24

Since the carpet industry is labour intensive entrepreneurs, try to reduce

labour costs by employing child labour. Under the pretext of getting practice,

children are introduced into the sector as early as the age of five. Though

initially the children find it difficult to sit in the particular posture required for

weaving, they gradually adopt to it.

There is a new awareness at present in the International media about

child labour exploitation in the south Asian carpet industry. This is partly due

to 12 year-old Iqbal Masi, a bonded carpet weaver in Pakistan who was later

killed for his anti-child labour campaign. At present, genuine efforts are made

by some humanitarian agencies in the carpet importing nations to reduce or

eliminate child labour in the sector.

 Brass Industry:  According to the researcher Burra Neera, about 40,000-

45,000 children are employed in the brass industry in India. Children in the

brass industry are employed in different sectors. Molding is one of the

activities, which is very hazardous and dangerous both to adult and children.

23  UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children 1997, p. 68.

24  Janet Hilowitz, Labelling Child Labour Products, A Preliminary Study, p.15.

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More than 15000 children are employed in this sector. If the child is a new

recruit, he is given the work of rotating the wheel that fans the underground

furnace. Other children in the molding section must heat the oblong ingot on

top of the furnace, break it into small pieces with a hammer and then melt the

required amount of brass. These activities have to be done continuously and

children in the molding section would always be engaged in one or other of

these activities. They may not receive  any break in a ten-hour working day,

even though a slight distraction or lapse of concentration may cause the child

life-long injuries. The temperature in the furnace is about 1100 centigrade. If a

drop of molten metal falls on the child’s foot, it will create an immediate hole.

 Lock Industry:  The lock industry is mostly concentrated in the Aligarh

district of Uttar Pradesh. Studies reveal that more than 60 percent of the

workers in this sector are children less than 14 years of age. Children do

polishing, electroplating and working on hand presses. They cut difference

components of locks for nearly 12-14 hours a day with hand presses.

Exhaustion causes accidents; many lose the tips of their figurers, which get

caught in the machines.

The most hazardous job for children in the lock industry is polishing.

The boys who do polishing stand close to the buffing machines which run on

electric power have emery powder coated on books. While polishing the locks,

they inhale emery powder thereby suffering from respiratory disorders and

tuberculosis. In the small units, about 70 percent of the polishing is children.25

 Similarly, electroplating is another extremely hazardous process in which

more than 70 percent of workers are children below the age of 14 years.

Children work with naked hand in dangerous chemicals and have their hands in

these solutions for the better part of the twelve-hours a day. Some cases of

electrocution have been due to illegal electric connections obtained by some of

these units from streetlights.26

25  Child Labour Cell, Child Labour in the Lock Industry of Aligarh. P. 10.

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About 50 percent of the workforce in the spray-painting sector of the lock

industry is comprised of children due to whom they suffer from breathlessness,

fever, tuberculosis, bronchitis, asthma, and pneumoconiosis and from such

symptoms and diseases. Work in the lock industry is dangerous and very

hazardous for all employees, but is especially so for children. Thus, in India

children do all kinds activities, from household work to brick making, from

stone breaking to selling in shops and on streets, from bike repairing to garbage

collecting and rag picking. Most children work on farms and plantations or

houses, far from the media security and the reach of a labour inspector. There is

no product that there is no product that has not been scented by the sweat of a

child labourer. India today has earned the dubious distinction of having the

highest child labour force in the world.27

   c) Children in Domestic Work

Violence and sexual abuse are among the most serious and frightening

hazards faced by children at work. It is of course almost inevitable that children

growing up in such an environment will be permanently damaged both

psychologically and economically.

Among the groups subject to such abuse are child domestic workers. Child

domestic services are a widespread practice in many developing countries

witch employers in urban areas often recruiting children from rural villages

though family, friends and content. While most child domestic workers come

from extremely poor families, many have been abandoned. are orphaned or

come from single parent families.

   d)  Slavery and Forced Labour

 Slavery is not dead. Societies are loath to admit to still harboring it but, as can

be surmised from cases reported to the ILO committee of experts on the

Application of Conventions and Recommendations, numerous children are

27  Joe Arimpoor, “Profile of the Child Worker” , Social Action. July-September, 1994, Vol.44 No. 3 p.

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trapped in slavery in many part of the world. Of all working children, surely

these are most imperiled.

One of the most common forms of bondage is family bondage, where

children work to help pay off a loan or other obligation incurred by the family.

The lenders, who are often landlords, usually manipulate the situation in such a

way that it difficult or impossible for the family to pay off its debt, thereby

assuring essentially free labour indefinitely. A family may thus remain

bounded through generations, with children reflecting their aged are informed

parents in and inter -generational bondage agreement. Perhaps most widespread

of all informal bondage agreement under which in impoverished parents

surrender their children to outsider simply to work in exchange for their

upkeep, on the assumption that they will be better provided for as

unremunerated servants in an affluent household than they could be in their

(C) CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR:

Child labour is a socio-economic phenomenon. It is generally connected

that illiteracy, ignorance, low wages, unemployment, poor standard of living,

stark poverty, deep social prejudice appealing backwardness of the country-

side are all, severally and collectively, the root causes of child labour. 28

Mr. G. S. Modan, former deputy director, ministry of labour stated that

“the children are required to seek employment either to argument the income of

their families are to have a gainful occupation in the absence availability of

school going facilities at various places” as so we can say child labour is no

longer only economic exploitation but is necessitated by economic necessity of

parents and the children themselves.29

 Pro. Gangrade believes that child labour is a product of such factors as

customs, traditional attitude, lack of school of reluctance of parents to send

their children to school, urbanization, Industrialisation, migration and so on.

28  Dr. J.C. Kulshresthra; Indian Child Labour, Uppal Publication House, New Delhi, 1994, p. 27.

29  S.K. Tripathy; Child Labour in India, Discovery Publishing House, New Delhi, 1989, p. 26.

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Thus, though there are many causes of child labour, it will be faithful to

study some of the principal ones in details.

i.  Poverty

          The most important cause of child labour is widespread poverty. Poverty

compels the parents to send their children to seek employment. Disease and

other community contingencies may need extra money and the employment of

children is resorted to as easily accessible method to fetch in that money.

     The institute of public opinion conducted a survey in 1969, which

showed “that 41.2 percent of Indian population was under poverty line. Half of

these belonged to the scheduled caste and Tribes. In village a vast majority of

agricultural labour belongs to these communities.” 30

   Seminar on the subject organised by National institute of public

cooperation and child development, New Delhi, on November 25-28, 1975 also

came to the conclusion that “Millions of families were below the poverty line

and they had to deploy their children in the labour market in order to eke out a

bare subsistence.”31

    The problem of child labour is inter-related to the problem of living

wage of adult worker. This very inadequacy in wage of adult compels them to

send their childr3en to do some work in return of some compensation and

employer also takes the benefit of this weakness by providing work to their

children on low wages. The report of the International Organisation (ILO) also

indicated that this problem of child labour is not the problem of itself but it is

the problem of maintenance of the child and the living wage of the adult wage

earner so that they should maintain their family at adequate standard.32

     This child labour, by and large, is a problem of poor and destitute families,

where parents have to depend on the earning of their children.

  ii.    Low Income of the Bread Earner of the family

30  Institute of Public Opinion, Monthly Commentary of Indian Economic Condition, Dec. 1973.

31  National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development-Seminar Recommendations.

32  Report of ILO quoted in the Book ‘Needs of Children’ Published by UNICEF, P. 144.

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   In so cases, it has been observed that the inadequacy of wages of adult

earning member’s of the family compels them to send their children to work

and supplement the family income.

      It is in the report of ILO that “this problem of child labour is not the

problem of itself but it is the problem of the maintenance of child and the living

wage earner so that should maintain their family at adequate standard.”33

 iii. Child Labour is Cheap Commodity

      With the advent of industrialism, there came a tendency among the

employer to have quickly and more profits at low costs. Hence, in very country

there was an employment of children in large number – in factories who were

paid very low wages, were subjected to excessive hours of work and were

made to work under terrible condition.

       Employers have developed ancient ‘commodity Approach’ towards these

working children. At present, too, employers think that a lot of work can be

done by the children in their workplace and this labour and this labour of

children is very cheap in corporation – to that of main. In fact, it ensures them

more ‘margin of profit over less investment.’ Jorome Devis stated that, besides

the compulsion of poverty within the family, it is the stimulus of the

manufacturer who desires to secure cheap labour and more profit.”34

     Child labour exists not because they can be had for less money. Thus

preference for child labour by many employers is mainly due to the fact it is

cheap, safe and without any liability. All the reports on child labour indicate

that the wages paid to the children are exploitatively low.

iv.    Large Family

      Large family with comparatively less income cannot have the happy

notions in their mind. As a result, they cannot give sheltered childhood to their

children. If a family is limited and well planned there will be no question of

sending their children to the labour market and the children can be carefully

33  National Labour Commission Report, 1989.

34  Jrome Davis, Worker Problems and Modern Industry; Codicate Press, London. P. 117.

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educated. Illiterate and unpolished parents think just contrary of this. Thus if

parents have a small size family, they can provide all facilities to their children

which are necessary of their mental, physical and social growth.35

  v.    Illiteracy and Ignorance of parent

      In India, the lower socio- economic groups of population are illiterate. They

only think about the present time which is their sole concern and worry. They

never think of future. They are fully satisfied with the gain by the earning by

children. It is ignored by them that their children many participate even in

educational opportunities, but child labour deprives the children of all the

educational opportunities and minimizes their chances for vocational training.

It also affected their health and they are converted into labourers of low wages

for all their lives.36

    Ministry of labour, Government of India, has maintained tradition poverty,

lack of adequate awareness among parents of education children, illiteracy,

large size of family, unemployment and lacks of land as the causes of child

     Child labour is common extensively in the lower socio-economic groups

because of the lack of appreciation of their part of the role that education plays

in improving life and living conditions of the people. Thus greed for money

and gross ignorance on the part of parent in not sending their children to school

is a sad commentary, and condemnable. Addam predicate that, “the child

labourers today will be the paupers of tomorrow, they are the boy and girl who

will grow up without either formal schooling or knowledge of a trade; sooner

or later, their youthful energies exhausted they will became dull shiftless drift

less.” Thus illiteracy and ignorance of parents is also an important factor. These

parents do not consider child labour as evil.

vi.     Unemployed Parent

35  Dr. J.C. Kulshresthra; Indian Child Labour, Uppal Publication House, New Delhi, 1978, p. 15.

37  Ministry of Labour, Government of India, 1979, p. 10-13.

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        Some time children seek work because of their unemployment parents or

adult relation in the family, which is sometime due to under –employment of

the adults, also.

    In our country the agricultural workers are engaged at the maximum for 290

days in different agricultural and allied works; but absolutely sit idle for other

75 days which sometimes force them to send their children for small

employments.38

    vii.    Migration to Urban Areas

              Further, some studies have found migration to cities, due to cities, due

to industrialization and urbanization, also to be one of the factors responsible

for the problem of child labour. The Delhi study shows that there are a

sustainable number of migrants among child workers, particularly in the field

of domestic services, tea-stall and ‘dhabas’. Urbanization had been allured the

children to run away from their rural homes to the cities to find employment.39

  viii.   Other Reasons

             In addition to the above causes of child labour, there are also certain

significant reasons for child labour. Firstly the process of protective labour

legislation is slow which could not even cover agricultural, domestic servants

and small scale industries. Secondly, inspecting machinery which is provided

by the state government is inadequate to check the child labour. Black

employment opportunities, lack of physical and mental fitness due to

malnutrition and shear encouragement to take up jobs instead of going to

school are other reasons which contribute to the problem of child labour.40

   The Government of India in 1979 has expressed the view that, “it is the

poverty coupled with ignorance that forces parents to send their children to

seek employment. Inadequate income of the bread earner of the family,

unemployment, abuse of any family allowance or subsistence allowance on one

38 S.K. Tripathy, Child Labour in India, Discovery Publishing House, New Delhi, 1989, p. 27.

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side, and large family on the other side, death of the adult bread-earner,

drinking and other social evils in adults and absence of school, illiteracy and

ignorance of parents etc. , are the main reasons of the child labour.41

From the forgoing paras, it is thus sufficiently clear that poverty coupled with

ignorance, educational backwardness that forces parents to send their children

to seek employment are the main causes of child labour.

**************************

CHILD LABOUR A COLOSSAL MISUSE OF HUMANITY: A HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE ,Practice of child labour in India

CHILD LABOUR A COLOSSAL MISUSE OF   HUMANITY:

 A HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE ,
Practice of child labour in India 



INTRODUCTION

Children are the future of the country. The welfare of the entire community, its

growth and development, depend on the health and well being of children.

They need special protection because of their age, physical and mental acuities.

Recognizing this fact, the Government has taken various executive as wells

legislative steps to protect them. The employers take benefit of many loopholes

in the law and exploit children.

They cannot develop as responsible and productive members of

tomorrow’s society unless in environment which is conductive to their social

and physical health is assured. Every nation, developed or developing, links its

future with the status of children. Childhood holds the potential and also sets

the limit to the future development of the society.

If the children are better equipped with a broader human output, the

society will feel happy with them. Neglecting the children means loss to the

society as a whole. If children are deprived of their childhood – socially,

economically, physically and mentally-the nation gets deprived of the potential

human resources for social progress, economic empowerment and peace and

order, the social stability and good citizenry.

In the early 21st century, child labour remains a serious problem in many

parts of world. Studies carried out in 1979, the International year of the child,

shows that more than 50 million children blow the age of 15 years were

working in various jobs often under hazardous conditions. Many of these

children live in underdeveloped countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

The term “Child Labour” as defined by International Labour

Organisation (ILO) generally refers to any economic activity performed by a

person under the age of 15 years. ILO establishes a general minimum age of 15

years, provided that is not less than the age of compulsory schooling. However

                                           

section 2 (ii) of Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 defines

‘Child’ as a person who has not completed his 14 years age. The complex issue

of child labour is a development issue worth investigating. The notion that

children are being exploit and forced into labour, while not receiving education

crucial to development , concerns many people. India has one third of Asia’s

child labour and one-fourth of the world’s working children. According to

World health Organisation Office of Occupational Health, Geneva, out of the

150 million children throughout the world, one of every four children works in

India, Thailand and Turkey. There are more children under the age of 14 years

in India than the entire population of the United States. The great challenge of

India, as a developing country, is to provide nutrition, education and health

care to these children.

Practice of child labour in India is very old. It has been in existence in

our country since time immemorial in one form or the other. Who does not

know the existence of the practice of child labour in carpet Industry ,Match and

fireworks Industry in sivakashi, stone quarrying, Bras Work in Moradabad,

Glass Bangle Industry in Firozabad, Zari making work in Lucknow, Lock

making industry in Aligarh?

The world’s largest child labour elimination program is being

implemented at the grass roots level in India, with primary education targeted

for nearly 250 million. In this a large number of no-governmental and

voluntary organizations are involved. Special investigation cells have been set

up in states to enforce existing laws banning employment of children in

hazardous industries. The allocation of the Government of India for the

elimination of child labour was $ 10million in 1995-96 and $ 16 million in

1996-97. The allocation for the current year is $ 21 million.

India is the largest example of a nation plagued by the problem of child

labour. Estimates cite figures of between 60and 115 million working children

in India – the highest number in the world1. Children under the age of 14 years

continue around 3.6% of the total labour force in India. Of these children, nine


out of every ten work in their own rural family setting. Nearly 85% are

engaged in traditional agricultural activities. Less than 9% work in

manufacturing, services and repairs only about 0.8% work in factories.

The Government of India is determined to eradicate child labour in the

country. What are the causes of child labour in India? How do Governmental

policies affect it? What role does education play in regard to child labour in

India? A critical analysis of the answer to these questions may lead in the

direction of a possible solution. These questions will be answered through an

analyses of the problem of child labour as it is now, investigating how

prevalent it is and what types of child labour exist. The necessity of child

labour to poor families, and the role of poverty as a determinant will be

examined. Governmental policies concerning child labour will be investigated.

The current state of education in India will be examined and compared with

other developing countries. Compulsory education policies and their

relationship to child labour will be investigated using Sri Lanka and the Indian

State of Kerala as examples of where these policies have worked. Finally,

India’s policies concerning compulsory education will be assessed.

India has all along followed a proactive policy with respect to the

problem of child labour, and has stood for constitutional, statutory and

developmental measures to combat child labour. Six ILO conventions relating

to child labour have been ratified, three of these as early as the first quarter of

The first Act in India relating to child labour was the enactment of

children (Pleading of labour) Act, of February 1933. Since then there have

been more than twelve deferent Indian legislations relating to child labour. The

strategy of progressive elimination of child labour underscores India’s

legislative intent, and takes cognizance of the fact that child labour is not an

isolated phenomenon that can be tackled without simultaneously taking into

account the socio-economic milieu that is at the root of the problem.



The founding Fathers of the constitution have emphasized the

importance of the role of the children and the need of their best development.

Having these objectives in mind they have incorporated future policies in the

directive principles of state policies regarding the protection of childhood of

the children and protection of their all-round development.

 “The Right Place for the child is school, not workplace “Child labour is

universally recognized as the gravest violation of child right. Several measures

both at the national and international level seek to curb it. Article 24 of our

constitution prohibits child labour in factories, mines and other hazardous

Indian judiciary is the greatest unifying and integrating force of our

country. The Supreme Court is the ultimate interpreter of the constitution. The

constitution puts an obligation on every organ of the state; including the

judiciary, to usher in a new social order- in which justice- social, economic and

political and equality of status and opportunity prevail. The final burden of

interpreting these elastic provisions is upon the court. The judiciary has taken a

realistic view of the position of children and agreed that so long as there is

poverty and destitution of this country, it is difficult to eradicate child labour.

The Supreme Court in M.C. Mehta vs. State of Tamilnadu has held that

the children are means, under Article 45 of the constitution, to be subjected to

free and compulsory education until they completed the age of 14 years. The

court has however observed the directive principles of state policy has still

remained and thought according to these provisions all children up to the age of

14 years are supposed to be in school, economic necessity forces grown up

children to seek employment.

The liberalization of the concept of locus standi to make access to the

court easy is an example of changing attitudes of the court. Taking this view in

Bandhua Muktimorcha vs. Union of India. In People’s Union for Democratic

Rights vs. Union of India   the Supreme Court ruled that Article 24 is



enforceable against everyone and by reason of its compulsive mandate no one

can employ child below 14 years in a hazardous employment.

To curb the violation of these rights powers have been given to National

Human Rights Commission. Besides taking up individual complaints, the

National Human Rights Commission has been reviewing elimination of child

labour in different states. Based upon the recommendation of the Commission,

conduct rules have been amended by the center and state Governments to

prohibit the employment of children below the age of 14 years as domestic

servants by Government servants. Subsequently, vide their notification dated

10 October 2006; the Central Government has banned employment of children

as domestic workers or as servant and also employment of children in dhabas

{roadside eateries} , restaurants, hotels, motels, tea shops, spas and other

recreational centers including hazardous occupations.

The existing legislations allow child labour in some forms by making in

artificial distinction between ‘Hazardous’ and non –Hazardous’ employment.

The term ‘Hazardous’ needs to be interpreted with reference to what is

Hazardous for the development and health of the child and not merely in

relation to processes or occupation being categorized as hazardous. Child

labour not only leads to denial of childhood joys and toys but also becomes a

reason for child illiteracy. Notwithstanding, in most of the cases child labour is

associated with the pernicious practice of child trafficking and other forms of

But instead we daily come across in existence of practices in certain

sectors such as restaurants, dhabas, domestic servants, coolies, etc. in which

working conditions of such labour are pitiable. Most of them are children,

belonging to illiterate ignorant, poor, weaker and oppressed section of the

society. The most problematic issue relating to child labour is to give a

universally acceptable definition of child labour because it encompasses three

difficult concepts to define viz; ‘Child Labour’ and ‘Workplace’. These


concepts have difficult connotations in different societies. Therefore child

labour could mean different things in different contexts.

Various child labour laws and regulations have defined such concepts as

‘Child Labour’ and ‘Workplace’ to reflect a number of situations and

assumptions. They assume for instance, that working for one’s parent, inside

the home, or without pay or more acceptable than working for others, outside

the home, or for money. Moreover, children’s work in small-scale enterprise4s

is less harmful than their work in large –scale enterprises; and that work in

closed spaces is more harmful than work in the open air. However, whatever

may be the arguments and assumptions about child labour, the important aspect

about child labour is that the intervention agencies or departments never go for

the opinions of the children at work to define the concept of child labour.

The problems relating to child labour are required to be dealt with in a

manifold manner encompassing legislatives efforts, judicial approach, and the

role of NGOs, IGOs, NHRC and the Government Due to paucity of time and

limited resources an attempt has been made to touch some of the important

issues relating to the topic.


OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:- 

CHILD LABOUR A COLOSSAL MISUSE OF   HUMANITY


RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY: