Child Labor and India

A proactive policy towards eliminating child labor

• India has consistently followed a proactive policy to
tackle child labor, and has adopted constitutional, statutory
and developmental measures with a view to eliminating it.
• The Indian Constitution prohibits the employment of
children in factories, mines or other hazardous employment
(Article 24); enjoins the State to direct its policy towards
securing that children are not abused, that citizens are not
forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to
their age or strength (Article 39 (e)); that children and the
young are protected against exploitation and moral and
material abandonment (Article 39(f)); and requires provision
of free and compulsory education to children up to the age
of 14 years (Article 45).
• Indian labor laws are in compliance with ILO
Conventions on child laborto which India is a Party. India
has ratified six ILO Conventions relating to child labor (see
Annex A) and played a leading role in the adoption of ILO
Convention No. 182 on Elimination of the Worst Forms of
Child Labor at the 87th Session of the International
LaborConference in Geneva in June 1999. India has also
ratified on 2 December 1992, the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
• Child laborin India is a socioeconomic phenomenon
arising essentially out of poverty and lack of development.
There is certainly no intention whatsoever to use Indian
children as a source of cheap labor. Intensive measures are
being undertaken to eliminate child labor in India. Action by
others who would like to see the achievement of that larger
goal should be supportive of the positive steps India is
 taking – which are in the same direction and have the same
goal.
• The overwhelming majority of working children in India
are rural children in the unorganized, agricultural and allied
sectors (the traditional sectors of the Indian economy that
often provides employment for all members of a family).
They work primarily due to socio-economic factors and do
so alongside and under the supervision of their
parents/guardians. They do not fall in the category of
“forced or indentured” child labor. Every working child
cannot be regarded as a forced or indentured child laborer.
The distinction between children working in a family setting
and “forced or indentured” child laborers must constantly be
kept in sight.
• Forced, bonded or indentured child laboris prohibited
under Indian law. India has ratified on 30 November 1954,
the ILO Convention No.29 (Forced Labor Convention,
1930) and the bonded labor system has been abolished
throughout India by an Ordinance with effect from 25
October 1975. The Bonded LaborSystem (Abolition) Act
was passed by the Parliament of India in 1976 and given
effect from 25 October 1975. The Act provided for the
abolition of bonded labor, the bonded laborsystem, and
bonded debt. Any child found in a bonded situation as per
the Bonded LaborSystem (Abolition) Act is entitled to
immediate release and rehabilitation. Moreover, prompt and
exemplary punishment as per the law is being meted out to
any violators of the Act.
• The Act also provided for statutory institutional
mechanisms to prevent bonded or forced child laborin the
form of Vigilance Committees at the district and sub-district
levels functioning under the Chairmanship of District and
Sub-Divisional Magistrates. Anyone who wants to file a
complaint about the existence of bonded/forced laborin any
part of India can do so before this Vigilance Committee. By
the Act, Executive Magistrates have been vested with
powers of judicial magistrates for summary trial of offences
 committed by employers under the Act, for releasing bonded
laborer(s), as also for issuing a release certificate. The Act
also lays down stringent penal provisions against offending
employers, including imprisonment up to 3 years and a fine.
To assist the State Governments in the rehabilitation of
released bonded laborers, the Indian Ministry of Labor
launched a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in May 1978 for
rehabilitation of freed bonded laborers. Under the Scheme,
the Government of India extends rehabilitation assistance of
Rs.10, 000/- per freed bonded laborer.
India has had child laborlaws in position for many
decades. Among the earliest was the Children (Pledging
of Labor) Act, 1933. It lays down that any agreement to
pledge the services of a child either by parents or
guardian shall be void. The most significant prevailing law
is the Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986,
which is reflective of the political will, determination and
commitment to the elimination of the pernicious system of
child laborin India. The Child Labor Act specifically:
(a) Prohibits employment of all children under the age
of 14 in specified hazardous and other enumerated
industries. It prohibits employment of children in 13
occupations and 51 processes considered hazardous to the
health and psyche of the child.
(b) Regulates conditions in industries where children
are still permitted to be employed (In order not to outlaw
the passage of specialized handicraft skills from
generation to generation, children continue to be
permitted to work in certain occupations/processes which
are innocuous or harmless for them). Regulation now
covers all the occupations and processes that are not
specifically prohibited for employment of children.
(c) Establishes severe penalties for offending
employers, including both fine and imprisonment.
Violation of the provisions under the Act is punishable
with imprisonment for a term not less than three months
that may extend to one year and/or a fine of not less than
 Rs.10, 000 that may extend to Rs.20, 000.
The existing provisions of the above two Acts are
comprehensive enough to prohibit the practice of indentured or
forced child laborin India. Under the Bonded Labor System
(Abolition) Act, every allegation or complaint received is
referred to the State Government and the District
Administration and allof them are investigated by the Vigilance
Committee at the district or sub-divisional level. Moreover,
feedback received after the investigation is also shared with the
complainant. Additionally, if any child is found to be working
in hazardous employment, the employer is prosecuted under the
provisions of the Act and the child working in any such
establishment is released from work and rehabilitated through
National Child Labor Projects and projects run by other
agencies/organizations.
The Indian judicial system has independently and
effectively intervened on the child laborissue. The
Supreme Court of India issued in December 1996 a
number of directives regarding the removal of children
from hazardous industries/occupations/processes and the
provision of welfare support for such children. The Court
decree requires that any offending employer, in addition
to other fines or penalties under the law, pay Rs.20, 000/-
to a child laborrehabilitation fund. Interest derived from
this fund is to be paid as wage compensation to the
families of children on the condition that the child attends
school. In addition, the Court has directed that an able
bodied adult member of each such family be given
employment by the State Government. In cases where
the State Government is unable to provide such
employment, it is required to pay Rs.5, 000/- per child to
the Fund.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in India has
also been monitoring the implementation of Government policy
and programs on identification, release and rehabilitation of
child laborin selected districts of the country. The Commission
entertains complaints related to child labor and bonded labor
and after investigations, gives appropriate orders for
compliance. The Supreme Court of India in its order-dated
11.11.97 has requested NHRC to be involved in dealing with
the issue of bonded labor. In pursuance of the Supreme Court
Order, a Central Action Group (CAG) was constituted in 1998.
Two Special Rapporteurs have been appointed by the NHRC to
review and look into bonded labor and child laborissues. They
make periodic visits to districts and interact with local people,
NGOs and Government functionaries to ascertain the position
at the ground level. Their reports are studied by the NHRC and
follow up action initiated in consultation with the Ministry of
Labor.
There are widely divergent views as to the magnitude of child
laborin India, due to the different methods of estimation used
which range from pure guesswork to over-generalization from
small samples. A head 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 laborpopulation in India.
As per the 1991 census, the number of working children in
India was 11.28 million. The bulk of the working children are
engaged in rural areas and in agriculture and allied
employments. Cultivation, livestock, forestry and fisheries
account for 85% of the working children. Most of the children
work alongside and under the supervision of their
parents/guardians. In urban areas, manufacturing services,
repair, etc. account for only around 10% of working children.
A large majority of these children assist their parents in home-
based work to supplement family income. Most of these are in
the unorganized, cottage and tiny sectors.
The Government of India announced a National Policy on
Child Laborin 1987. It envisages strict and effective
enforcement of child labor related laws, convergence of
services for the benefit of the parents of working children in
order to improve their economic conditions and launching of
projects in areas of high concentration of child labor. Projects
to rehabilitate children working in hazardous industries like
match & fireworks, glass and bangle making, lock making,
carpet weaving, slate, gem cutting and gem polishing,
brassware, etc. were started following the announcement of the
National Policy. Major impetus to the program for the welfare
and rehabilitation of child laborwas, however, given from
1994-95 onwards when a large number of projects across 11
Indian States were put into operation. 80 National Child
Laborprojects for the rehabilitation of nearly 200,000 children
are under implementation. They envisage door-to-door surveys,
launching awareness generation programs to sensitize
employers, parents and children and imparting education,
nutrition and vocational training to the children withdrawn
from work. For the Ninth Plan Period (1997-98 to 2001-02),
an allocation of Rs. 2,610 million has been made for the
National Child Labor Projects.
Industry specific projects have also been undertaken for the
prevention of employment of children and the withdrawal and
rehabilitation of children. Some of the child labor projects are
rehabilitating children in specific industries.
The Government of India’s initiatives have been augmented by
similar initiatives by the ILO. India was the first country to join
the International Program on the Elimination of Child
Labor(IPECL) and has been participating in it since 1992. 130
action programs have been taken up mainly through NGOs,
central employers and central trade union organizations for
implementation under the IPECL during 1992-98.
NGO’s are also an active partner in the efforts towards
elimination of child labor. Under the Grant-in-Aid scheme of
the Ministry of Labor, Government of India, numerous NGOs
are being financially assisted for taking up welfare projects for
working children. Such assistance is also given for action-
oriented research/study on child labor and preventive measures
to discourage assertion of children into employment.
There is an elaborate mechanism for monitoring the
implementation of programs for the identification, release and
rehabilitation of child labor. This includes:
• The National Authority for Elimination of Child
Labor (NAECL) was established in 1994-95 to set the
policy and program for the elimination of child labor,
particularly in hazardous industries, and to coordinate
the various child labor programs implemented by the
various Ministries of Government of India.
• A Standing Group to evolve a mechanism for
dealing with the problem of child laborwas constituted
under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary in
April 1998. Members of the group include the
Secretaries of the Ministries of Textiles, External
Affairs, Commerce, Labor, Rural Development and the
Department of Education, Women & Child
Development, Legal Affairs, Health and Chief
Secretary of Uttar Pradesh.
• A Central Monitoring Committee on child labor
constituted by Government of India on 30.12.98 under
the Chairman of Union Labor Secretary is responsible
for the overall supervision, monitoring and evaluation
of National Child Labor Projects in various States.
• A National Resource Center on Child Labor
(NRCCL) set up at the National Labor Institute in
Noida, UP, in March 1993. The Center is engaged in
the documentation, publication and creation of a data
bank on child labor, research and training, media
management and technical support services etc. and
assists Union and State Governments, NGOs, policy
makers and others. A Child Labor Cell has also been
set up at the National Institute of Rural Development,
Hyderabad with a similar mandate.
• The State Governments have set up State Level
Monitoring Committees for monitoring the
implementation of National Child Labor Projects in
their respective states and similar bodies also function
at the district level under the Chairmanship of the
District Collector & Magistrate.
Poverty, unemployment/under-employment and illiteracy, are
the most important factors that contribute to child labor. Given
the complex socio-economic dimensions of the problem,
improvement in the living and working conditions of parents
and in their economic conditions is crucial to the elimination of
child labor. Education is also an indispensable component for
eliminating child labor. The support of various Ministries has
been enlisted with a view to adopting a multi-dimensional
strategy to ensure that the benefit of development programs
percolates to this group. These include the Ministries of Rural
Development, Urban Affairs & Employment, Human
Resources Development (Department of Education), Social
Justice and Empowerment and the Department of Women and
Child Development. As a result of their collective efforts,
priority has been accorded to the parents and family members
of working children for coverage under poverty eradication and
employment generation programs.
Several other programs have contributed substantially to the
reduction of the number of working children in India. Thus,
the Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) is the single
largest program in the whole world for pregnant mothers and
children in terms of immunization, nutrition and pre-primary
early childhood education. To fulfillthe constitutional
commitment to free and compulsory universal primary
education, nearly 600,000 schools have been set up. A massive
non-formal education program with the involvement of NGOs,
with thrust on enrolment of girls has been launched for those
children who cannot be enrolled in the formal system as also
for school dropouts. The National Literacy Mission has been
launched since 1988 to remove parental illiteracy and promote
functional adult literacy. The Department of Education is also
implementing the District Primary Education Program that
covers working children in a large number of child labor
endemic districts.
Tremendous efforts continue to be made directed at social
mobilization, sensitization and awareness generation of the
community, employers, parents, teachers and all sections of
society, etc. through multi-media campaigns at national, state
and local levels. Employer’s organizations and trade unions
have also been mobilized for sensitizing employers, workers
and the society at large, and have also taken up programs for
the welfare and rehabilitation of child labor.
As mentioned earlier, forced/bonded/indentured child
labor is prohibited under Indian law with immediate and
exemplary punishment as per the law being meted out to
any offender. Furthermore, the complete and early
elimination of child laborin India is the ultimate objective
of the Government of India. This goal cannot be achieved
in one stroke. However, the social sector programs in
general, and the program for the welfare of children in
particular, have resulted in significant improvement in the
child labor scenario in India. Only multi-dimensional
strategies that provide access to education opportunities,
open avenues for gainful employment and eradicate
parental illiteracy can eventually eliminate child labor.
Given the complexity of the problem, the socioeconomic
scenario and the availability of resources, a sequential,
progressive, and integrated approach towards the early
elimination of child labor will continue to be adopted in
India.