UNIVERSITY NAME

LOGO
DEPARTMENT OF LAW
(Session: 2012-13)
CHILD LABOUR
In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree
Of
P.HD
In
LAW

GUIDED BY:

SUBMITTED BY:

UNIVERSITY NAME
LOGO
DEPARTMENT OF LAW
(Session: 2012-13)
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that NAMEstudent of P.HD in the academic year 2012-2013 of
this institute have completed their Dissertation Part-1 CHILD LABOURand
submit a satisfactory report as a part of requirement for the award of degree of
Master of engineering from COLLEGE NAME

Guide

Head of Department

Director

DECLARATION
We hereby declare that the work which is being presented in the
dissertation part-I report entitled
CHILD LABOUR
In partial fulfillment of PHD in LAW an authentic record of our own work carried
out under the guidance of Asst. Prof. .The work has been carried out at
University name.

INDEX

1. ABSTRACT
2. INTRODUCTION
3. REVIEW OF LITERATURES
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
5. CONCLUSION
6. REFERENCES

ABSTRACT

Child labor is regarded as one of the most serious problems of human rights
violations in thecontemporary world. Millions of children around the world have
their rights violated every dayand this is of great concern for the international
community. The purpose of this study is tosystematically examine & evaluate child
labor in developing Indian Countries and showhow it affects childrens ability to
access education & care in comparison to developed . One central aim is this is to
increase our understanding of new realities and aspects ofeducational approaches
in reducing child labor as well as to research the awareness of theconsequences of
child labor in developing countries. In South Asia many cross sectional studieshave
been done on childrens labor as well as their education. But there are few
studiescomparing these findings with those from developed countries. I want,
within the frame of thisstudy to find out what the child labor situation in South
Asia is like and what measures are beingtaken with respect to child labor both,
from the local and international arena the study design is comparative,
retrospective & qualitative in nature.
Subjects over seventeen years of age are excluded from this sample. Qualitative
researchmethods employed in the study have included semi-structured interviews,
structured texts anddocuments. Various cases have been collected in a uniform

manner and these together with fieldnotes on children collected programs comprise
the main empirical basis for thediscussion and conclusions of the study, although
additional information from external sourceshave also been used.
INTRODUCTION
Child labor may be defined as all economic activity for children under the age of
12 years. Itmay also be defined as weekly economic activity lasting enough to
undermine the health and education of those aged 12-14. Additionally, it may be
defined as all "hazardous work" whichcould threaten the health of children under
the age of 18. As we see here, different frameworkshave been proposed for
defining child labor to find a solution to the problem. UNICEF defineschild labor
as work that exceeds a minimum number of hours, depending on the age of a
childand on the type of work, such work is considered harmful to the child and
should therefore beeliminated. Ages 5--11, at least one hour of economic work or
28 hours of domestic work perweek. Ages 1214, at least 14 hours of economic
work or 28 hours of domestic work per week.
Ages 1517, at least 43 hours of economic or domestic work per week (UNICEF
2008). Somedefine child labor based on the patterns of childrens activities. Others
define it on the basis of the negative impact of work on children's physical, mental,
social and moral development as wellas deprivation from educational

opportunities. Childlabor involves mainly the questions of childrens work in early

age, long working hours, hazardous working conditions and insufficient access,
attendance or progress in school.
However, there is no consensus on what child labour is and how it should be
tackled.According to UNICEF, there are today over 250 million children being
exploited for profit orforced to work. In terms of international treaties, there are
218 million children working illegallytoday. Of these children, 126 million are
engaged in hazardous work, such as mining or handlingchemicals, which is
otherwise described as the "worst forms of child labor". A further categoryknown
as "unconditional" includes even more severe forms of child labor such as
prostitution,military enrolment and slavery. This last category includes the use of
children as bondedlaborers making brick kilns, assembling boxes, polishing shoes,
stocking a store's products, orcleaning. No statistics are available for this
unconditionalcategory but the numbers are likelyto be close to 10 million. Whole
generations of children are currently being deprived of thechance to take their
rightful places in the society and economy of the 21st Century.
In developing societies, many children do not have choice and control over their
work andeducation. Many from poor households work because they do not have
the same opportunities toget education as middle and upper class children. There is
one clear qualitative differencebetween child labor in South Asia from that of

Europe as well as Nordic countries. Manychildren in developing countries cannot

choose the nature and working conditions of their work,while children in Western
countries can choose for example, to work part-time to earn extrapocket money.
Another difference is that many child workers in South Asia do not
haveopportunities for leisure and play while the work children in Western countries
carry out doesnot interfere with their leisure and play activities.
The mainstream interpretation of child labour framed in the discourse of children
rightsarticulates very clearly what should characterise an ideal childhood modelled
on theconditions of the developed world and middle class families around the.
Theinterpretation is reflected in the existing international laws and policies with
provisions onchildrens rights as well as their participation in work. On the account
of existing diversityand complexities underlying the reality of children in the
developing countries, this view ofchildhood idealized as Western should not
simply be discounted as hegemonic. Rather, it isimportant to interrogate its
categories such as child labor; childrens rights; childhoods; andhow they are
constructed in the communities where they are enacted. In essence, it is notclear
whether people at local community levels in developing countries like
Uganda(including children, parents, and any other valued sources of local opinion),
have similarviews as reflected in both international and domestic provisions on

child labor; or havedivergent, competing, or complementary discourses regarding

what child labor means, orwhat it does not mean.

This thesis is organized into three major parts namely: i) the introduction; ii)
presentation offindings; and iii) the implications of the findings to both theory and
practice. Theintroductory part presents the context and statement of the problem,
key research issues andquestions, theoretical frame of reference, and the
methodology used in the collection, analysisand reporting of findings. The section
on findings comprises seven chapters. The first twochapters discuss the factors or
conditions that shape working childhoods. Emphasis is put onecological and
parenting factors and work undertaken by children aged 5-14 years in
fishingcommunities. The four chapters that follow examine the discourses on child
labor andrepresent the views of various actors. A specific discourse on child labor
emerging from theviews of children both working and school going children, is
also presented. The last twochapters of the findings focus on the interface between
child labor and education and theinterpretation of child labor in light of existing
laws and policies. The final part synthesizesthe findings from each chapter and
discusses their implications to both theory and practice.

LITRATURE REVIEW
The Constitution of India (26 January 1950), through various articles enshrined in
the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy, lays down
that:
No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory
or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment (Article 24);
The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the
age six to 14 years. (Article 21 (A));
The State shall 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 they are not forced by economic necessity to enter vocations
unsuited to their age and strength (Article 39-e);
Children shall be given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy
manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and
youth shall be protected against moral and material abandonment (Article
39-f);
The State shall endeavor to provide within a period of 10 years from the
commencement of the Constitution for free and compulsory education for all
children until they complete the age of 14 years (Article 45).
Child labor is a matter on which both the Union Government and state
governments can legislate. A number of legislative initiatives have been
undertaken at both levels.

The major national legislative developments include the following:

The Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986: The Act prohibits
the employment of children below the age of 14 years in 16 occupations and 65
processes that are hazardous to the children's lives and health. These
occupations and processes are listed in the Schedule to the Act. In October
2006, the Government has included children working in the domestic sector as
well as roadside eateries and motels under the prohibited list of hazardous
occupations. More recently, in September 2008 diving as well as process
involving excessive heat (e.g. working near a furnace) and cold; mechanical
fishing; food processing; beverage industry; timber handling and loading;
mechanical lumbering; warehousing; and processes involving exposure to free
silica such as slate, pencil industry, stone grinding, slate stone mining, stone
quarries as well as the agate industry were added to the list of prohibited
occupations and processes;
The Factories Act, 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of children below
the age of 14 years. An adolescent aged between 15 and 18 years can be
employed in a factory only if he obtains a certificate of fitness from an
authorized medical doctor. The Act also prescribes four and a half hours of work
per day for children aged between 14 and 18 years and prohibits their working
during night hours.

 The Mines Act, 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18
years of age in a mine. Further, it states that apprentices above 16 may be
allowed to work under proper supervision in a mine.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act, 2000: This Act
was last amended in 2002 in conformity with the UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child covers young persons below 18 years of age. Section 26 of this Act
deals with the Exploitation of a Juvenile or Child Employee, and provides in
relevant part, that whoever procures a juvenile or the child for the purpose of
any hazardous employment and keeps him in bondage and withholds his
earnings or uses such earning for his own purposes shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be
liable for fine. In some States, including Karnataka and Maharashtra, this
provision has been used effectively to bring to book many child labour
employers who are otherwise not covered by any other law and to give relief
and rehabilitation benefits to a large number of children.
The Minimum Wages Act, 1948: Prescribes minimum wages for all employees
i n all establishments or to those working at home in certain sectors specified in
the schedule of the Act. Central and State Governments can revise minimum
wages specified in the schedule. Some consider this Act as an effective
instrument to combat child labor in that it is being used in some States (such as

Andhra Pradesh) as the basis on which to prosecute employers who are

employing children and paying those lower wages.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act,
2009: Provides for free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14
years. This legislation also envisages that 25 per cent of seats in every private
school should be allocated for children from disadvantaged groups including
differently abled children.
An important judicial intervention in the action against child labor in India was the
M.C. Mehta case (1996) in which The Supreme Court, directed the Union and state
governments to identify all children working in hazardous processes and occupations,
to withdraw them from work, and to provide them with quality education. The Court
also directed that a Child Labor Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund be set up using
contributions from employers who contravene the Child Labor Act. Additionally, in
1993, the Supreme Court in Unnikrishnan v. State of Andhra Pradesh ruled that each
child has the right to free education until he or she completes the age of 14 years.
Artcle 21-A which was incorporated into the Constitution, reflects this standard. In
2005, the M.V. Foundation, an NGO working on child rights brought a public interest
litigation petition which argues that child labor up to the age of compulsory education
is unconstitutional and is a negation of rights under Article 21-A which provides for
compulsory education up to the age of 14. This case is still pending before the

Supreme Court. Notably however, under this case the Court has asked the Government
to file a status report on the implementation of SarvaShikshaAbhiyan, a government
programme providing free and compulsory education to all children. An important
judicial intervention in the action against child labor in India was the M.C. Mehta case
(1996) in which The Supreme Court, directed the Union and state governments to
identify all children working in hazardous processes and occupations, to withdraw
them from work, and to provide them with quality education. The Court also directed
that a Child Labor Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund be set up using contributions
from employers who contravene the Child Labor Act. Additionally, in 1993, the
Supreme Court in Unnikrishnan v. State of Andhra Pradesh ruled that each child has
the right to free education until he or she completes the age of 14 years. Artcle 21-A
which was incorporated into the Constitution reflects this standard. In 2005, the M.V.
Foundation, an NGO working on child rights brought a public interest litigation
petition which argues that child labour up to the age of compulsory education is
unconstitutional and is a negation of rights under Article 21-A which provides for
compulsory education up to the age of 14. This case is still pending before the
Supreme Court. Notably however, under this case the Court has asked the Government
to file a status report on the implementation of SarvaShikshaAbhiyan, a government
programme providing free and compulsory education to all children.
India is a signatory to the:

 ILO Forced labor Convention (No. 29);

ILO Abolition of Forced labor Convention (No. 105);
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Government policies and programmes
In pursuance of India's development goals and strategies, a National Child labor
Policy was adopted in 1987 following the Child labor (Prohibition and Regulation)
Act, 1986. The national policy reiterates the directive principle of state policy in
India's Constitution. It resolves to focus general development programmers to
benefit children wherever possible and have project based action plans in areas of
high concentration of child labour engaged in wage/quasi-wage employment.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has been implementing the national
policy through the establishment of National Child labor Projects (NCLPs) for the
rehabilitation of child workers since 1988. Initially, these projects were industry
specific and aimed at rehabilitating children working in traditional child labor
endemic industries. A renewed commitment to fulfill the constitutional mandate
resulted in enlarging the ambit of the NCLPs in 1994 to rehabilitate children
working in hazardous occupations in child labor endemic districts.
The strategy for the NCLPs includes the establishment of special schools to
provide non-formal education and pre-vocational skills training; promoting

additional income and employment generation opportunities; raising public

awareness, and conducting surveys and evaluations of child labor.
The experience gained by the Government in running the NCLPs over several
years resulted in the continuation and expansion of the projects during the Ninth
Five-Year Plan (1997/02). Around 100 NCLPs were launched across the country to
rehabilitate children working in hazardous industries such as glass and bangles,
brassware, locks, carpets, slate tiles, matches, fireworks, and gems. The Central
Government made a budgetary allocation of Rs 2.5 billion (about US$57 million)
for these projects during the Ninth Five-Year Plan. The Government of India has
expanded the coverage of the NCLPs to an additional 150 districts and increase the
budgetary allocation to over Rs 6 billion (about US$131 million) during the Tenth
Five-Year Plan (2003/07). Children in the age group of 5 - 9 years were enrolled
directly under the SarvaShikshaAbhiyan or the Education for All Movement
commenced under the 10th Five Year Plan. Further, those in the age group of 9 - 14
were admitted to special schools under the NCLP schemes. Besides this,
components of healthcare and vocational training were also augmented.
Most

significantly

in

2001

02

the

Government

launched

the

SarvaShikshaAbhiyan or the Education for All Programme which is an effort to

universalize elementary education. This programme aims to achieve the goal of

universal elementary education of satisfactory quality by 2010.
Schemes for Children under the 10th Five Year plan include the Planning
Commission's Integrated Programme for Street Children which aims to prevent the
destitution of children and engineer their withdrawal from streets by providing
facilities like shelter, nutrition, health care, education, recreation and protection
against abuse and exploitation. Accordingly to the Government, during the 10th
Five Year Plan, over 200,000 children benefitted from this.
Further, the Scheme for Working Children in Need of Care and Protection by the
Ministry of Women and Child Development provides non-formal education,
vocational training to working children to facilitate their entry into mainstream
education. This scheme has been implemented through NGOs. According to the
Government, around 7,000 children benefited from this programme from 2005 2007.
The strategy outlined for the 11th Five Year plan (2007 - 12) includes expanding
the NCLP scheme to ensure universal enrolment of children in the 6 - 14 age group
to cover those in the hard-to-reach segment. It also includes substantial
improvements in the quality and standard of education and teacher training.
Another notable Government initiative under the 11th plan is to amend all laws to

recognize everyone under the age of 18 as children and to take appropriate

measures to protect their rights accordingly.
In September 2009, IPEC launched a Convergence Project against Child labor
which covers 5 States - Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.
The project will demonstrate effective convergence-based models for elimination
and prevention of child labor including trafficking/migration of children in each
state.
The International laborOrganization (ILO) states that child labor may be defined in
a number of different ways, and a different definition yields a different estimate of
child labor in India as well as other countries. According to ILO, children or
adolescents who participate in work that does not affect their health and personal
development or interfere with their schooling, is not child labor; rather it may
generally be regarded as being something positive. he is also a man who their
parents around the home, assisting family or earning pocket money outside school
hours and over holidays. These kinds of activities, suggests ILO, may contribute to
childrens developmentally, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children,
or work whose schedule interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or
work that affects in any manner their ability to focus during school or experience
healthy childhood.

UNICEF defines child labor differently. A child, suggests UNICEF, is involved in

child labor activities if between 5 to 11 years of age, he or she did at least one hour
of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work in a week, and in case of
children between 12 to 14 years of age, he or she did at least 14 hours of economic
activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work per week.
UNICEF in another report suggests, "Childrens work needs to be seen as
happening along a continuum, with destructive or exploitative work at one end and
beneficial work - promoting or enhancing childrens 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 a childs
development."
India's Census 2001 office defines child labor as participation of a child less than
17 years of age in any economically productive activity with or without
compensation, wages or profit. Such participation could be physical or mental or
both. This work includes part-time help or unpaid work on the farm, family
enterprise or in any other economic activity such as cultivation and milk
production for sale or domestic consumption. Indian government classifies child
laborers into two groups: Main workers are those who work 6 months or more per
year. And marginal child workers are those who work at any time during the year
but less than 6 months in a year.

Some child rights activists argue that child labor must include every child who is
not in school because he or she is a hidden child worker. UNICEF, however, points
out that India faces major shortages of schools, classrooms and teachers
particularly in rural areas where 90 percent of child labor problem is observed.
About 1 in 5 primary schools have just one teacher to teach students across all
grades.
RESEARCH METHODOLGY
Research Design
For our research we will take up descriptive Research design as it answers the
question what is going on? A good description is a fundamental to the research
enterprise and it adds immeasurable of the shape and nature of the society.

Data Collection will be done in two phases:PreliminaryPhase - In the initial phase we will try to understand what child labor
law is? Below is the process we would be following: Secondary Phase: - Based on the outcome of the preliminary phase; a
detailed questionnaire will be developed to collect information for the study.

Sampling Technique: - All these data will help in formulating very comprehensive
case study. All sample units will be personally contacted and interviewed.
The methodology which will be used for carrying out the report is as follows:Type of Data Sources: For present research work, primary as well as secondary
data will be used.
Tools for collecting Primary Data: - The information will be collected directly
1. Questionnaire and Surveys: - This will include range of response questions,
close ended questions, providing limited answers to specific responses or on
a numeric scale.
2. Interview: This will include people to interview, Develop the interview
questions including open-ended questions and close ended questions and
carefully eliminating leading questions.
Tools for collecting Secondary Data: - Various statistical tools will also be used
to analyzing the secondary data.
1. Document Review: - Obtaining the actual forms and operating documents
currently being used. Reviews blank copies of forms and samples of actual
completed forms.

2. Observation: - analyzing annual reports and press releases, verifying the

statements made during the interviews.
3. Web Search: - The information related to outside region (other part of India
and Globe) will be studied from internet to other published papers.
4. Various policies will be dealt in details by referring various government
publications and reference book, journals, published data from time to time.

CONCLUSION
So there is a need to look at every aspect of child labor, education and poverty; all
issues must beaddressed in relation to each other. The prioritization of children
which the country is talkingabout must be put on the political agenda. There is a
need to move away from using words andtowards taking affirmative action in
achieving the goals. The next step would be to develop morecoherent policies, to
ratify and implement more conventions, and addressing all the issues linkedto child
labor, education and poverty, and ensuring that they are effectively protected by the
lawsand legislation. Now this is the time that the countries should not hesitate to

admit the existence of child labor as the biggest obstacle to EFA. Denial will never
lead to solutions. Also thatMinistries of Education cannot be complacent by saying
that the issue of child labor is outsidethe domain of the Education Ministries. This
is a fundamental problem. The dominant areas ofprevalence of child labor should
be identified and special educational measures should be taken.
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P. P. Viazzo, eds.,Child labour in historical perspective, 1800-1985: case
studies from Europe, Japan andColombia (Florence, 1996), pp. 23-39.
2. DeGregori, Thomas R (2002), Child Labor or Child Prostitution? Cato
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(1997). ChildLabour in South Asia: Some Perspectives on Selected
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Development Issues No. 49.

7. Ferrington, John &Bebbington, Anthony with Wellard, Kate & Lewis, David
J. (1993).Reluctant Partners? Non-Governmental Organization, the State and
SustainableAgricultural Development. London & New York: Routledge.
8. Findings of ILOs Global report, conference by International Confederation
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9. Fyfe, Alec (1989). Child Labour. Cambridge: Polity Press.
10.Global March against Child Labour, Geneva (1999), Convention
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11.http://www.globalmarch.org/campaigns/conventioncampaign/convention182
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12.Global March against Child Labour, December 11, 2000, Washington World Off Track ToMeet Education Goals, 72 Million Still Out of School
Global School Report Grades 156
13.Developing
Countries
and

22

Donor

Nations,

source

-http://www.globalmarch.org/news/121207.php
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