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Introduction
Children are the greatest gift to humanity and Childhood is an important and
impressionable stage of human development as it holds the potential to the future
development of any society. Children who are brought up in an environment, which is
conducive to their intellectual, physical and social health, grow up to be responsible and
productive members of society. Every nation links its future with the present status of its
children. By performing work when they are too young for the task, children unduly
reduce their present welfare or their future income earning capabilities, either by
shrinking their future external choice sets or by reducing their own future individual
productive capabilities. Under extreme economic distress, children are forced to forego
educational opportunities and take up jobs which are mostly exploitative as they are
usually underpaid and engaged in hazardous conditions. Parents decide to send their
child for engaging in a job as a desperate measure due to poor economic conditions. It
is, therefore, no wonder that the poor households predominantly send their children to
work in early ages of their life. One of the disconcerting aspects of child labour is that
children are sent to work at the expense of education. There is a strong effect of child
labour on school attendance rates and the length of a child’s work day is negatively
associated with his or her capacity to attend school. Child labour restricts the right of
children to access and benefit from education and denies the fundamental opportunity
to attend school. Child labour, thus, prejudices children’s education and adversely
affects their health and safety1
.
Magnitude of Child Labour in India
The magnitude of child labour in India has been witnessing enormous decline in
the last two decades, both in terms of magnitude and workforce participation rates.
Evidence drawn from the National Sample Survey data suggest that India’s child
workforce during 2004-05 was estimated at little over nine million (9.07 million) as
against twenty-one and half million (21.55 million) in 1983. During this period, the
number of child employment has declined sharply by 12.48 million. There is
considerable fall in child workforce is observed among boys than girls. The
corresponding fall in boys and girls workforce during 1983 to 2004- 05 is observed to
have decreased from 12.06 to 4.76 million, and 9.49 to 4.31 million, respectively. In
effect, the gender difference that existed between boys and girls (adverse against boys)
during the early 1980s has almost dissipated in recent years, the difference being
slowed down from 2.57 million to roughly 0.45 million. However, 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. It was 1.13 crores in the 1991 Census2
.
As per NSSO survey 2009-10, the working children are estimated at 49.84 lakh
which shows a declining trend. As per the Global Report on Child Labour published by
International Labour Organization last year, the activity rate of children in the age group
of 5-14 years is 5.1 per cent in Latin America and Caribbean Region, which is the
lowest in the world. In the Asia-Pacific Region, it is 18.8 per cent. In comparison to that,
the activity rate of children in India, as per 2001 census is 5 per cent3
.
State-wise details of working children as per NSSO Survey 2009-10 are at
Annexure-I.
Government Initiatives
Child Labour and Constitutional Provisions
The framers of the Constitution of India deemed it necessary to include special
provisions in the Constitution for the protection of the rights of working children4
.
Legislation for Child Labour in India
The first protective legislation for child labour in India was seen in 1881 in the
form if Indian factories Act which had the provisions prohibiting employment of children
below 7 years, limiting the working hours for children to 9 hours a day and providing 4
holidays in a month and rest hours. This was actually made by the ruling British
Government to decrease the production in Indian industries through some legal
restrictions.
It may be submitted that the labour legislations in India including protective
legislation for children have been greatly influenced with the result of various
Conventions and Recommendations adopted by International Labour Organisation.
Besides Constitutional provisions, there are several legislative enactments which
provide legal protection to children in various occupations.
The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933
The Employment of Children Act, 1938
The Minimum Wages, Act 1948 and rules made thereunder by the government
The Factories Act, 1948
The Plantations Labour Act, 1951
The Mines Act, 1952
The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958
The Motor Transport Workers’ Act, 1961
The Apprentices Act, 1961
The Atomic Energy Act, 1962
The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966
The Shops and Establishment Act in Various States, and
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 19866
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986) was the culmination of
efforts and ideas that emerged from the deliberations and recommendations of various
committees on child labour. Significant among them were the National Commission on
Labour (1966-1969), the Gurupadaswamy Committee on Child Labour (1979) and the
Sanat Mehta Committee (1984). The Act aims to prohibit the entry of children into
hazardous occupations and to regulate the services of children in non-hazardous
occupations. In particular it is aimed at (i) the banning of the employment of children, i.e.
those who have not completed their 14th year, in 18 specified occupations and 65
processes; (ii) laying down a procedure to make additions to the schedule of banned
occupations or processes; (iii) regulating the working conditions of children in
occupations where they are not prohibited from working; (iv) laying down penalties for
employment of children in violation of the provisions of this Act and other Acts which
forbid the employment of children; (v)bringing uniformity in the definition of the child in
related laws7
National Child Labour Policy
Constitutional and legislative provisions providing protection to children against
employment has been elaborated in the National Child Labour Policy announced in
1987. The policy addresses the complex issue of child labour in a comprehensive,
holistic and integrated manner. The action plan under this policy is multi-pronged and
mainly consists of:
A legislative action plan;
10 http://labour.nic.in
-7-
Focuses on general development programmes for the benefit of the families of
children; and
Project-based action plan in areas of high concentration of child labour11
.
National Child Labour Project Scheme
For rehabilitation of child labour, Government had initiated the National Child
Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme in 1988 to rehabilitate working children in 12 child
labour endemic districts of the country. Its coverage has increased progressively to
cover 271 districts in the country presently. As on date the Scheme is in operation in
266 districts.
Under the NCLP Scheme, children are withdrawn form work and put into special
schools, where they are provided with bridging education, vocational training, mid-day
meal, stipend, health-care facilities etc. and finally mainstreamed to the formal
education system. At present, there are around 7,000 NCLP schools being run in the
country with an enrolment of three lakh children. Till date more than 9 lakh working
children have already been mainstreamed to regular education under the NCLP
Scheme.
The NCLP scheme is a Central Sector scheme. Under the scheme, project
societies are set up at the district level under the Chairpersonship of the Collector/
District Magistrate for overseeing the implementation of the project. Instructions to
involve civil society and NGOs have also been issued12
.
The number of child labourers rescued, rehabilitated and mainstreamed through
National Child Labour Project Scheme during 2009 To December 2012, State-wise is
given in Annexure-III.
Convergence with Programmes of Other Ministries/Departments
Convergence of services from different government departments is one of the
key components of the NCLP which leads to the overall success of the programme. The
NCLPs make efforts to utilise the services of other departments at various levels. Most
important among the different departments has been the Department of Education.
Since different forms of child labour cannot be ended only by improving school
enrolment and educational rehabilitation, efforts for improvement of socio-economic
environment of the child labour families will be strengthened. Some of the prominent
schemes of these Ministries/department, which could have an explicit component for
child labour and their family are given below and could be utilized for government
interventions for elimination of child labour. This is however, only an indicative list and
could be extended to others programmes to:
a) Schemes of Department of Education
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)
Mid Day Meal Scheme
b) Schemes of Ministry of Women & Child Development:
ICPS scheme For providing food and shelter to the children withdrawn from work
through their schemes of Shelter Homes, etc
Balika Samridhi Yojana and admission of children withdrawn from into residential
schools under SC/ST/OBC Schemes.
c) Schemes of Ministry of Rural Development
Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Swarnjayanti Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
Indira Awas Yojana (IAY)
d) Scheme of Ministry of Labour & Employment
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY)
Skilled Development Initiative Scheme (SDIS)
e) Other Social security schemes
Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme
-9-
National Family Benefit Scheme
Janani Suraksha Yojna
Handloom Weavers’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme
Handicraft Artsans’ Comprehensive Welfare Scheme
Pension to Master craft persons
National scheme for Welfare of Fishermen and Training and Extension
of Janashree Bima Yojana
As poverty and illiteracy are the prime reasons for child labour, a combined and
coordinated effort of the various departments would greatly help to mitigate this
problem. The National Policy on Child Labour, prescribes the need to focus on general
development programmes for the benefit of the families of child Labour. Providing
income generation opportunities to the parents of child labour would enable them to
send their children to school rather than work. Moreover, encouraging the parents of the
working children to form Self Help Groups (SHGs). This would also help to bring
children from these families to the fold of education13
.
Elimination of Child Labour in India – Coordination with ILO
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched the International
Programme for Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) in the year 1991 with the objective to
end child labour globally. India was the first country to sign the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) in the year 1992. During the 11th Plan Period, three Projects viz.,
INDUS Project, Andhra Pradesh Phase-II &Karnataka Project were implemented in the
country under ILO-IPEC. Jointly funded by the Ministry of Labour, Government of India
and the Department of Labour, United States of America (USDOL), the INDUS Child
Labour Project was implemented in ten hazardous sectors in 21 districts across five
states viz. Delhi (NCT Delhi), Maharashtra (Districts of Amravati, Jalna, Aurangabad,
Gondia and Mumbai Suburban), Madhya Pradesh (Districts of Damoh, Sagar, Jabalpur,
Satna and Katni), Tamil Nadu (Districts of Kanchipuram, Thiruvannamallai, Tiruvallur,
Nammakkal and Virudhunagar) and Uttar Pradesh(Districts of Moradabad , Allahabad,
Kanpur Nagar, Aligarh and Ferozabad). The project adopted a participatory method to
identify beneficiaries and enrolling child workers in schools, transitional education
centres and vocational training centres was seen as a key strategy for rehabilitation of
child and adolescent workers withdrawn from work. The project was instrumental in the
operationalising the public education component in the field. The Project also developed
income generation strategies for child labour elimination by linking child labour families
with the ongoing government schemes that provide access to micro credit and
subsidies. The project has systematically worked at developing a comprehensive
multipronged communication strategy. A variety of tools have been developed to aid
awareness raising efforts at the field level. Through its Action Programmes, the INDUS
project worked towards sensitizing and building capacities of key government agencies
and civil society partners in project states on child labour. The project, through an action
research to study the occupational health and safety made efforts to develop interim
solutions to protect adolescents and young adults from hazards at work places. The
project has also operationalised a beneficiary tracking system, for tracking and following
up on the progress of all project beneficiaries. Through this project, an estimated
103,152 children and adolescent workers were withdrawn and rehabilitated. The Project
was concluded in March 200914
.
Conclusion
Government has accordingly been taking proactive steps to tackle this problem
through strict enforcement of legislative provisions along with simultaneous
rehabilitative measures. State Governments, which are the appropriate implementing
authorities, have been conducting regular inspections and raids to detect cases of
violations. Since poverty is the root cause of this problem, and enforcement alone
cannot help solve it, Government has been laying a lot of emphasis on the rehabilitation
of these children and on improving the economic conditions of their families15
.