This document discusses child labour in India, including its causes, impacts, and government efforts to address it. It notes that over 12 million children in India are engaged in child labour according to 2001 census data. Child labour negatively impacts children's health, growth, and education. Hazardous industries like fireworks, carpet weaving, and household work often exploit child labour. Poverty, lack of access to education, and willingness of employers to exploit children are among the key drivers. The government has enacted laws against child labour and rehabilitative programs, but enforcement remains a challenge, and child labour continues to be a significant problem in India.

2. CHILD LABOUR
Child labour is not only a social problem but also an econom.
Watching a young child work for 14 hours a day is what is termed as child labour.
Child labour has a predominant feature in Indian society.
Carpet Industry requires the fine little fingers to weave the finest and tiniest of knots
to create the most expensive of carpets.
Firecracker industry probably prefers kids to men because they are cost effective and
more efficient.
Even household labour-children last longer and are most honest than adults ; is a
claim made by most homemakers.

4. DEFINATION:-
 Acc. To UNICEF
A child involved in child labour activities if between 5-11 years of age, he/she did at least 28 hrs of
domestic work in a week and in case of children between 12-14 years of age , he/she did at least 14
hrs economic activity or at least 42 hrs of economic activity and domestic work per week.
 Acc. to India’s census 2001 office
It defined child labour as participation of a child less than 17 years of age in any economically
productive activity with or without compensation , wages or profit.
 Acc.to ILO
Children who participate in work that doesn’t affect their health & personal development or
interference with their schooling is not child labour , rather it may generally be regarded as being
something positive.

5. CHILD LABOUR FACT SHEET
Acc. to 2001 census 12.6 million children are child labours in India below 14 years of
age.
Acc. to UNO there are 217 millions child labour worldwide.
While buffaloes may cost up to 15,000 rupees , children are sold at prices between 500
& 2,000 rupees.
47 out of 100 children in India enrolled in class I reach class VIII , putting the dropout
rate at 52.79%.
Approximately 16.64% of villages in country do not have facilities for primary
schooling.(UNICEF)
42 million children in the age-group 6-14 years do not attend school in India.

6. Utter Pradesh has highest number of child labour causes in India.
Acc. to Mallikarjun Kharge , minister of Labour and Employment West Bengal has
performed worst in NCLP. Reports says during 2010-2013 only 12,788 children were
brought to mainstream whereas in Odisha 38,500 and in M.P. 38,000 children were
brought to the main stream.

8. CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR
ORPHANS : Children born out of wedlock , children
with no parents and relatives , often do not find anyone to
support them . Thus they are forced to work for their own
living.
WILLINGNESS TO EXPLOIT CHILDREN
: This is at the root of the problem even if a family is very
poor , the incidence of child labour will be very low unless
there are people willing to exploit these children.
UNEMPLOYMENT OF ELDERS : Elders
often find it difficult to get jobs . The industrialists and
factory owners find it profitable to employ children . This
is so because they can pay less and extract more work .
They will also not create union problem .

10. CONSEQUENCES FOR CHILDREN
Physical Injuries and mutilations are caused by badly
maintained machinery on farms and in factories , machete
accidents in plantations , and any number of hazards
encountered in industries such as mining , ceramics and
fireworks manufacture.
Pesticide poisoning is one of the biggest killers of child
labourers . In Sri Lanka , pesticides kill more children than
diphtheria , malaria , polio and tetanus combined . The
global death toll each year from pesticides is supposed to
be approximately 40,000.
Growth deficiency is prevalent among working children ,
who tend to be shorter and lighter than other children ;
these deficiencies also impact on their adult life.

11.  Long-term health problems , such as respiratory
disease , asbestosis and a variety of cancers , are common
in countries where children are forced to work with
dangerous chemicals.
 HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases
are rise among the one million children forced into
prostitution every year ; pregnancy , drug addition and
mental illness are also common among child prostitutes.
 Exhaustion and malnutrition are a result of
underdeveloped children performing heavy manual
labour , working long hours in unbearable conditions and
not earning enough to feed themselves adequately.

13. PROHIBITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN IN
CERTAIN
OCCUPATIONS AND PROCESSES
1. Transport of passengers , goods ; or mails by railway.
2. Cylinder picking , learning of an ash pit or building operation in the railway
premise.
3. Work in a catering establishment at a railway station , involving the movement of
vendor or any other employee of the establishment from one platform to another
or into or out of a moving train.
4. Work relating to the construction of railway station or with other work where such
work is done in close proximity to or between the railway lines.
5. The port authority within the limits of any port.
6. Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks in shops with temporary licenses.
7. Abattoirs/slaughter Houses.
8. Automobile workshops and garages.

15. THE CHILD LABOUR
(Prohibition and Regulation)Act , 1986
 OBJECT : To prohibit the engagement of children in certain employment's and to regulate the
conditions of work or children in certain other employment’s.
 DEFINATION : Child means a person who has not completed his fourteen years of age,
 APPLICABILITY : In extends to the whole of India.
 WEEKLY HOLIDAY : Every child shall be allowed in each week a holiday of one whole day.
 HOURS AND PERIOD OF WORK : The period of work on each day shall not exceed three hours
and no child shall work for more than three hours before he has had an interval for rest for at least one
hour. No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m. No child shall be
required or permitted to work overtime.

16. THE CHILD LABOUR
(Prohibition and Regulation)Act , 1986
PENALITIES :
 Section-3 shall be punishable with imprisonment which shall not be less than months
which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be less than thousand
rupees but which may extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both.
 Section-3 shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less
than six months but which may extend to two years. Any other violations under the
act shall be punishable with simple imprisonment , which may extend to one month
or with fine , which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.

18. Initiatives Towards Elimination Of Child Labour
The government has made efforts to prohibit child labour by enacting child labour
laws in India including the 1986 Child Labour (prohibition and Regulation).
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.
Government has been laying a lot emphasis on the rehabilitation of these children and
on improving the economic conditions of their families.

20. LAWS
National Policy on Child Labour was formulated in 1987.
National Child Labour Program me (NCLP) 1988 was formulated.
Article 24 of Indian Constitution Prohibits Child Labour.
Juvenile Justice (care & protection) of children act 2000.
Child Labour (prohibition & regulation) Act 1986.
The Factories Act 1948.
The mines Act 1952.
The right of children to free & compulsory education at 2000.

22. Children are remarkably imaginative and resilient but also heartbreakingly
fragile and vulnerable.
“So let us share their dreams and
shape their future”