The document discusses child labour in India. It defines child labour and outlines laws in India related to child labour rights. It presents a case study of a 13-year-old girl, Puii, who works crushing stones in a quarry instead of attending school regularly due to her family's poverty. The document also discusses causes of child labour like poverty, lack of education access, and consequences like negative health effects. It concludes that collective efforts are needed like increasing education access, economic growth, and engaging with organizations like ILO and UN to eliminate child labour.

1. Acknowledgement
“MAN, DARES TO DREAM AND DREAM TO DARE”
Project work gives us opportunities to express our inner creativity. My project on the topic ‘Social Issues’ has
helped me understand the various aspects of ‘Child Labour’ in India.
I am very much grateful to my teacher, Mr./Mrs. _______________, for giving me such an opportunity that
empowers my knowledge and paves the way for my journey to the infinite future.
I would at last want to thank my friends and family who helped me a lot and supported me to make this project
a successful one.
Certificate
This is to certify that ‘______________’ of class ‘____’ and section ‘___’ has completed the project on ‘Social
Issues’ successfully and has followed all the instructions given.
This project work is genuine and fair to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Contents
1. Introduction to Social Issues
2. Meaning of Child Labour
3. Child Labour Rights in India
4. Child Labour Case Study
5. Causes of Child Labour
6. Consequences of Child Labour
7. Suggestions to Eliminate Child Labour
8. Conclusion on Child Labour
Social Issues
A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It can also be recognized by society as
a problem that is preventing society from functioning at an optimal level. It is a group of common problems
in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors
extending beyond an individual's control. Social issues are the source of conflicting opinions on the grounds
of what is perceived as morally correct or incorrect personal life or interpersonal social life decisions.
Child Labour
Child labour is the exploitation of children below 14 years of age through any form of work that deprives them
of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially,
and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation worldwide, although these laws do not
consider all work by children as child labour; exceptions include work by child artists, family duties,
supervised training, and some forms of child work practised by Amish children, as well as by indigenous
children in the Americas.
Child labour has existed to varying extents throughout history. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many
children aged 5–14 from poorer families worked in Western nations and their colonies alike. These children
mainly worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, mining, and services such as news
boys – some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools,
and passage of child labour laws, the incidence rates of child labour fell.
Child Labour Rights in India
1. The Indian Factories Act, 1948 – This act has limited hours of work for children, prohibited night
work, and provided for weekly holidays. No person who has not completed his 14th year will be
allowed to work in any factories.

2. 2. The Plantation Labour Act, 1951 – This act applies to all tea, coffee, and rubber plantations, children
under the age of 12 shall not work on any plantation, and no child shall be employed except between
the hours 6 am to 7 pm.
3. The Mines Act, 1952 – It is an act to amend and consolidate the law relating to the regulation of labour
and safety in mines. The adolescents may not work below ground unless they are certified medically
fit to work by a certifying surgeon.
4. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 – This act provides for the ban on the
employment of children and regulates the condition of work. It says down penalties for the employment
of children in violation of the provision of the act.
Case Study
Case Study of Puii
Puii is a thirteen-and-half-year-old girl living in Aizawl District. She is the eldest child in her family and has
three sisters and two brothers. The family does not own a house and is living in a rented house. Her parents
are uneducated and their occupation is stone-crushing on daily basis. They earn daily wages according to their
work but the family income is very low. Despite all the shortcomings, both parents are struggling hard to
educate their children and maintain the family. Puii was admitted to a local school at the age of 6 years. She
was very weak in English, mathematics, and science subjects and her parents were too poor to afford any
private tuition for those difficult subjects. She used to attend household chores like cooking, washing, caring
for her younger sisters, and supporting her parents. Presently, she is enrolled in class VII, but she is not regular
in attending school as she is having more load of household work as she has grown into an adolescent.
Subsequently, she does not get any time to relax and concentrate on her education. She narrated - “I think that
I may not pursue a very high education because I am the eldest child and I have to always help and support
my parents and take care of my younger sisters and brothers, but I wish to complete Graduation.” Puii was
engaged as a part-time labourer initially and she joined her parents when she attained the age of 10 years.
Even on holidays, she used to help her parents at the stone quarry crushing stones. She shared – “I can earn
around Rs. 300/- per day. When I started working, I developed some sinus problems, and now I feel weak”.
Interpretation
Poverty is the main factor that forced Puii to join the workforce and deprived her of enjoying her childhood
and is affecting her education. She had health problems because of her engagement in a stone quarry. She
needs proper medical attention to get relief from her health problems. Despite all the shortcomings, she is
concerned for her family, particularly her siblings' education, and is aspiring to get her graduate degree. She
did not have any negative attitude toward her parents as she knows how hard they are working for the family.
Causes
Child labour and exploitation are the results of many factors, including poverty, social norms condoning them,
lack of decent work opportunities for adults and adolescents, migration, and emergencies. These factors are
not only the cause but also a consequence of social inequities reinforced by discrimination. Chronic poverty
has been identified as the most important factor for the prevalence and perpetuation of child labour in India.
Poor parents believe that children can provide them with the best economic assets. Further, children can raise
no voice when they are employed in factories, etc. and therefore they can be best exploited. The other reason
for the ever-increasing child labour is said to be, the accelerated pace of mechanization of agriculture which
pushes the surplus farm labour to the cities in search of livelihood. A survey conducted by the commission of
child labour in Kolkata revealed that socio-economic conditions of the families compelled children to come
in search of employment in urban sectors. Thus, child labour is the result of poverty and unemployment.
Consequences

3. Child labour is economically unsound, psychologically disastrous, and physically as well as morally
dangerous and harmful. Child labour spoils the adulthood life of the children and their potentialities are not
harnessed in the right manner. Child labour is directly related to a child’s health and exerts a negative effect
on it. It tends to interfere with the moral family life and encourage the breakdown of the social control that is
largely dependent upon it to preserve the existing social order. It seriously interferes with education and thus
precludes the most productive participation, in the privileges and obligations of citizenship. It is the economic
backwardness, which pushes the child into the world of social and familiar problems which result in child
begging, juvenile delinquency, vagrancy, truancy, etc. The emotional ties between the children and the parents
are disturbed. As a result of such distortion, the children slip into the world of disorganization. The emotional,
affectionate relationship between parents and child turns into commercial interaction. The hazardous working
conditions adversely affect the health of child workers.
Suggestions to Eliminate Child Labour
1. Stakeholders must take responsibility – Children do not work because they want to, and parents would
ideally much rather see their children receive an education. Child labour is socially accepted when
people see no other option but to send their children to work. Governments must abide by
internationally accepted agreements; companies must employ adults instead of children and –
importantly – consumers must not buy goods produced by child labour.
2. Increased access to education - Removing children from child labour does not mean that they will
automatically attend school. Schooling can be expensive, or of very poor quality, and so some parents
think sending their children to work is the obvious alternative. Both large and smaller businesses can
make their contribution by raising awareness about the importance of education in their workplaces,
communities, industries or sectors.
3. Provide support for children - Children are also at greater health and safety risk in the workplace for
several reasons:
 Lack of work experience – children are less able to make informed judgments.
 Want to perform well – children are willing to go the “extra mile” without realising the risks.
 Learn unsafe health and safety behaviour from adults.
 Might not be carefully trained and supervised.
4. Improve economic growth - As many as 7.8 million Indian children are forced to earn a livelihood
even if they also attend school. Many of these children drift away from the path of education
completely and get end up in child labour. This means a country has a lack of formally educated adults
who can contribute to the process of nation-building and the country’s economic growth.
5. Engage with the Sustainable Development Goals - We know that the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), adopted in 2015, will only succeed if we work towards the goals together. The sub-
Saharan African region is among those affected by situations of extreme poverty, state fragility and
crisis, and natural disasters and population displacements associated with global climate change, which
in turn are known to heighten the risk of child labour.
Conclusion
Child labour is an international evil. It requires cumulative efforts to wipe it out. Toiling long hours for a
pittance, these little breadwinners accept exploitation as a way of life. The government on this front has taken
a few steps. The ILO launched the international program for the elimination of child labour in 1991 and India
was one of the first to join the same in 1992. But still, the problem presents itself due to poor implementation
of the plans and programs. The need of the hour is to expand the machinery for enforcing the various laws on
child labour. There are a plethora of laws but nothing can eradicate child labour unless there is awareness
among parents as well as children, which will go a long way in saving the future of millions of children. It’s
time to consign child labour to history books and to allow all children to realise their rights.