TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. CHILD LABOUR AND FORCED LABOUR...........................................................3

2. FORMS OF CHILD LABOUR...................................................................................5
3. CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR.................................................................................7
4. IMPACT OF CHILD LABOUR.................................................................................8
5. CHALLENGES IN CONTROLLING CHILD LABOR:........................................9
6. CASE LAWS..............................................................................................................10
7. CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................12
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................14
 CHILD LABOUR AND FORCED LABOUR

The term 'child labour’ is defined by ILO is the work that deprives children of their
childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental
development. It Interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend
school; obliging them to leave school prematurely, or requiring them to attempt to combine
school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.

UNICEF defines child labour differently. A child, who is involved in child labour activities if
between 5 and 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 and 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, "Children’s work needs to
be seen as happening along a continuum, with destructive or exploitative work at one end and
beneficial work – promoting or enhancing children’s 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 child’s development."

India's Census 2001 office, defines 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. 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 labourers 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.

The Factories Act of 1948 prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in
any factory. The law also placed rules on who, when and how long can pre-adults aged 15–18
years be employed in any factory. The Mines Act of 1952: The Act prohibits the employment
of children below 18 years of age in a mine.

The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986: A "Child" is
defined as any person below the age of 14 and the CLPR Act prohibits employment of a
Child in any employment including as a domestic help (except helping own family in non-
hazardous occupations). It is a cognizable criminal offence to employ a Child for any work.
Children between age of 14 and 18 are defined as "Adolescent" and the law allows
Adolescent to be employed except in the listed hazardous occupation and processes which
include mining, inflammable substance and explosives related work and any other hazardous
process as per the Factories Act, 1948.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2015: This law made it a crime,
punishable with a prison term, for anyone to keep a child in bondage for the purpose of
employment.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009: The law mandates
free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years. This legislation also
mandated that 25 percent of seats in every private school must be allocated for children from
disadvantaged groups and physically challenged children.

India has the largest number of working children in the world ranging from 60- 115 million.
Whether they are sweating in the heat of stone quarries, working in the fields sixteen hours a
day, picking rags in city streets, or hidden away as domestic servants, these children endure
miserable and difficult lives. They earn little and are abused much. They struggle to make
enough to eat and perhaps to help feed their families as well. They do not go to school; more
than half of them will never learn the barest skills of literacy. Many of them have been
working since the age of four or five, and by the time they reach adulthood they may be
irrevocably sick or deformed-they will certainly be exhausted, old men and women by the
age of forty, likely to be dead by fifty.
 FORMS OF CHILD LABOUR

 Slavery is where one person is owned by and made to work for another person
without having any say over what happens to them. Slaves are held against their will
from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are not allowed to leave or to
refuse to work.

 Child trafficking is the illegal trading (buying, selling and movement) of children for
labour or sexual exploitation. Children are trafficked for many reasons, including
forced labour, prostitution and recruitment as child soldiers and beggars.

 Debt bondage is forced labour, where work is exchanged to pay off loans that people
cannot pay off with money or goods. For example, a poor family may hand over their
child to someone to pay off their debt, and that child will have to work for years until
the debt is cleared.

 Serfdom is when a person is forced to live and work on land belonging to another
person, often with little or no pay.

 Forced labour is when someone is made to work against their wishes. For example,
Children in armed conflict are forced to fight or to work as cooks, porters and
messengers. These children are abused and exploited, often being forced to kill or
maim other human beings.

 The sexual exploitation of children (prostitution, pornography and pornographic

performances): Sexual exploitation is the mistreating, abusing and/or taking
advantage of someone for personal gain and profit, by involving them in prostitution
 or commercial sexual activity. Prostitution is the exchange of sexual activities for
money.

 Children around the world, girls and boys, are exploited sexually, used by adults for
sex or used in sexual images (pornography) or performances. They may be bought
and sold into marriage, prostitution or slavery – in both developing and industrialized
countries. Children are also kidnapped and then trafficked across borders and then
sold to be prostitutes in foreign countries. This form of child labour has serious short-
and long-term consequences. Children are at a high risk of physical abuse,
malnutrition and sexually transmitted diseases. It is extremely difficult for children to
get out of this situation and very hard for them to deal with what they have
experienced physically and mentally.

 The involvement of children in illicit activities, for example, the production and
trafficking of drugs: Illicit activities are illegal activities or crimes. Producing and
trafficking drugs is an illicit activity that often involves children. Trafficking is illegal
trading (buying or selling). Children might do this against their will or with the belief
that this will give them status and money. Children who produce or traffic drugs are at
great risk of abuse and many also become addicted to drugs at a very young age.

 Children are also involved in other crimes as defined in national laws, such as buying
stolen goods, shoplifting, robbery, hijacking cars, theft and burglary. They may
be forced with threats and violence to take part in criminal activities, or be under
pressure to find money for their survival and that of their family. Some children get
involved in crime through gangs, or because they think this is a way to obtain respect.
Street children, runaways or children living in poverty are also used in organized
beggary. Children are sometimes even intentionally disfigured to attract more money
from passersby, and they may be beaten if they don’t manage to collect enough
money.
 Children involved in illicit activities are often exposed to violence, which can
severely affect their mental and physical development. In addition, they may not
develop good social skills and are much more likely to suffer from depression, alcohol
and drug addictions and identity difficulties and become juvenile delinquents.

CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR

Poverty:

First of all, poverty strikes a major percentage of the total population of India. Life in rural
areas of villages is even more difficult. The poor economic condition and low standard of
living pave the way for child labour. To compensate for the daily needs of food and survival,
both boys and girls are forced to work beyond their capacities. It is fair to say that they are
left with no choice.

Lack of Education:

Lack of education in the rural areas means parents are less educated. Consequently, they also
do not value the importance of school and education in the lives of their own children. In the
scarcity of contraceptive awareness, couples end up having multiple children. Arranging
three meals every day becomes an impossible task and the children learn it the hard way quite
soon.

Gender Discrimination:

Girls are often prevented from going to school at a very low age. They are made to help in the
fieldwork and the house chores as well. The story is not much different for the boys too. They
quit school in order to take up some labour work in factories and farms and help their father
in breadwinning.

Cheap Labour:

In big cities and towns, these factors may be absent but that doesn’t immune the urban areas
from the child labour cases. Child labours are easy to afford. They can be made to do more
tiring jobs at low pays. Often the owners would provide them little food and money for
continuous hours of work. As these kids have no family support, they end up giving in to
such exploitations.

Child Trafficking:
Child trafficking is also another factor that leads to child labour. Trafficked children have no
home. They are sent to faraway place unknown to them. Ultimately, these little souls are
pushed into extremely torturing and dangerous work conditions, such as prostitution,
domestic helping, transport of drugs, etc.

IMPACT OF CHILD LABOUR

Poor Physical and Mental Health:

Children at such a young age are gullible and vulnerable. Child labor affects their physical,
mental, and emotional health in a severe way. They are deprived of their basic rights to
education. Arduous physical strain and the burden of arranging their own food cause
malnutrition in them.

Forced Maturity:

In order to survive in this world, they tend to become mature faster than they need to. Their
childhood is lost and crushed with the bitter pressure of acting like an adult. The kind of
affection and love needed at such a tender age is never available to them. Both parents and
the owners are often highly demanding to them.

Physical Abuse:

Such consistent threats keep the children in a frightening state of mind all the time. There are
increased chances of physical abuse. To cope up with these pressures, girls and boys fall
victims to the drug abuse. Many more dangerous habits become a normal part of their lives.

Addiction and Sexual Abuse:

From taking drugs to selling them, alcohol addiction, sexually transmitted diseases, rape,
emotional numbness, violence, are common things that surround their living conditions. Poor
kids may also catch up these habits from their own parents or localities, where their parents
or friends are showing these behaviors on a regular basis.

The situation becomes worse if these kids are physically handicapped. In villages and low-
income groups, the adults struggle to arrange a proper livelihood for themselves. So, they
begin to see girls and handicapped children as nothing more than a baggage. As a result, girls
are sold off to marry old men and the kids are left to beg on the streets.
 CHALLENGES IN CONTROLLING CHILD LABOR:

Unclear Laws:

While the laws to diminish the curse of child labor have been made, they are pretty vague in
nature. For instance, most of the laws are unable to dictate strict guidelines for the
unorganized sectors. Immunity from the dangerous works is not sufficient. Moreover, clear
points should be laid out in terms of where and for how many hours can the children work (if
they really need to).

Lack of Rehabilitation Plans:

Another issue that the authorities face is the lack of rehabilitation facilities for the children
who have been saved from the devil grips of child labor. It becomes an unanswered question
as to how these children should regain control of their new lives and start afresh. Proper
counseling and nutrition play an indispensable role to help them thrive.

Lack of Awareness:

More awareness needs to be created in rural and urban areas. Adults including the parents
should be taught about the negative impacts of child labor on the minds of children. They
should also be explained about the power of education and the various schemes which
promises a free basic education for kids. It is even more important to emphasize how the
education empowers girls and makes their lives better.
 CASE LAWS

1.  Peoples Union for Democratic Rights vs. Union of India: Commonly known as

‘Asian workers case’, it was escorted to the notice of the Supreme Court that children
under 14 years of age employed in the construction activity. It was said that construction
activity is plainly a dangerous work and it is definitely important that the employment of
children above the age of 14 years must be restricted in every kind of construction task.
Citing to Article 24, Justice P.N. Bhagavathi and Justice Bahrul have held that “apart
from the need of International Labour Organization Convention No.59, we have Article
24 of the Constitution which even if not attend up by suitable legislation, must “Proprio
vigour” and construction act plainly and absolutely a hazardous employment, it is open
that by ground of constitutional prohibition no child under 14 years can be allowed to be
unavailable in construction work”.

2. In Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India and others, Justice Bhagwati remarked

that “it is a problem which needs urgent attention of the Government of India and the
State Governments and when the Directive Principles of State Policy have obligated the
Central and State Government to take steps and adopt measures for the purpose of
ensuring social justice to the have-nots and the handicapped. It is not right on the part of
the concerned governments to shut their eyes to the inhuman exploitation to which the
bonded labourers are subjected”. It is therefore essential that whichever be the State
Government it should, where there is bonded labour, admit the existence of such bonded
labour, and make all possible efforts to eradicate it. By doing so, it will not only be
performing a humanitarian function but also discharging a constitutional obligation and
strengthening the foundations of participatory democracy in the country”.

3. In Sheela Barse v. Union of India, the court held “it was held that child is a state
blessing, and it is the responsibility of the state to focus behind the child with a
perspective to guarantee proper development of its personality. Judicial institutions have
played an essential role not only for fixing issues but also has regularly attempt to grow
 and expand the law so as to answer to the desire and dreams of the people who are
looking to the judiciary to give life and fulfilled to the law”.

4. On 10 December 1996 in M.C. Mehta vs State Of Tamil Nadu And Others, a bench of
Kuldip Singh, B.L. Hansaria, S.B. Majmudar observed, “Taking advice therefrom, we are
of the vision that the affront employer must be demand to pay compensation for every
child employed in violation of the provisions of the Act a sum of Rs. 20,000 and the
inspectors, whose arrangement is envisioned by Section 17 to secure consent with
provisions of the Act, should do this task. Under Section 17 inspector scheduled to
examine that each child employed under violation of this act, each concerned employer
will pay Rs. 20,000 given amount will be deposited in a fund to be known as “Child
Labour Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund”.

5. On 20 March 2012 in Roshan Gupta V. The State Of Bihar & Ors, “ the writ petition
has been filed challenging the orders contained in Annexures 1 and 2 by which the
petitioner has been imposed a fine of Rs.20,000/-The main submission on behalf of the
petitioner is that without giving him an opportunity to explain the circumstances under
which Ravi Kumar was working in the shop, fine has been imposed on the ground that the
petitioner had employed a child as labour in his shop. In the meantime, operation of the
order contained in Annexure 1 and 2 shall remain stayed. The writ petition is disposed of
with the aforesaid observation and direction”.
 CONCLUSION

Child labour is a significant problem in South East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Latin
American Countries. These regions are relatively backward as compared to the rest of the
world and the problem of child labour is a symptom as well as a cause of this
backwardness.

The Constitution of India clearly states that child labour is wrong and that measures should
be taken to end it. The government of India has implemented the Child Labour Act in 1986
that outlaw’s child labour in certain areas and sets the minimum age of employment at
fourteen. This Act falls short of making all child labour illegal, and fails to meet the ILO
guideline concerning the minimum age of employment set at fifteen years of age. Though
policies are in place that could potentially reduce the incidence of child labour,
enforcement is a problem. If child labour is to be eradicated in India, the government and
those responsible for enforcement need to start doing their jobs.

The state of education in India also needs to be improved. High illiteracy and dropout rates
are reflective of the inadequacy of the educational system. Poverty plays a role in the
ineffectiveness of the educational system. Dropout rates are high because children are
forced to work in order to support their families. The attitudes of the people also contribute
to the lack of enrolment, parents feel that work develops skills that can be used to earn an
income, while education does not help in this matter. Compulsory education may help in
regard to these attitudes. The examples of Sri Lanka and Kerala show that compulsory
education has worked in those areas. There are differences between Sri Lanka, Kerala and
the rest of India. What types of social welfare structures do these places have? What are the
attitudes of the people? Is there some other reason why the labour market for child
labourers is poor in these areas? These are some questions that need to be answered before
applying the concept of compulsory education to India? India is making progress in terms
of educational policy.
Child labour cannot be eliminated by focusing on one determinant, for example education,
or by brute enforcement of child labour laws. The government of India must ensure that the
needs of the poor are filled before attacking child labour. If poverty is addressed, the need
for child labour will automatically diminish. No matter how hard India tries, child labour
always will exist until the need for it is removed. The development of India as a nation is
being hampered by child labour. Children are growing up illiterate because they have been
working and not attending school. A cycle of poverty is formed and the need for child
labour is reborn after every generation. India needs to address the situation by tackling the
underlying causes of child labour through governmental policies and the enforcement of
these policies. Only then will India succeed in the fight against child labour.