Consideration of child labour according to the UNICEF :

 A child between(5–11 yrs) of age involving in 1 hour of economic

activity or atleast 28 hours of domestic work per week will be considered
child labour.
 A child (12–14 yrs) of age involving in 14 hours of economic activity or
at least 42 hours of combined economic activity & domestic work per
week will be considered child labour.
 So taking into account the above definition, in INDIA there are 33
millions of child labourers as per 2011 census out of which 80% of them
are Dalits and the rest are from the BCs.

In 2016, GOI amended the CHILD LABOUR PREVENTION & REGULATION ACT
1986, According to this,

 Employing a child below 14 yrs of age in any kind of occupation is set

to become a cognizable offence, punishable with a maximum 3 years
imprisonment or fine upto rs.50000. (In the earlier version of this act
i.e., before 2016,children below the age of 14 years are prohibited from
employment only in hazardous industries)
 For adolescents 14–18 yrs, they should not be working in hazardous
occupations (ex. Mining, explosives & other occupations mentioned in
the factories act) otherwise it will be an cognizable offence. However,
it'll allow employing adolescents in non-hazardous industries like
child care, forest gathering, etc…
 However this act allows for child labour in family enterprises or allows
the child to be an artist in Audio-visual entertainment industries.
 This new amendment to the act suffers from many problems. It slashed
the list of hazardous occupations for children from 83 to just mining,
explosives & other occupations mentioned in the factory act. The work
in chemical mixing, battery recycling, brick kilns, cotton farms have
been dropped from the list. The ones listed as hazardous can be
removed or modified by the government authorities from time to time
at their own discretion bypassing the Parliament.
 However,with this amendment India has ratified two fundamental ILO
Conventions with the International Labour Organisation(ILO). The
two key conventions related to the elimination of child labour- the
Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and the Worst Forms of Child
Labour convention, 1999 (No. 182)

National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme was launched by the

government of India in 1988 for rehabilitation of Child Labour. The scheme
focuses on

 All the child labours below the age of 14 years, identified in the target
area.
  All the adolescent labours below the age of 18 years, occupied in
hazardous occupations or processes.
 Families of such children mentioned in the above points.

Objectives of NCLP

 The identified children are to be withdrawn from those occupations &

processes and then put into special schools in order to enable them to
be mainstreamed into formal schooling system.
 special schools/Rehabilitation Centres for the rehabilitation of child
labour.
 The special schools/Rehabilitation Centres provide:
Non-formal/bridge education, Skilled/vocational training, Mid Day
Meal, Stipend, Health care facilities, etc…

PENCIL Portal

The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment launched Platform for

Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCIL) Portal. The PENCIL
portal is an electronic platform that aims at involving the general public,
civil society, Governments, District, State and Centre in achieving the target
of child labour free society. The portal comprises of components like National
Child Labour Project and Convergence, State Government, Complaint Corner,
Child Tracking System etc. District Nodal Officers (DNOs) will be nominated
in each district. DNOs will receive the complaints and are required to take
rescue measures in coordination with the police after checking the
genuineness of complaints.

Sustainable development goals (Goal 8)

The elimination of Child Labour from the country is also essential to achieve
Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.The ratification of these conventions
will help in achieving Goal 8 of the sustainable development goals which
aims at complete eradication of child labour by 2025 and calls for
prohibition and elimination of its worst forms.

Article On Child Labour

Synopsis : About 70-90 million children are employed In various industries

in very trying conditions. Children are being exploited as labourers both by
organised and unorganized sectors of industry. The rights of the children
are being abused specially in developing countries. Child labour cannot be
eliminated unless there is free, universal and compulsory primary
education. Poor parents cannot afford to send their children to school. The
problem is multidimensional and needs matching approach and solutions.
Employment of child should be made a cognizable offence and there should
be more deterrent and stringent penalties.
Child Labour is a phenomena prevalent mostly in developing countries of
Asia and Africa. This is not to be seen in the advanced countries of the west.
The reason for this is very obvious, those who feel the need for financial
support of the children only allow them to work and earn. In the western
countries, where education is compulsory, the question of children found
working does not rise.

Let us analyse in some detail why, this child labour is commonly found in
India, or for that matter in any if the developing countries. It is these only
which have teaming millions of poor people. These poor people have to make
every member work for his / her own food. With the earnings of all the
members of the family, they are able to make their two end meet. This
situation prevails in all the developing countries. I do wonder if any parents
prefer to see their little children work for their food, instead of enjoying at
school. When the school can only be a dream for the poor, we find the little
boys at tea stalls, small restaurants, in mechanic shops, cleaning cars and
working as shoeshines. We also see small girls engaged in industries like
match making, candle making etc. The children who are working are
adding their little mite to the family income, and it may be so that, if they
do not work, they may not be blessed with even one square meal a day.

Besides this, if the child does not go to school, what does he do throughout
the day. Time will be wasted, and he will only learn wrong things of life, as,
“an idle brain is a devil’s workshop”. So, in this situation, I personally feel
that, though the condition is deplorable it is the lesser evil, and in the
bargain the child gets food to eat. From the side of the child also, it is a
certainity that, if he/she is asked for a preference, it will be for going to
school. So when both, the parents and the children would prefer going to
school then why this labour. It is obvious that they are thus working due to
compulsions and not out of choice. The compulsion is of course, the meagre
income of the family, who cannot afford to even feed the children if they do
not work, and besides this a lot more comes into play for creating this
unhappy situation.

Our Governmental agencies, private agencies and NGOs, often shout from
rooftops regarding this menace of child labour. This is a menace is accepted
by all and sundry but, by shouting about it and passing legislations for it,
we do not reach anywhere near the solution of the problem. No one has, as
yet suggested some solution of the problem. When it is amply clear that, the
children work to fet their basic needs fulfilled, no one can say that, it is
wrong.

The practical approach to the problem would be that we attempt to find

some means for providing for them, and then, the children can be forced to
attend Government schools. In the absence of a practical alternative
arrangement it is no use just shouting about the problem. The Government
should first provide for such families by means of subsidies, free ration and
free education. Only after such provisions are made, and the Government
Gets the confirmation of the solution working smoothly and honestly, can we
expect children to get out of the rut of the working to earn a living from an
early age when they should be enjoying and playing and of course, studying
and learning.

Another point closely linked with the problem of child labour comes to the
fore, when these young labourers grow up into suffering adults. They are
absolutely hardened and most of them tend to become anti-social .Their
feeling is, and rightly so that, why should they bother about any social
norms, as, what has society given to them. With this attitude, when they
enter the adult world they tend to take up professions that are tained with
crime. They become smugglers, hardened criminals, robbers and murderers.
With such children having lost their childhood at the altar of poverty being
to believe and rightly so , that in this world what really counts is riches. With
this forethought, They enter the world of crime, to become rich and enjoy .

Thus we may say that these criminals, are usually the creation of
unhappy childhoods. So let us understand that, child labour is not an
isolated problem that has to be dealt with as a single problem but, it brings
in its trail a host of more complicated problems which are the offshoot of this
one . The biggest problem that follows the problem of the child labour is the
creation of a force of criminals, and thus an increased crime rate.

The only practical and feasible solution to this problem of child labour
which can be conceivable in the present scenario is provided necessities to
the families and making free education compulsory for all children. Before
providing the essentials, no one can tell the poor that they should not allow
their children to work, for, if they do not work, who will feed them isn’t this a
pertinent question.

Child labour is not a problem that can be tackled by just talking and
debating about it on various platforms. Neither can it be dealt with by
making it illegal, as, no law can ban a person big or small earning his
bread. All this drama will not be able to fill the hungry stomachs of the poor.
We must deal with the problem with a more practical approach and provide
what the child earns for. I am sure no child does this labour for fun.

It is their necessity which makes them work. No one can deny that, fulfilment
of necessities has to be tackled before doing anything else. When the
necessities are provided for, I am sure that, the problem that is defying a
solution will automatically get solved by itself. Let us all get together and
pledge to make the government and other agencies take up a more
authentic approach to this problem.

Conclusion : Government authorities and civil society organizations need to

work in tandem to free children engaged in labour under abysmal
conditions. They need to be rescued from exploitative working conditions
and supported with primary education for below 14 year age as per Article
45 of Constitution . Above all, there is a need to mobilize public opinion with
an aim to bring about an effective policy initiative to abolish child labour
in all its forms.