1

GRAMIKSHA

WINTER INTERNSHIP REPORT

ON UNDERAGE EMPLOYMENT
UNDER THE SUPERVISION AND GUIDANCE
OF
Ms. SUMEDHA JAGGI (National R&D Head, Gramiksha)
And Ms. PRACHI TALREJA

HARSHIT MANGAL
Ist YEAR
INSTITUTE OF LAW, JIWAJI UNVERSITY
GWALIOR-476001
MADHYA-PRADESH
+918085007879,+918770705448
mangal.harshit100@gmail.com
(Internship Period: 19th December 2016 to 9th January 2017)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Internship opportunity I had with Gramiksha was a great chance for learning and expert
advancement. I was given an opportunity to be a part of it. I am likewise grateful for having a
chance to meet such a large number of superb individuals and experts who led me towards
this internship period.
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all those who provided me the possibility to
complete this report. A special gratitude I give to our National R&D Head Ms. Sumedha Jaggi,
Subham Sir & Juhi Ma’am, whose contribution in stimulating suggestions and encouragement,
helped me to coordinate my project especially in writing this report.
Furthermore, I would also like to acknowledge with much appreciation the crucial role of the
volunteers of GRAMIKSHA, who gave the permission to use all required equipments and the
necessary material to complete the “UNDERAGE EMPLOYMENT” report. A special thanks goes
to my teammate and Mentor, Prachi Talreja, who help me to assemble the parts and gave
suggestion about the Underage Employment. Last but not least, to the city head of
Gramiksha- Ms. Niveshi Jain. Who has invested her full effort to carry out the interview
schedule. I have to appreciate the guidance given by another supervisor as well as the panels
especially in our project presentation that has improved my presentation skills, thanks for
their valuable comments and advices.

HARSHIT MANGAL
Ist YEAR
INSTITUTE OF LAW, JIWAJI UNIVERSITY
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………….page no 4

LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………………………………………… page no 5

OBJECTIVES & ITS AIM ……………………………………………………………………..….page no 6

FIELD DESCRIPTION…………………………………………………………………………..… page no 7

FINDINGS……………………………………………………………………………………………page no 8,9

PIE CHARTS……………………………………………………………………………………page no 10, 11

ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………………………………page no 11, 12, 13

RECOMMENDATIONS…………………………………………………………………………page no 14

AWARENESS PROGRAM……………………………………………………….…page no 15, 16, 17

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………page no 18, 19

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………………… page no 20

APPENDIX………………………………………………………………………………page no 21, 22, 23

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INTRODUCTION

Underage Employment is the practice of having children engaged in economic activity, on part
or full-time basis. This practice deprives children of their physical and mental development.
Poverty, lack of good schools and growth of an informal economy are considered as the
important causes of child labor in India.
Children are the biggest blessing to humanity; they are the hope & future of a nation.
Childhood is a critical and persuadable phase of human improvement as it holds the possibility
to the future advancement of any society. Each country connects its future with the present
status of its kids. And therefore, underage employment is one of the crucial aspects in
determining the development of any country and thus, the most debatable topic in the
current scenario of the existing economies.
Unique Underage business has been a noteworthy worldwide issue influencing children
around the globe. Numerous children less than 18 years old are working in various areas. This
review endeavors to evaluate the circumstances and end results of existing underage business
and their effects on society in India. In numerous nations, the household works has been
dominatingly done by grown-ups. Be that as it may, in India the circumstance is unique. The
residential work is finished by Children rather than adults because individuals believe that
they can create dominance over the child and can make them work, what they are relegated
to do by their lords with no issues. Also, Children tend to remain longer in the employment
without stopping, and the cost of work is low as compared with grown-up laborers. The larger
part of these household underage have minimal fundamental essential training, and the
greater part of them originate from low-income families in provincial ranges. Despite the fact
that the Indian government provides free education to them in all the elementary school, still
the objective “Education for all” is yet to be achieved.
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LITERATURE REVIEW

Research on underage employment covers data’s collected by various reports of various

governmental, semi-governmental or voluntary agencies of national and global status. This
study is conducted to look into the conditions of child labor and to determine the causes
which compel the different households to send their children to work in India. Since child
labor is a socio-economic problem, and the vast majority of them have tried to suggest ways
take care of this issue or to reduce its impact. The earlier studies and reports on child labor
reveals that the emphasis has been more on the aspects of theoretical and conceptual
framework of child labor, Antecedents of child labor like poverty, adult unemployment,
education, gender discrimination etc., their working conditions with an emphasis on varying
problem arising from different sectors of economy, consequences of child labor for children in
terms of their physical and psychological health and on social and economic conditions of the
family etc. These studies reveals a general analytical perspective and provided a focused and
rational attitude for the present study.

This report, taking the background of various reports as mentioned in the reference list, and
elaborating various other reasons of underage employment which are prevalent in india,
focuses mainly on the other crucial aspects of underage employment and suggested the
awareness program as a solution of this cause at the grass root level.
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OBJECTIVE & ITS AIM

The main objectives of this report are:

 Improvements in legislation addressing child labor issues.

 Improvements in monitoring and enforcement of laws and policies related to the worst
forms of child labor.
 Adoption and implementation of national plans of action on child labor.
 Enhanced implementation of national and local policies and programs aimed at
reduction and prevention of the worst forms of the child labor
 Improvements in policies and social programs to increase access to primary education,
vocational training, social protection services, and employment creation and poverty
reduction initiatives for populations particularly vulnerable to the worst forms of the
child labor.
 The gauge of Street kids in Gwalior as overall, by area, by division.
 The rate and the conveyance of the road Children, by age, sexual orientation, financial
factors, by sort of movement furthermore by number of exercises;
 The working status of the street kids;
 Working hours, dozing hours, time spent in different exercises including diversion
assuming any;
 Wellbeing status of the road kids;
 Access to instructive, wellbeing, social, recreational offices;
 Their recognition in regards on kid's right side;
 Their insight about employments and occupation markets;
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FIELD DESCRIPTION

To interact with child laborers, our first targeted area was Gole Ka Mandir in Gwalior, Madhya
Pradesh. The Gramiksha Winter internship program is a study of condition & causes of child
laborers & underage workers, which allows for girls and boys who were once a part of the
working force in the city (or simply wandering the streets aimlessly) to get reintegrated into
the education system by catching them up to their age appropriate level of education and
motivate them to continue their formal education afterwards. I spoke to 10-12 girls who were
past Domestic Child Laborers in the City. Every girl shared her story through noting my
inquiries. These stories highlight the unpleasant conditions these girls needed to work in, the
reasons they began to work and how they stopped. Most of the girls had been going to school
before working and the majority of the girls, with no exemption, were highly motivated to get
a full education. My objective has been to give a face and voice to the imperceptible children
who are often ignored and disregarded. Every story is one of a kind and distinctive, yet
together they draw a grave picture of the circumstances in the city of Gwalior today, which
can view a notice of the case of the urban setting as a rule.

Also, another area where we conducted the survey was Phool Bagh to meet some children
working. Most of them were boys. And the biggest problem we analyzed during the survey
that, these kids don't have a healthy lifestyle, many of them are dropouts from the school at a
tender age and do not get time to play like other children do at their age.

Another area that we focused and carry out the survey includes Italian Garden, street in front
of DD Mall, and Maharaj Bada, where the ratio of underage employment is alarming, in spite
of the various strict laws and programmes by the government of India.
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FINDINGS

“UNICEF defines child labor as work that exceeds a minimum number of hours, depending on
the age of a child and on the type of work. Such work is considered harmful and affects the
mental and physical development of the child.

 Age 5-11: At least one hour of economic work or 28 hours of domestic work per week.
 Age 12-14: At least 14 hours of economic work or 28 hours of domestic work per week.
 Age 15-17: At least 43 hours of economic or domestic work per week.

Thus, this provides the base for our survey report.

Children working as laborers can be found in every field in the market:

 Agriculture
 Rag picking
 Industrial
 Hotel bus boys
 Mechanic shops
 Beggars
 Bangle making
 Matchsticks
 Carpet factory
 Brick factory
 Mining
 Textile
 Domestic and much more.

Some major causes of child labor are:

 Poverty – According to International Labor organization, Poverty is the greatest single

cause behind child labor because a large portion of the children are working to help
their families. For some, it is important to work to, raise money, for the fulfillment of
the needs of their family. Many have argued that parents send their children to work
because they need the added income for their basic needs.
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In some cases this is true. However this is not the sole case, and many times it is just an
added factor to a number of more prevailing issues.
 Unemployment – Many employers are in the market for child labor because they are
cheaper and involve low pay as compared with the skilled ones. This is a cause for
unemployment of many adults, and so they are forced to send their children to work
for a family allowance.
 Social history – For many families, child labor is part of their history. They are
comfortable with the processes and bureaucracy around the employment of the child.
An alternative is alien to them and much more intimidating.
 Invisibility – Many of the children working today are unseen but no one pays heed to
such an alarming situation. Sometimes, they are hidden in locations that are not
accessible to the law.
 Acceptance and Excuses – Many people find ways of justifying the need/reality of
child labor which in returns strengthens the grip of the employers.
 No Implementation of laws – Laws exist on International and National levels
however they are not implemented in a satisfactory fashion which allows the
continued existence of illegal actions by the employees.
 Schools – School systems are not equipped to include children who have not
attended or are drop outs from the school system.
Most of the kids want to go to school, but they don't have an adequate school facility
even when schools are sometimes accessible, they are too far away, difficult to reach,
unaffordable, so the parents think if going to school is worth it or not.
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Percentage of Underage Employment

Sector Wise

4% work at street
10% 28%
Service & Restaurants
8%
3% Retail shops
Vendors
5% Agriculture
Construction
5% 21%
16% Department stores
Grocery
Other Places

Percentage of Underage Employment

Gender Wise

35% Boys

Girls
65%
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Percentage of Underage Employment

Age Wise

15-18 years, 6-10 years, 24.00%

28.00%
6-10 years
11-14 years
11-14 years, 15-18 years
48.00%
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ANALYSIS
Children are considered profitable employees by their managers because they are small,
innocent, cheap, steadfast, dedicated and hardworking. Children often do not complain about
the behavior of their employers with them because they are innocent, unconscious of their
rights, and uneducated. Most of the time kids begin to work at an exceptionally young age and
don't have a clue about whatever other reality then the workplace they are subjected to and
would not know that there are different options to their circumstances. Working kids like
other kids do not get their rights to survival and advancement, instruction, recreation and
play, open door for them, building up their physical and mental abilities, and security from
manhandling and disregard

The most significant reason for Child Labor is :-

Neediness – Many have contended that guardians send their kids to work since they
require the additional pay. At times this is valid. However this is not the one and only case,
and commonly it is only an extra component to various all the more predominant issues. I will
contend that destitution as a perspective is a reason for kid work and not really as a physical
matter.

During the survey and interaction with these kids, we asked a question from the kids i.e.
“What do your parents do & how much they earn”?

And it is surprising that most of children said that their father does nothing and mother, by
doing household chores like cleaning, cooking etc fulfills the basic needs of the family. And in
the case of the rest of the children, parents earn less money which is not sufficient to fulfill
even the basic needs of the children. After interacting with these kids one thing is crystal clear
about the prevailing conditions in our society i.e. in most of the cases, the parents do not
force their kids to go for work, but the financial condition of the family is so low that the kids
are left with no other option but to drop out from the schools and work for the survival of
their family.

Facts & Figures of International Labor Organisation on Child Labor:-

• The global number of children in child labor has declined by one-third since 2000, from 246
million to 168 million children. More than half of them, 85 million, are in hazardous work
(down from 171 million in 2000).
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• Asia and the Pacific still have the largest numbers (almost 78 million or 9.3% of child
population), but Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region with the highest incidence of
child labor (59 million, over 21%).

• There are 13 million (8.8%) of children in child labor in Latin America and the Caribbean
and the Middle East and North Africa there are 9.2 million (8.4%).

• Agriculture remains by far the most important sector where child laborers can be found
(98 million, or 59%), but the problems are not negligible in services (54 million) and industry
(12 million) – mostly in the informal economy.

• Child labor among girls fell by 40% since 2000, compared to 25% for boys.

Initiatives taken by Indian Government:

The Indian Government had take various initiatives for stopping the child labor and save the
future of the children such as:-

 The Factories Act of 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of children under 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 Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986: The Act
prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14 years in hazardous
occupations identified in a list by the law. The list was expanded in 2006, and again in
2008. In 2016, the Act was amended (not in force as of 30 July 2016) to prohibit
employment of child below 14 years in all occupation (except for helping in non-
hazardous family business and of child artists in the entertainment industry and
sports). Further, adolescents between 14–18 years will not be allowed to work in
hazardous industries and processes.
 The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000: This law made it a
crime, punishable by a prison term, for anyone to procure or employ a child in any
hazardous employment or bondage.
 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.(It
is not applied through).
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Child labor is any work children are made to do that exploits and damages them mentally,
physically, morally, or by preventing access to education. Child labor combined with child
mishandling and abuses has today turnout one of the greatest diseases that have spread over
the world. Every year insights demonstrate expanding quantities of child abuse, all the more
so in the case of the girls. At the point when a girl child is likely mishandled by somebody at
home, to conceal this reality, she is sold to a business from a city as domestic help, or then as
a lady of the hour to an old man. India represents the second most astounding number of tyke
work after Africa. Reinforced youngster work or slave work is one of the most exceedingly
terrible sorts of work for kids. This system still continues despite the Indian Parliament
enacting the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, 1976. It is evaluated that approx. 10 million
fortified kids workers are working as household servants in India. Beyond this, there are
almost 55 million bonded child laborers hired across various other industries.
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Recommendations:
o Since poverty is one of the causes of child labor, the government has to
generate employment in the society.
o Awareness must raise, and parents should pay attention to the education of
their children.
o The people should be made aware of the Government plans and schemes.
o There ought to be an aggregate prohibition on the employment of children
under the age of 14 years, be it a hazardous or non-hazardous industries.
o There shall be no forced labor even for kids between the age of 14 years to 18
years, and at whatever point a child over the age of 14 years is forced to work,
it should treat as an offense under Section 374 IPC, and it is to be dealt with
sternly.
o Measures need to taken not only to stop this crime against kids as well as to
gradually, consistently and clearly provide every child a well-deserved healthy
and normal childhood. Child Labor Laws should strictly put into practice
o Education should be imparted in more practical manner
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Awareness program for Underage Employment

As the objective of any finding is not just to explain its causes but to suggest
some remedies for the improvement of the prevailing conditions.

So, this report hereby suggest a awareness program called,

HIM-ANSH Helping innocent minds and search for help

Introduction: As the name suggests, the meaning of HIM-ANSH is a small piece
of ice from the large part of the Himalayas.

As there are many large initiatives taken up by the government of India for the
reduction in the percentage of child labour so this awareness program is a small
part of it working at the grass root level.

Objective: the main objective of this awareness program is to aware the parents
of the children about the effects of working at such a tender age on the physical
and mental capacities of the child.

Implementation: this program is designed, keeping in mind one of the major

reason as explained earlier in this report that the parents of the children, in
underage business, are the one who takes every decision related to their work or
dropping out from the school.

If the parents are well aware of the consequences and effects on their child’s
development in the long run, which they are not due to the prevalent illiteracy in
India, then the existing situation might change

This program is BY THE STUDENTS AND FOR THE STUDENTS

Thus the final implementation of the awareness campaign will be:

Firstly, a group of students or the volunteers of any institution will target a certain
area in their town where the families of low income group resides by.

Secondly, to attain the attention of the mob the volunteers will perform one skit in
relevance with our main motto i.e. underage employment
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Then, the main task of each volunteer is to target a house accordingly and then the
volunteers will go to their place and will start the conversation with the child’s
parent.

Next they will try to figure out during the conversation that whether the kid is
going to school or not. And what is the status of the child in terms of working.

Then, The volunteer will tell the consequences of child labour in the easiest way
possible and its long term impact in the future of the child and the importance of
giving education in today’s world.

Now it is the part of the volunteer that if the child is working in any hazardous job
then to tell their parents to not to send their child in it.

If the child is working and not going to school then to enroll the name in any
govt. school by convincing the parents

If the child’s parents is not supporting the child to go to school then tell the
parents the importance of education.

Sometimes the child is not ready to go school then to sit with the child and try to
figure out the reason and to convince him with the concept of education.

Feedback: the work of the volunteer does not completes here, now in the recent
interview as conducted for the report, it is concluded that the only point where the
government lacks behind is in the direction of taking feedback of the child from
their family.

It is the most crucial part of our program i.e. to go to the same house after a
month and check whether the child is performing the same, as the volunteer asked
the parents to do.

Or in case there is any change in the status of the kid then the reasons behind it
and again convincing the parents to stick to the plan.

The same process will be repeated after 6 months

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Psychological reason: the basic reason of conducting feedback survey rests in the
psychological principal that “WHAT GOES IN THE MIND FORMS YOUR
ACTIONS”

So when the volunteer will keep on telling the importance of education and
effects of child labour then even the illiterate parents will start thinking about
their child’s future.

Earlier due to the prevalent illiteracy and poverty they are unable to see the long
term results of it and only focuses on fulfilling the bare subsistence needs of the
family.

But when they are aware with the outcomes, where the volunteer role is
important, then there is a possibility that the focus will shift and thus the feedback
has an important role to play.

Idea of such program: the idea of making such a program is derived from the
existing program run by the government of India SANSAD ADARSH GRAM
YOJNA i.e. member of parliament adopt a village and will work in the direction
of the development of it.

The same idea is followed in HIM-ANSH ie the volunteers will adopt a kid ( not
literally) for a period of one year and will keep a check on the working levels and
education of it.

The children are working as a labor at a very early age for the survival of
their families and to fullfill the basic necessities. People, society and parents
aren’t aware with the importance of education in ones life. That’s why most
of children remain illiterate.
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Conclusion

As far as the children are concerned, it must be emphasized that the children
should not be the duty bearers, as parents it should be their responsibility to
fulfill their basic needs. We need to provide an environment for protection of
child rights, empathies with their state of deprivation and demonstration
concern for their well being, institution meant for the children need to be
incorporated as integral element of the society. There is a lot to be done, it
must be recognized that there has been a distinct shift in the approach of the
Indian Government in its willingness to address child protection. The shift is
reflected in the expansion of ICDS, there has been a increase in the budgetary
allocation of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan , that is playing a huge role in generating a
demand for education. The persons should be made aware about the various
schemes with are run by the Government so that no child or person die out of
hunger. There are many children, who are left hungry, and there are many
organizations working on the same and to save the child death due to hunger
and it has been made possible to a great extent.

The judiciary can play a very important role by giving strict and timely
punishments to the employers who employees underage children, and by
making more strict laws on this issue.

The legislation should take underage employment as a very serious issue and
make provisions and new programmes in this regard.

United Nations Celebrate World Child Labor Day for stopping the child labor and
save the future of our children on every 12 June. The International Labor
Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labor in 2002 to focus
attention on the global extent of child labor and the action and efforts needed to
eliminate it. Each year on 12 June, the World Day brings together governments,
employers and workers organizations, civil society, as well as millions of people
from around the world to highlight the plight of child laborers and what can be
done to help them.
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Last year, the focus for World Day Against Child Labor is on child labor and
supply chains. With 168 million children still in child labor, all supply chains, from
agriculture to manufacturing, services to construction, run the risk that child
labor may be present.

To support businesses in their actions to remove child labor from their supply
chains, the ILO and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) have jointly
created the Child Labor Guidance Tool, a resource for companies to increase
their knowledge and ability to conduct business in line with international labor
standards on child labor.

A high-level event to mark the World Day held on 8 June 2016 in the Human
Rights Council room of the Palais des Nations from. The event took place during
the 105th Session of the International Labor Conference.

At last, it is the moral and legal duty of the people of our country to not to get
involved in such practices and if such thing occurs infront of them, then to take
immediate action against it.
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REFRENCES:-
 http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm
 http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/child-labor/lang--en/index.htm
 http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Regionsandcountries/Asia/India/lang--en/index.htm
 https://www.unicef.org/protection/files/child_labor.pdf
 http://www.un.org/en/events/childlaborday/background.shtml
 http://www.un.org/en/events/childlaborday/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labor_in_India
 World report on child labor.
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APPENDIX:-
Interview Schedule

Personal

 Name
 Age
 Gender
 Marital Status
 Faith/Belief
 Place of Residence

FAMILY

 Has your family always lived in Gwalior or migrated from somewhere? If yes, then why did they
migrate?
 Do you live in a joint family or nuclear family? How many members are there in the family?
 Where do you sleep at night? At your parent’s house or someplace else? Do you have to pay
rent?
 Who decided that you should start working? What do your parents think about you working at
such an early age?
 What do your parents do? Do they work? If yes, how much do they earn?
 Do you have siblings? Do they work? If yes, how much do they earn?
 Who does household chores like cleaning and cooking?
 Who decides household matters like property, savings, banking, shopping, safety, an
education? Who has greatest say in decision making?
 How does the family manage household expenditures? Do you contribute to the expenditures
of the household?
 Is there is a joined bank account in the family? Or separate accounts?
 Do you have a bank account? Do you keep track of where your money goes or who all use it?
 What percentage of money/total amount do you keep for your own personal expenses?
 How easy/difficult is it to manage work along with other responsibilities of the house?
 23

EDUCATION
 Are you a school drop out? If yes, why? If no, what is your level of schooling?
 Can you read or write in English?
 Would you consider studying in the future/ consider higher education? Why? Why not?
 Do your siblings go to school?
 Do you have friends? Do they go to school? Do you meet or play with them?
 How do your parents feel about you getting education?
 What are your ambitions? Where do you see yourself five years from today?
 Do you have any role models? Why do you look up to them?

WORK
 Since when are you working? How did you get the job?
 Describe a typical day at work
 How much do you earn? What do you do with the money?
 Is this your first job?
 What was your age at first job?
 Where do you work?
 What work do you do?
 Are there any dangers at your work place? If yes, describe them
 What are your work hours?
 Do you get vacations?
 How are you treated by your employer? Do you have good relations with him/her?
 Do you like your job? Have you ever changed jobs?
 What special skills have you developed at work that you can put to different uses?
 What do you eat at work and from where do you get the food?
 Are you asked to do extra work other than your main role? If yes, what kind?
 Would you consider leaving work in the near future? Why? Why not?

GENERAL QUESTIONS
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 Are you aware that certain services are available to children? Childline, children’s home, etc.?
Have you ever had to access them?
 What has been your experiences with police or official authorities, if any?
 Do you have access to a Doctor/ Primary Health Centre?
 Do you often feel sad, lonely or unhappy?
 Do you often get troubled? Who troubled you and why?
 What are the three most urgent needs and requirements that you feel will make your life
easier and less stressful?