Child Labour Law & Regulations in

India
Child labour deprives children of their childhood and is harmful to their physical and mental
development. The Government provides free education to all children and has taken various steps to
prevent child labour in India. However, child labour continues to be a problem in various parts of
India due to poverty, lack of good schools and the growth of the informal economy. If all
Entrepreneurs in the country decide to take steps to abolish child labour and help needy children
receive education during their childhood, a vibrant and robust India can be created. “Knowledge will
set you free” – In this article, we provide an overview of the law, rules and regulations pertaining to
prevention of child labour in India.

Know more about Labour Laws & Rights in India:

 Equal Pay Act

 Workplace Harassment Prevention
 Maternity Benefits

Legal Age for Working in India

Hiring children below the age of 14 years for any kind of work, other than in certain family-based
work, is a cognizable offence and will attract a jail term of upto 2 years. Adolescents between the
age of 14 – 18 years cannot be employed in any hazardous occupation. Under the Child Labour
(Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012, the parents of the underage child employed can
be penalised as well.

Children under 14 Years of Age

Children under the age of 14 years cannot be employed or permitted to work in any
occupation or process.

However, this restriction will not apply if a child helps his/her family or family enterprise (which is not
a hazardous occupation), after his/her school hours or during vacation. Family in relation to a child
means his/her father, mother, brother, sister and father’s sister and brother and mother’s sister and
brother.

In addition, a child below the age of 14 years will also be allowed to work as an artist in an audio-
visual entertainment industry, including advertisement, films, television serials or any other
entertainment or sports activities except the circus, subject to conditions and safety measures.

Adolescents – 14 to 18 Years of Age

The Child Labour (Prevention and Regulation) Amendment Act allows adolescents to work in non-
hazardous occupations and processes. If an adolescent is employed, the following conditions must
be satisfied by the employer:

 The period of work on each day should be fixed in a manner that no period or work would
exceed three hours.
 The adolescent must have an interval for rest for atleast one hour after working for three
hours.
 The total time spent working by an adolescent cannot exceed 6 hours in a day, including the
time spent in waiting for work.
 Adolescents cannot be employed during the hours of 7PM to 8AM.
 Adolescents cannot be made to work overtime.
 Adolescents cannot work in more than one establishment, at anytime.
 Adolescents must be provided in every week, a holiday of one whole day.

Rules for Employing Adolescents

All employers employing adolescents must maintain a register with the following information:

 Name and date of birth of every adolescent employed to permitted to work.

 Hours and periods of work of any adolescent and the intervals of rest to which the
adolescent is entitled.
 The nature of work of any such adolescent.

In addition to the above register, on employing or permitting an adolescent to work in an

establishment, the owner of the establishment must send to the Local Inspector the following
information within 30 days:

 Name and situation of the establishment.

 Name of the person in actual management of the establishment.
 Addess to which communications relating to the establishment must be sent.
 Nature of the occupation or process carried on in the establishment.

Punishment for Violation of Child Labour

Laws
Any person who employs a child or permits any child to work in contravention to the Child and
Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act is punishable with imprisonment for a term
which would not be less than 6 months but which could extend to 2 years. In addition to
imprisonment, the employer can also be fined an amount of Rs.20,000 to Rs.50,000.

Consequences / Effects:
Child labour has several negative impacts. Some of them include:

1. Loss of Quality childhood: It is important for human beings to enjoy every stage of
their development. A child should play with friends and make memories for a lifetime.
Youths should explore life and form strong foundations that would define their adult
lives. Child labour, therefore, leads to loss of quality childhood as children will be
deprived of the opportunity to enjoy the amazing experiences that come with being
young. Children are often encouraged to play because it helps in their growth and
development. A child forced to work will miss many of the good things associated with
childhood.

2. Health issues: Child labour can also lead to health complications due to
undernourishment and poor working conditions. It is highly unlikely that people who
employ children also have the moral capacity to ensure that they have good working
conditions. Working in places such as mines and badly conditioned factories may result
in lifetime health issues for children employed to work in these places. A child assigned
physically demanding duties may suffer physical trauma that may scar him or her for
life.

3. Mental trauma: It is not a pleasant experience to be kept working as a child while

your age-mates are out playing and going to school. Children also lack the ability to
shield themselves from most of the challenges that occur in the workplace. Issues such
as bullying, sexual exploitation, and unfavorable working hours may result in mental
trauma in these children. They will find it hard to forget the past and may become
societal misfits because of bad childhood experiences. Child labour may also result in
the lack of emotional growth and thus insensitivity.

4. Illiteracy: Children that are employed do not have the time to go to school. They
spend a lot of time in their workstations as the days and years go by. The lack of
education and illiteracy makes them individuals with limited opportunities as far as
employment is concerned. Education also prepares a person for several challenges in
the society and without it, one may turn out to lack the basic skills required to overcome
many of life’s problems. An individual who has gone to school may be aware of how to
approach certain situations in life without resorting to brute force. An illiterate person, on
the other hand, considers force to be the only answer to nearly all of the challenges
experienced.

Solutions
How can child labour be reduced or completely eradicated? Every child born has
the right to have dreams and pursue those dreams. Even though the realization of some
of these aspirations may be limited by several challenges, it is still possible to overcome
them and achieve the highest levels of success.
There is need to involve various stakeholders to realize this objective. These are some
of the ways in which the problem of child labour can be addressed:

1. Free education: Free education holds the key to eliminating child labour. Parents
that do not have money for school fees can use this as an opportunity to provide their
children with education. It has already proved to be a success in many places around
the globe and with more effort, the cases of child labour will greatly reduce. Mid-day
meals schemes can also be used as a motivating factor for children whose parents can
barely afford a meal to learn. Even if they will be attending school because of the free
meals, they will still be able to learn and create a good education foundation for
themselves.

2. Moral Polishing: Child labour should not be entertained at all. It is legally and
morally wrong. Children should not be allowed to provide labour at the expense of
getting an education and enjoying their childhood. Factory owners, shopkeepers, and
industries among others should not employ children. The society should be educated on
the negative impacts of child labour so that it becomes an issue that is frowned upon
whenever it occurs. This type of moral polishing would act as a deterrent to people who
intend to employ children and use them as a source of cheap labour. Many of the ills
that go on in the society do so because people turn a blind eye or fail to consider their
moral impacts. With this kind of approach, cases of child labour will greatly fall among
our communities.

3. Create demand for skilled and trained workers: By creating the demand for skilled
and trained workers, child labour cases will reduce since almost all child labourers fall
under the unskilled worker category. It will lead to adult employment as the demand for
skilled labour rises. Establishing skill-based learning centers, vocational training
centers, and technical training institutions improves literacy and contributes to the
availability of skilled and trained workers in the job market. Creation of job opportunities
by the government is also another way that cases of unemployment can be reduced
and household income for the population increased. Such government policies improve
living standards and eliminate the need for children to seek work in order to support
their families.

4. Awareness: Creating awareness about the illegality of child labour can also help in
stemming the practice. Parents should be made aware that sending their children to
work has legal ramifications and the law would take its course if they are found to be
aiding and abetting this vice. It is the ignorance among many parents and members of
the society that makes them participate in child labour practices. Conducting a
campaign to create awareness about its harmful effects would eliminate the practice.
The government, together with non-governmental organizations and the civil society,
can create a strategy to make such an initiative a success.
5. Empowerment of poor people: Poor people are the most affected by child labour.
The poor living standards and financial constraints sometimes make them unwilling
participants in this vice. Empowering poor people through knowledge and income
generating projects would go a long way in reducing cases of child labour. Parental
literacy also plays an important role in ensuring that the rights of children are upheld,
and minors are not used as a source of labour. Empowering parents with this kind of
knowledge can create a positive change in the society and encourage the shunning of
child labour practices in communities.

Indian Laws relating to Child Labour

1. As per the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, amended in
2016 (“CLPR Act”), 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. It is a cognizable criminal offence to employ a Child for any work.
(source: wikipedia)
2. In addition, various laws in India, such as the Juvenile Justice (care and
protection) of Children Act-2000, and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Abolition)
Act-1986 provide a basis in law to identify, prosecute and stop child labour in
India. (source: wikipedia)
3. :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. (source: wikipedia)
4. The The Mines Act of 1952 prohibits the employment of children below 18 years
of age in a mine. (source: wikipedia)

Conclusion
Child labour should never exist. However, it is still noticeable that people around the

country hire children so that they will have the benefit of paying low wages to them. One

should do not encourage child labour, and neither one should let any other to hire a

7 Organisations You Can

child to any job.

Join Forces With To Counter The

Evil That Is Child Labour In India
There's no dearth of things we take for granted. There's an old saying that somewhat
says if the people of the world threw their troubles onto a pile, we'd actually run to
snatch back our share of them. The problem lies in the lack of awareness of the
dilapidated situations that people can be subjected to. It lies in not knowing the depths
of, "Many have it worse."
Child labour is one such issue. We see children selling flowers, serving food at
makeshift and sometimes established eat-outs, and many of us would even know of
a chotu who came to help in our own households. Laws abide and there are a number
of NGOs working tirelessly to make sure these children find a better life ahead.

We all can do our bit. Not to make yourself look good but in the name of decency, if
you wish to help in any way possible, here are some organisations where you'll have
the chance to volunteer or donate.
1. Child Rights And You (CRY)
One of the leading and most well-known organisations, CRY has worked since the
1970s towards the eradication of child labour. Based on the motto that each of us can
be a small instrument of change, you can donate, volunteer, and work for them
towards the cause. You can volunteer, donate online, send a cheque and be part of
making someone's life better somewhere.

2. CHILDLINE India Foundation

Ms. Jeroo Billimoria was a professor at TISS when on an experimental basis
the CHILDLINE was initiated by the Department of Family and Child Welfare there.
But as the calls started pouring in from various parts of Mumbai, she realised she was
on to something. Today, it's a nationwide helpline for children in distress. You
can contribute via cash towards different aspects of child welfare and even volunteer
to work for their cause.
3. Save The Children India
Started in 2008 and registered as Bal Rakhsa Bharat, the institution strives towards
policy making in collaboration with Indian and international government bodies to
improve health and education systems. The funds received by the organisation are
used to get children out of child labour, child marriage, child pregnancies, abuse and
emergency situations. Donations are accepted and if you hold the power and
knowledge to help them with partners or can be one, you could be a hero to many
lives.
4. SOS Childen's Villages, India
Working with abandoned children and orphans, this institution tries to bring children
under a protected umbrella. One can donate towards a child's particular needs like
clothes or a particular extracurricular activity, and a progress report will be sent to the
donor accordingly. It can be an open or a closed donation, meaning you can
personally interact with your ward, if you wish to.
5. Bachpan Bachao Andolan
An example of grass root movements, Bachpan Bachao Andolan has been the aid of
83,500 victims. Established in 1980, the organisation works towards rescuing and
rehabilitating children who've been subjected to trafficking and child
labour. Donations from Indian and foreign residents are welcome.
6. Uday Foundation
There are various ways to react to tragedy. When a baby boy was born to Tullika and
Rahul, they wanted the world for him but their hands were tied as the child was born
with multiple congenital defects. But the resolve was to make sure no other child goes
through the same, which is why healthcare is the main prerogative of the Uday
Foundation. You can donate in cash and in kind, like old clothes.
 7. Pratham
Education Foundation
Pratham believes in addressing the root cause of child labour - lack of quality
education. It works towards ensuring that higher levels of education are available to
those who cannot afford it and they use outcome-oriented methods and not rote
learning - which is the practice in the most high-end educational institutions of the
country. You can donate to the cause here.
If out of two slices of bread you just need one, giving away one would bring you
nothing but joy. There are millions out there living only in the hope that they survive
when the shines again and being instrumental in keeping that hope alive will do only
good. Here's how you can do your little bit.
World Day Against Child Labour: An
overview of the current situation in India
Each year on 12 June, the World Day Against Child Labour brings together
governments, employers and workers organizations as well as millions of people from
around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to
help them.
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India Today Web Desk

New Delhi
June 12, 2019
UPDATED: June 12, 2019 13:05 IST

The International Labour Organization launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 to
focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the need to eliminate it. (Image: Twitter)
The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labour in
2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour 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 labourers and what can be done to help them.
But before we talk about the condition of child labour, let us know what it actually means.
Child labour: What it means
Not all work done by children should be classified as child labour that is to be targeted for
elimination. Children's or adolescents' participation in work that does not affect their health and
personal development or interfere with their schooling, is generally regarded as being something
positive.
This includes activities such as helping their parents around the home, assisting in a family
business or earning pocket money outside school hours and during school holidays. These kinds
of activities contribute to children's development.
The term 'child labour' is often defined as work that deprives children of their
childhood, their potential and their dignity, and is harmful to their physical and
mental development.

It refers to work that:

a) is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children.
b) 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.

Every girl and boy has the right to be protected from violence, exploitation and abuse.
Together, we can #ENDviolence against children.#WorldDayAgainstChildLabour
Worst forms of child labour
1. All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of
children, debt bondage and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory
recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.
2. The use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography
or for pornographic performances.
3. The use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production
and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties.
4. Work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the
health, safety or morals of children.
World Day Against Child Labour 2019 theme
"Children shouldn't work in fields, but on dreams!"
 Children shouldn't work in fields but on dreams. Yet today, 152 million children are still in child
labour. Although child labour occurs in almost every sector, seven out of every ten is in
agriculture.
Child labour statistics
 10.13 million child labourers between 5-14 years in India (2011 census data)
 Child labour in 2011 has decreased by around 20 percent from 2001 census figures
 There are 22.87 million working children in India between 15-18 years
 As per 2011 census, one in 11 children are working in India (5-18 years)
 80 percent of the child labour in India is concentrated in rural areas
 ILO 2016 data indicates that there are 152 million working children in the world between 5-17
years, of which 23.8 million children are in India
 So 16 percent of the working children (or every 6th working child) in this age group is in India

Whose children are they who toil in mines, factories &fields at the cost of their freedom
& education? They are all our children. Please don’t accept hospitality where children
are working.Why 152 million child laborers when 210 million adults jobless?

Grim reality of children in India

Analysis of census data by Child Rights and You (CRY) revealed that about 1.4 million child
labourers in India in the age group of 7-14 years can't write their names. This means one in
three child labourers in the said age group are illiterate.
This is the grim reality of children who work for more than six months in a year. Even for
children who support the family economy by working for less than six months in a year, the
situation is equally, if not more, worse.
A shocking two million of these marginal workers have compromised their education as
well.
Child labour: Global statistics (2016)
The highest number of children aged 5 to 17 engaged in child labour were to be found in:
 Africa (72.1 million)
 Asia and the Pacific (62 million)
 America (10.7 million)
 Europe and Central Asia (5.5 million)
 Arab States (1.2 million)
Child labour in Indian states
 While 45 percent of child labourers in Bihar are illiterate, in Rajasthan and Jharkhand, the figure
stands at 40 percent
 Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh also have about 38 percent child labourers as illiterate

)
Child labour in India, somehow, has become a social norm that we accept and tolerate in our
society. This exploitative and abusive practice will continue unless society adopts a zero-
tolerance attitude towards it.
Children continue to be exploited and abused because the State and people do not address
children's issues comprehensively.
Initiatives taken by the government to prevent child labour
Over the past two decades, India has put in place a range of laws and programmes to address the
problem of child labour.
1. In 1979, the central government formed the first statutory committee to analyse and research
on the issue of child labour in India - the Gurupadswamy committe. One of their major
observations was that the problem of child labour is inextricably linked to poverty.
Taking into account the findings and recommendations of the Gurupadswamy committee, the
union government enacted the child labour (Prohibition and & Regulation) Act in 1986.
The act prohibited children from being employed in specified hazardous occupations and at the
same time regulated their working condition in other non-hazardous occupations and processes.
2. India ratified International Labour Organizations Convention (ILO) no 138 (minimum age for
employment) and convention no 182 (worst forms of child labour) last year, to symbolise its
commitment and initiatives for the eradication of child labour and attainment of Sustainable
Development Goal 8.7 related with curbing of child labour.
India is the 170th ILO Member State to ratify convention no 138, which requires states to set a
minimum age under which no one shall be admitted to employment or work in any occupation,
except for light work and artistic performances.
Similarly, for convention no 182, India is the 181st member state to ratify and reaffirm its
commitment for the prohibition and elimination of worst forms of child labour, including
slavery, forced labour and trafficking; the use of children in armed conflict; use of children for
prostitution, pornography and in illicit activities (drug trafficking); and hazardous work.
3. A landmark step in the endeavour to have a child labour free society was the enactment of the
Child labour (Prohibition and Prevention) Amendment Act, 2016 in August 2016.
It provides for a complete prohibition on the employment of children below 14 years in all
occupations and processes and prohibits the employment of adolescents (14-18 years) in
hazardous occupations and processes.
The age of admission to employment has been linked to the age of compulsory education under
the Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009.
4. British Asian Trust, the leading South Asian diaspora development organisation, which was
founded by HRH The Prince of Wales, announced a major new partnership with leading Jaipur-
based Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team the Rajasthan Royals.
The partnership, backed by the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), will launch a
media-driven mass awareness campaign to combat child-trafficking in India.
The partnership was announced on June 7 at the Lord's. The evening raised funds to scale up the
British Asian Trust's anti-trafficking programme in India and develop a mass awareness
campaign to combat child trafficking.