RESEARCH ARTICLE ON LABOUR LAWS

TITLE: CHILD LABOUR – JUST A PAPER TIGER?

SUBMITTED BY – KISHITA GUPTA

SUBMITTED TO – MR. SHRUT BRAHMBHATT

SEMESTER – 5

BATCH – (2017-22)

SECTION – CR B

ROLL NO. – 10
 DECLARATION

The text reported in the project is the outcome of my own efforts and no part of this report
has been copied in any unauthorized manner and no part in it has been incorporated without
due acknowledgment.

Name: KISHITA GUPTA

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. SYNOPSIS .................................................................................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 4
OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................... 4
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM ............................................................................................. 4
HYPOTHESIS ......................................................................................................................... 4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................................... 5
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................... 5
2. MEANING OF CHILD LABOUR ............................................................................. 6
3. LEGILATIONS IN INDIA ......................................................................................... 7
4. JUDICIAL ACTIVISIM ............................................................................................. 9
5. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ................................................................... 12

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 SYNOPSIS
INTRODUCTION
India is sadly the home to the largest number of child laborers in the world. The census found
an increase in the number of child laborers from 11.28 million in 1991 to 12.59 million in
2001. M.V. Foundation in Andhra Pradesh found nearly 400,000 children, mostly girls
between seven and 14 years of age, toiling for 14-16 hours a day in cottonseed production
across the country of which 90% are employed in Andhra Pradesh. 40% of the labor in a
precious stone cutting sector is children. NGOs have discovered the use of child laborers in
mining industry in Bellary District in Karnataka in spite of a harsh ban on the same. In urban
areas there is high employment of children in the zari and embroidery industry.1

Poverty and lack of social security are the main causes of child labor. The increasing gap
between the rich and the poor, privatization of basic services and the neo-liberal economic
policies are causing major sections of the population out of employment and without basic
needs. This adversely affects children more than any other group. Entry of multi-national
corporations into industry without proper mechanisms to hold them accountable has led to the
use of child labor. Lack of quality universal education has also contributed to children
dropping out of school and entering the labor force. A major concern is that the actual
number of child laborers goes undetected. Laws that are meant to protect children from
hazardous labor are ineffective and not implemented correctly.

OBJECTIVES

1. To study what child labor is.

2. To study what is its actual position is in practicality.
3. To analyze the field analysis.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Child labor is reality in the Indian scenario, irrespective of laws governing it. The reason why
child labor prevails has its roots enshrined in our social construction and thus to find this out
through sampling is the task that should be undertaken.

HYPOTHESIS

1
Available at: http://www.childlineindia.org.in/child-labour-india.html last accessed on 07-10-2019

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 1. Child labor is prevalent because of our social construction and weak enforcement of
laws.
2. It’s not just the law but the other factors that promote child labor.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is child labor?
2. What are the reasons for the prevalence of child labor?
3. Why does the law fail in curbing child labor?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research methodology applied is ‘Non-Doctrinal’ as well as ‘doctrinal’ one, where all the
referred material has been taken from various library resources such as books, articles,
journals, cyberspace, and legal databases, and practical or fieldwork has been done. It will
involve secondary data such as various Acts, Rules and regulations, Judgements, Articles,
Published Reports, Books and Journals.

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 MEANING OF CHILD LABOUR

International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines the "The term 'child labor' is often
defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity,
and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that:

- is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and

- 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."2

UNICEF mentions the factors that contribute to child labor – including “hazardous” child
labor –include the poverty and illiteracy of a child’s parents, the family’s social and
economic circumstances, a lack of awareness about the harmful effects of child labour, lack
of access to basic and meaningful quality education and skills training, high rates of adult
unemployment and under-employment, and the cultural values of the family and surrounding
society. Often children are also bonded to labor due to a family indebtedness. Out of school
children (OOSC) or those children at risk of dropping out can easily be drawn into work and
more vulnerable to exploitation. Girls, especially those from socially disadvantaged groups,
tend to be at a higher risk of being forced into work.3

India’s Census 2001 office defines child labor 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 any other economic activity such as
cultivation and milk production for sale or domestic consumption. Indian government
classifies child laborers into two groups: Main workers are those who work 6 months or

2
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC): About child labour
3
Available at http://unicef.in/whatwedo/21/child-labour. Last accessed on 07-10-2019.

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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.”4

LEGISLATION IN INDIA

The Factories Act of 1948: An Act to consolidate and amend the law regulating labor in
factories.5 The Act 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.

Section 22 of the Act mentions that no young person can be shall be allowed to clean,
lubricate or adjust any part of a machine which thereof would expose the young person to
risk of injury from any moving part either of that machine or of any adjacent machinery.6

Section 23 of the Act defines that no young person is allowed to be employable on dangerous
machines.7

Section 27 of the Act prohibits employment of children in any part of a factory for pressing
cotton in which a cotton opener is at work.8

The Mines Act of 1952: An Act to amend and consolidate the laws relating to the regulations
of labor and safety in mines.9 The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18 years
of age in a mine. Mining is one of the most dangerous occupations, which in the past has led
to many major accidents taking the lives of children is completely banned for them.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986: An Act to prohibit the
engagement of children in certain employments and to regulate the conditions of work of
children in certain other employments.10 The Act prohibits the employment of children below
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.

4
Available at: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-common/census_data_2001.html. Last accessed on 07-10-
2019.
5
Preamble, The Factories Act of 1948
6
Section 22, The Factories Act of 1948
7
Section 23, The Factories Act of 1948
8
Section 27, The Factories Act of 1948
9
Preamble, The Mines Act of 1952
10
Preamble, The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986

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The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000: An Act to consolidate
and amend the law relating to children alleged and found to be in conflict with law and
children in need of care and protection by catering to their basic needs through proper care,
protection, development, treatment, social re-integration, by adopting a child-friendly
approach in the adjudication and disposal of matters in the best interest of children and for
their rehabilitation through processes provided, and institutions and bodies established, herein
under and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.11

This law made it a crime, punishable with a prison term, for anyone to procure or employ a
child in any hazardous employment or in bondage. This act provides punishment to those
who act in contravention to the previous acts by employing children to work.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009: An Act to provide
for free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years. 12 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.

The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966: An act to provide for
the welfare of the workers in beedi and cigar establishments and to regulate the conditions of
their work and for matters connected therewith.13 The Act defines that employment of
children under this industry is strictly prohibited under this Act.14

Plantation Labour Act, 1951: The Act specifies that Women and children can be employed
only between the hours of 6 a.m and 7 p.m. They can be employed beyond these hours only
with the permission of the State Government.15

Domestic Workers (Registration Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2008: The Act specifies
that no child shall be employed as a domestic worker or for any such incidental or ancillary
work which is prohibited under any law.16

11
Preamble, The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000
12
Preamble, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009
13
Preamble, The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966
14
Section 24, The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966
15
Section 25, Plantation Labour Act, 1951
16
Section 14, Domestic Workers (Registration Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2008

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The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958: The Act prohibits the employment of children in any
capacity, who are below 14 years of age on sea-going ships, except (a) in a scholarship or
training ship; or (b) In a ship in which all persons employed are members of one family; (c)
In a homemade ship of less than two hundred tons gross; or (d) Where such person is to be
employed on nominal wages and will be in the charge of his father or other adult or a male
relative. The Act also makes provision for the modest penalty of a fine of Rs. 50/- for
violating these provisions.17

The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961: The minimum age required for employment in
every transport undertaking employing five or more workers is 15 years. The State
Governments are authorized to apply all or any of the provisions of the Act to any motor
transport undertakings employing less than 5 workers. Now as amended by section 26 of the
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, by which word ‘fifteenth’ in clauses
(a) and (c) of section 2 has been substituted byword ‘Fourteenth’.18

JUDICIAL ACTIVISM

In the case of Joseph Valamangalam, Rev. Fr v. State of Kerala, the court while referring to
Article 45 was held to be not justiciable, being the only directive in nature. The Article does
not confer legally enforceable right upon primary schools to receive grants-in-aid from the
government.19

In M.C. Mehta v. State of T.N20, the Supreme Court directed that children should not be
employed in hazardous jobs in factories for the manufacture of matchboxes and fireworks,
and positive steps should be taken for the welfare of such children as well as for improving
the quality of their life.

21
In M.C. Mehta v. State of T.N , the Supreme Court directed that the employers of children
below 14 years must comply with the provisions of the Child Labour (Prohibition and

17
The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958
18
The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961
19
Joseph Valamangalam, Rev. Fr v. State of Kerala: [AIR 1958 Ker. 290]
20
M.C. Mehta v. State of T.N.: [(1991) 1 SCC 283]
21
M.C. Mehta v. State of T.N.: [(1996) 6 SCC 756; AIR 1997 SC 699]

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Regulation) Act providing for compensation, employment of their parents/guardians and their
education. The court expressed similar views in Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India.22

Further in the PIL matter of Sakshi v Union of India,23 the Supreme Court of India asked the
Law Commission to consider certain important issues regarding sexual abuse of children
submitted by the petitioner and the feasibility of amendment to 375 and 376 IPC.

In Gaurav Jain Vs. Union of India,24 the Supreme Court took cognizance of the problem of
the children born to prostitutes and constituted a committee of lawyers and social activists to
look into the matter. The Court also issued a number of directions for the rescue and
rehabilitation of child prostitute and established Juvenile Homes for them.

The abolition of child labor is preceded by the introduction of compulsory education.

Compulsory education and child labor are · interlinked. Article 24 of the Constitution bars
the employment of children below the age of 14 years. Article 45 is supplementary to Article
24 for if the child is not to be employed below the age of 14 years he must be kept occupied
in some educational institution25

Further Delhi High Court in a famous case of Anand Vardhan Chandel vs University of Delhi
has held that education is a fundamental right under our Constitution. The court observed
that: - "The law is, therefore, now settled that the expression of life and personal liberty in
Article 21 of the Constitution includes a variety of rights though they are not enumerated in
part Ill of the Constitution provided that they are necessary for the full development of the
personality of the individual and can be included in the various aspects of the liberty of the
individual. The right to education is, therefore, included in Article 21 of the Constitution."26

In addition to above, some PIL cases decided by various High Courts and Supreme Court
where the traditional rule locus-standi has been relaxed are namely B.L. Wadhera Vs. Union
of India27, B.L. Wadhera Vs. Union of India28, B.L. Wadhera Vs. Union of India29, B.L.
Wadhera Vs. Union of India30, B.L. Wadhera Vs. Union of India.31 As regards the welfare of

22
Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India [(1997) 10 SCC 549; AIR 1997 SC 2218].
23
Sakshi v Union of India: [(1999) 8 SCC 591]
24
Gaurav Jain Vs. Union of India (AIR 1990 SC 292)
25
S. Roy." Constitutional Rights of the child in India" Social change, sept. 1990 vol. 20, No.3, Page4
26
Anand vardhan Chandel vs University of Delhi AIR 1978, Delhi, 308
27
B.L. Wadhera Vs. Union of India HC CWP 1796/1999
28
B.L. Wadhera Vs. Union of India HC CWP 266/2000
29
B.L. Wadhera Vs. Union of India HC CWP 3774/2001
30
B.L. Wadhera Vs. Union of India AIR 2002(2) SC 350 Para 75
31
B.L. Wadhera Vs. Union of India HC (Ranchi) WPC (PIL) No. 3482/2002

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child labor, the Court opined that the Compulsory Insurance Scheme should be provided for
both adult and child employees taking into consideration the hazardous nature of
employment32

33
In Lakshmi Kant VIs Union of India, the Court took active steps to abolish bonded
domestic service and slavery of poor children which had been in practice. But violation of
various protective provisions has been pertinently pointed out by the highest judicial tribunal
in the country. For such violations related to the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act,
1948, and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of
Service) Act, 1979, the Supreme Court has issued directions to safeguard the interests of a
large number of child workers in Salal Hydro Project v. Jammu & Kashmir.34

In Sheela Barse Vs Secretary, Children Aid Society and Others,35 the Court held that children
are the citizens of the future era. The proper bringing up of children and giving them the
proper training to turn out to be good citizens depends on the plans and policies of the
country.

In the cases of R. Chandra Segaram VIs State of Tamil Nadu and Others36 and District Beedi
Worker's Union V/s State of Tamil Nadu and Others37 the court observed that Tobacco
manufacturing has indeed health hazards. Child labor in this trade should, therefore, be
prohibited as far as possible, and employment of child labor should be stopped either
immediately or in a phased manner to be decided by the State Governments but within a
period not exceeding three years from now. The provisions of the Child Labour Abolition
Act, 1986 should be strictly implemented.

32
State Of Gujarat And Another vs Kasturchand Chhotalal Shah AIR 1991, SC 419
33
Lakshmi Kant VIs Union of India AIR 1984, SC 469
34
Salal Hydro Project v. Jammu & Kashmir AIR 1987 SC 177
35
Sheela Barse Vs Secretary, Children Aid Society and Others 1986, 3 sec, 596
36
R. Chandra Segaram VIs State of Tamil Nadu and Others Writ petition (civil) No. 1262 of 1987
37
District Beedi Worker's Union V/s State of Tamil Nadu and Others. Writ petition (civil) No. 13064 of 1983

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 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

 India’s place in the world

Recent numbers show that in proportion, child labor in India is declining (a little less than 5%
of children). But when looking at absolute numbers, we see that more children than ever are
faced with forced labor, which denies them the right to an education and a normal childhood.
With the integration of India in the world economy over 20 years ago, the international
pressure has been demanding that cheap goods manufactured in India were in compliance
with international labor standards and human rights. Just how big is the problem?

India, in fact, is the hotbed of child labor worldwide, with over 45m children involved in
forced labor (other sources claim that over 60m kids are affected). That’s nearly ¼ of child
laborers in the planet. We say children are forced to work because none of them is a free
individual at this age; they depend on their parents (and their environment) who make
decisions for them, most of the time because of the lack of alternative. These are kids forced
into labor by circumstances imposed on them at birth.

 Public opinion & the government

As the country develops economically, people are becoming increasingly aware of the
problem. Tackling child labor in India has been a priority for nearly 25 years – ever since the
first government program, the National Child Labour Projects (NCLP) at the end of the
1980s. Over the years this program has been refined and improved. It now addresses multiple
aspects of the problem, such as offering and improving:

 Vocational training;
 Public education;
 Economic opportunities for poor families.

The National Child Labor Policy has come to understand that its best shot was to bring
around the table the various actors involved in this: government agencies, private companies
(to increase wages), unions and NGOs. That is indeed the best way for them to tackle - in a
coordinated manner - all the different causes of child labor in India.

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But they need to include the people as well because it’s important to remember that culture
and social customs are another factor that has consequences on children’s lives. For instance,
many parents don’t understand or aren’t really aware of the impact of allowing girls to have
an education. A new survey by the government will be conducted in the near future to update
current numbers and facts about child labor in India. This will allow them to better
understand the impact of the recently expanded NCLP as well as their cooperation with the
International Labor Organization (ILO).

Where do they work?

It doesn’t make it less hazardous: kids are more sensitive to dangerous insect and animal
bites, but also to pesticides and accidents (tools, machinery) which happen nearly as often as
in the manufacturing sector.

Causes of child labor in India

The causes are quite similar to any other country, though with many Indian singularities.
Everyone agrees that child labor is a plague but most families know they don’t have much
choice: not putting a child to work means there won’t be enough food on the table for
everyone.

Schools also tend to teach things that aren’t always very useful to kids once they get back
home, let alone to find a low-skilled job. In that sense, they don't provide much justification
for parents to give their kids an education if they don't see immediate benefits. There isn’t as
much as the culture of education as you can find in East Asian countries for example and
that’s because schools have never really been a means of social ascension. The caste system
completely prevented that for centuries.

But things are slowly changing as the government is trying to improve the quality of schools
as well as making their program more practical and relevant to children’s lives. Another
problem remains: parents aren’t making enough of a living to sustain their family. That’s
plain and simple poverty causing and fuelling child labor in India. Be it in manufacturing or
in agriculture, people are systematically underpaid.

The economics of child labor

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In general, laws and government bans against child labor only have a very limited impact and
in some cases they aggravate the situation, causing poor families to end up poorer. In India, it
also reveals the lack of workers’ rights but also problems law enforcement. Aside from the
economics of child labor, there are also sociocultural problems: caste, class, discrimination
and cultural biases (e.g. against girls).

The reason child labor in India is so hard to fight is also that most of it is informal, often
occurs within the boundary of the family, and is therefore very hard to track down. And when
it comes to legal sanctions, taking action against the parents is probably the worst thing to do
for these kids. Whatever you do, they’re likely to end up worse off than they were before.

 government education programs

By law, India protects every child under 14 against the threat of forced labor. In the 1990s,
government programs offered to pay such children a small amount of money ($2/month) in
exchange for attending school. It took over 20 years for India to realize that its strategy was
unimpressive and lacked ambition and real motivation. Efforts were too slow and
uncoordinated.

Trying to change this, the NFE (non-formal education) program came as the acknowledgment
that fighting child labor wasn’t an easy task and that it required to take into account the lives
and livelihood of the poor. Therefore the program was set up so that children can both work
and go to school, thus bypassing the goal of universal primary education. It’s a good way to
make do with a complex reality.

In this program, classes happen after regular hours so that working children can attend them
after working in the fields. They’re given a small remuneration as well as a snack and most of
all this allows the government to keep an eye on these kids via annual health check-ups and
other regular medical examinations. The idea is that the little money they receive will
compensate for the loss of a few hours’ work at home or in the fields. The government works
jointly with NGOs to manage the program and tries to gradually pull these children into the
“normal” schooling system over a few years. This process is known as the “mainstreaming”
of these kids. Why not.

 Urban child labor & the success of schools

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It’s in urban areas that the fight against child labor in India has been the most successful –
beginning early on in the 1990s. Cities are indeed easier to monitor and laws are easier to
implement there. Cities have also reaped most of the benefits from globalization and the
opening of trade borders in India. Simply put, they got richer. And as a result, an ever-
growing proportion of urban children have started going to school as well.

Outside cities, schooling costs represent the other main obstacle to education in India and
explain the failure of making education more accessible. More than ever, poverty in India
remains the main reason for kids not going to school. When comparing incomes, you can see
that the cost of urban schools is much lower for their local residents, than rural schools are for
rural Indians. Most importantly, the job prospects are infinitely better in cities than in rural
India. Despite a growing body of research producing statistics on child labor in India, there is
still a massive lack of data and studies concerning Indian children living in slums – far from
being proper cities and yet much closer to urban life.

Rural child labor, health, and poverty

If poverty conditions the childhood of many Indians, there are also unexpected consequences
that arise when governments get very zealous at promoting education. For instance, many
parents make many sacrifices to be able to send their kids to school when they really can’t
afford which ends up putting everyone's health at risk (both the kids' and the parents').

In some cases, children working full-time have better chances of making it to adulthood than
those who work less (or not at all), simply because they’re better fed. This shows the
perverted effects of poverty on child labor and education and how these problems are
interwoven. Parents who receive some welfare assistance are often happy to send their kids to
school, but because of the limited social support they receive (not enough to feed their kids
properly at least), this choice may end up harming their children’s physical development in
the long run.

 All-out war on child labor in India

As always there is no silver bullet against child labor, let alone poverty. What works is a
broad strategy aimed at reducing poverty, investing in human labor and infrastructures (local
schools, quality education). Economic opportunities to increase household income are key.

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We’ve often argued that proper land re-distribution (which has never been accomplished by
the government) - to break with the quasi-feudal landlord system – would not only be fair to
exploited farmers and families, it would also dramatically increase their revenue.

But you can already see a new dilemma: in the first years of receiving more land, parents
would want to make the most of it and would most likely hire their own kids to help. It’s
normal considering that it’d take a while before they can afford to hire staff or buy machines.
But in that process, they’d deny their kids their right to education and what we consider a
normal childhood (playing, having fun, learning.

It would also make education less appealing since parents can already guarantee a job to the
next generation by bequeathing the land to their kids. You can see how the issue of child
labor would become much more complex and it’s a problem that already exists in many
developed countries as well.

Many argue rightfully that what matters is the children’s rights and freedom to choose how
they want to lead their own lives. However, the reality is much different and often times
we’re all caught in traditions and family pressure. Breaking free sometimes also means
breaking up with your family or taking the risk to create deep tensions and
misunderstandings. It's the classic tale of family responsibilities vs. freedom.

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