PROBLEM OF CHILD

LABOUR IN INDIA AND

ITS CAUSES:
With special reference to the state of Assam

Presented by: Raajdwip Vardhan

 INTRODUCTION
 Child labour is defined by ILO as “work that deprives children of their
childhood their potential and their dignity and that is harmful to physical
and mental development.”
 Worldwide, there are 168 million children engaged in child labour, in
India the number is 12.6 million.
 The main causes behind child labour is acute poverty, coupled with the
high birth rates among the population, which greatly increases the
amount of mouths to feed in the family. Illiteracy is also another major
factor.
 Multiple laws have been passed in India against Child labour., the
Constitution also contains provisions that safeguard children against
child labour.
 In northeast India, Child labour is compartively lesser than the other
parts of India, but it still engulfs a large number of children. It is highest
in Assam.
 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 What is the condition of child labour in the Indian
society?

 What are the legal provisions related to child labour in

the Indian legal scenario?

 What is the condition of child labour in the state of

Assam, and what are the steps taken by the government
to tackle this problem?
 CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
 India has one of the largest populations of child labourers in the world
at 12 million, majority of which is employed in the rural areas about
60% of them being below the age of 10 years.
 Children are mostly employed in the unorganized sector in India. The
reason for this is the lack of rules and regulations.
 Child labour not only affects the physical and mental well-being of
children but also affects their cognitive growth due to the lack of
education.
 Among the Indian states, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh and Maharashtra. UP alone has 19,27,997 child labourers of
the total number of 12million
 Regarding the causes of child labour, poverty is the greatest socio-
economic factor that is related to child labour. Parents are unable to
invest in their children’s welfare and thus get their children to
supplement in the meager family income.
 Poverty also leads to bonded child labour labour is a system of forced,
or partly forced, labour under which the child, or usually child's parent
enter into an agreement, oral or written, with a creditor. The child
performs work as in-kind repayment of credit.
 The parents begin considering children as an asset which can be used
to supplement the family income and thus they concieve multiple
children, large families mean more mouths to feed and thus leads to
more poverty. This becomes a chain-like situation. Thus, large family
sizes also contribute to child labour.
 Illiteracy is another reason. Due o illiteracy among parents, they do not
realise the ill effects of sending their children to work.
 Child labour is preferred due to its cheap nature and the fact that
children are easier to discipline than adults.
 Human trafficking for child labour is another related social evil.
 NHRC reports 40,000 missing children, 11,000 of which go untraced,
the main output for such children being the labour industry.
 Children are employed in very dismal conditions, often in hazardous
labour, such as the glass bangle industry of Faridabad or the fireworks
industry of Sivasaki.
 In 12 years, fom 2002-2014, 230 children had died in the bangle
factories of Sivasaki. The glass bangle industry robs the children of
their eeyesight since they have to work in dark furnaces.
 Victims of child labour often have to undergo abuse form their
employers, this may amount to physical, mental, psychological or even
sexual abuse.
 In 2006, a 10 year old girl was killed by her employers, in 2011 a 11
year old boy was beaten to death. Stories of sexual abuse among young
girls who work as domestic workers are many in number.
 Government has taken multiple steps to curb child labour, ranging from
national child labour rpojects to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan.
 NGOs also fight against child labour, along with social activists.
 LAWS AGAINST CHILD LABOUR
 Multiple constitutional provisions and acts talk about child labour.
 Article 24: No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed
to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous
employment.
 Article 39(f): that children are given opportunities and facilities to
develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity
and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and
against moral and material abandonment.
 Article 21(A): Right to Education:
 The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children
of the age of 6 to 14 years in such manner as the State, by law, may
determine.
 Acts against Child Labour:
 The Mines Act of 1952 : The Act prohibits the employment of
children below 18 years of age in excavations where work for the
purposes of searching and obtaining minerals is carried out. Section 40
prohibits employment of children in underground or open cast mine.

 The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act

of 2000 : 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
 The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Act of 1986 : The Act prohibits the employment of
children below the age of 14 years in hazardous occupations identified
in a list by the law. This list contained 16 occupations and 65
processes that are hazardous to the children’s lives and health 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, adolecent between 14-18 years will not
be allowed to work in hazardous industries and processes.
 CHILD LABOUR IN ASSAM
 Among the north-eastern states child labour is highest in Assam.
Assam employs 3,47,353 child labourers.
 This number constitutes 4.9& of the total population of Assam in
this particular age group, which is higher than the national average
of 4.5%. 13 districts of Assam are above the state average, with
Dhemaji topping the list with 7.9%.
 According to the sectorial distribution of child labour in Assam,
agriculture is the highest, accounting for 69.26% of the total
population, according to the 2004-05 NSSO figures on Child labour
in the state.
 According to for Development Initiatives Assam’s Bodoland is a
hub of child traffickers. Children from North Eastern states
especially girls are trafficked
 A large number of adolescent girls are duped in the garb of decent
employment, only to land into prostitution or sold as brides in states
like Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
 The largest individual sector in Assam which employs children are the
tea gardens. The Assam State Commission for Protection of Child
Rights
 The Assam State Commission for Protection of Child Rights had said
that of the 3.4% of child labourers in Assam, 1.58% work in tea
gardens. Tea gardens of Udalguri, Sonitpur, Bongaigaon are infamous
for child trafficking.
 Among the cities of Assam, the city with the largest population of
child labour is Guwahati. According to CHILDLINE Guwahati, out of
every four families in the city of Guwahati there are at least three
domestic helper children and out of every four such children, three of
them are girls. Also noteworthy in this connection is that these
children belong to the age group of 5-15 years.
 In Assam, a state action plan against child labour was formed by the
state government to fight against child labour, drafted in 2015.
 Apart from this, multiple social activists and NGOs also work against
child labour, Childline and UTSAH(Universal Team for Social being
prime examples of this. Action and Help), Parijat Academy and Assam
Center for Rural Development being prime examples.
 CONCLUSION
 Child labour is a rampant social problem in India just like throughout the
countries of the world.
 Poverty and illiteracy coupled wiith large families form the major causes
of child labour in India.
 In the Constitution, multiple provisions against child labour have been
provided but they have not been implemented properly and thus their
impact has been greatly reduced.
 Assam contains the highest number of child laborers in north-east India,
more than half of them employed in the tea gardens of Assam. Another
major chunk have been employed as domestic workers in the major
cities.
 Steps have been taken today by the government against child labour,
NGOs and activists have also joined in the fight.
 Perhaps the day is not far when child labour will be finally eradicated
from society and thus children will be relaxed from the burden of labour.