CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

S.S.JAIN SUBODH LAW COLLEGE

LABOUR LAW

CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Mr. MANOJ JAIN RUPINDER KAUR

ASST. PROF. OF LAW B.A.L.L.B. VI SEMISTER

ROLL NO: 45
 CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

DECLARATION

I RUPINDER KAUR, do hereby declare that, this dissertation titled CHILD LABOUR
IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES is an outcome of the research conducted by me under the
guidance of Mr MANOJ JAIN (Asst. Prof. of Law) at S.S. Jain Subodh Law College in
fulfillment for the award of the degree of B.A.LL.B at the University of Rajasthan.

I also declare that, this work is original, except where assistance from other sources has been
taken and necessary acknowledgements for the same have been made at appropriate places. I
further declare that, this work has not been submitted either in whole or in part, for any
degree or equivalent in any other institution.

DATE: 21-02-2017

PLACE: S.S. JAIN SUBODH LAW COLLEGE

NAME: RUPINDER KAUR

 CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that, the dissertation titled CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA:

CONSEQUENCES submitted by RUPINDER KAUR in fulfillment for the award of the
degree of B.A.LL.B. At S.S. Jain Subodh Law College is the product of research carried out
under my guidance and supervision.

Mr. MANOJ JAIN

ASST. PROF. OF LAW

S.S. JAIN SUBODH LAW COLLEGE

 CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I acknowledge with profundity, my obligation to Almighty God and my parents for giving
me the grace to accomplish my work, without which this project would not have been
possible.

I express my heartfelt gratitude to my respected faculty, Mr. MANOJ JAIN (Asst. Prof. of
Law) for providing me with valuable suggestions to complete this dissertation.

I am especially grateful to all my faculty members at SS Jain Subodh Law College who
have helped me imbibe the basic research and writing skills.

Lastly, I take upon myself, the drawbacks and limitations of this study, if any.

DATE: 21.02.2017

PLACE: S.S.JAIN SUBODH LAW COLLEGE

NAME OF STUDENT: RUPINDER KAUR

 CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pg. No.

Declaration

Certificate

Acknowledgement

Review of Literature

Statement of Problem

Research Methodology

Objective

Hypothesis

Research Design

Sources of Data Collection

Introduction

Conclusion

Bibliography
 CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Objectives:
The aim of the project is to present a detailed study of the topic CHILD LABOUR
IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES forming a concrete informative capsule of the same with
an insight into its relevance in the labour law.
The object of my research is to analyse the position of child labour in India.

Hypothesis:
The consequences of child labour have negative impact on Indias economy & growth.

Research Design:
This is a doctrinal research project carried out on the aforementioned topic and the scope in
the instant research work is confined to the literature discussed and mentioned in the
research work only. Doctrinal Research work means a research which provides a systematic
exposition of the rules governing a particular legal category, analyses the relationship
between rules, explains areas of difficulty and, perhaps, predicts future developments. 1This
type of research is also known as pure theoretical research. It consists of either a simple
research directed at finding a specific statement of the law or a more complex and in depth
analysis of legal reasoning.2Keeping this in view, the researcher utilized the conventional

1Pearce D, Campbell E and Harding D, Categorising Legal Research, (Australian

Law Schools: A Discipline Assessment for the Commonwealth Tertiary Education
Commission), 1987

2M. Mc Conville and H. C. Wing, Research Methods for Law, (Edinburgh:

Edinburgh University Press) 2007.
 CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

method of using libraries consisting of sources like books, journals, articles, writings of the
jurists and e-resources.

Locale of Study:

Sources of Data Collection:

The following secondary sources of data have been used in the project-
Case Study
Websites
Case Laws
Books

INTRODUCTION
We Indians take pride in the fact that India is rapidly emerging as a leading developing
nation. Prosperity is reaching several segments of people and the benefits have reached out
to large parts of the country where none existed just a few decades ago. No mean
achievement this. But the story is not entirely green. There is a dark underbelly that has and
is contributing to this growth. Its the use of child labour.

As a nation we have long accepted this very cruel practice of using children as very cheap,
and often, free labour. We have turned a blind eye to children being denied their right to be
in school and an opportunity to better their lives. This problem is across both urban and rural
areas and we have been by and large living with this black truth.

Child Labour is the practice of having children engage in economic activity, on a part- or
full-time basis. The practice deprives children of their childhood, and is harmful to their
physical and mental development. Poverty, lack of good schools and the growth of the
informal economy are considered to be the key causes of child labour in India.

The 1998 national census of India estimated the total number of child labourers, aged 4 to
15, to be at 12.6 million, out of a total child population of 253 million in the 5 to 14 age
group.3 However, in 200910 a nationwide survey found the prevalence of child labour had
reduced to 4.98 million children (or less than 2% of the children in the 5 to 14 age group).

3 National Child Labour project". Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of

India. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
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The 2011 national census of India found the total number of child labourers, aged 514, to
be at 4.35 million,4 and the total child population to be 259.64 million in that age group. The
child labour problem is not unique to India; worldwide, about 217 million children work,
many full-time.

Causes of child labour in India

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

Schools also tend to teach things that arent 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 isnt as
much as culture of education as you can find in East Asian countries for example and thats
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 childrens lives. Another
problem remains: parents arent making enough of a living to sustain their family. Thats
plain and simple poverty causing and fuelling child labour in India. Be it in manufacturing
or in agriculture, people are systematically under-paid.

4 Number of child labour has reduced by 65 percent: Govt

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Consequences of child labour in India

The picture that emerges is dark. Children are working in hazardous export oriented
industries like fireworks, match works, electroplating, beady rolling, glass blowing,
brassware, lock making, glass blowing, lead mining and stone quarrying amongst several
others. These are places that have a severe negative impact on the health of anyone working
there. In the case of children, by the time they begin touching their teens, they are already
inflicted with several life threatening diseases.

Sitting at home in a city, we have no idea of the terrible conditions that these children are
made to work in and for more than ten to twelve hours a day. In many cases, these children
are offered by the parents in lieu of a loan that they may have taken from the factory owner.
So its a barter deal; loan in cash that is repaid in kind through the child. Not all are barter
deals. Some work for money where the pay is as little as ten rupees per day!

There are other situations where children are made to work. These are typically home run
cottage industries like handloom and carpet weaving. This author has personally visited
carpet weaving centres in Bhadohi and Mirzapur, in eastern U.P. and has seen children
working alongside their parents, in virtually all homes lying in interior rural areas. The
typical explanation given by the parents are that they see the child as an additional resource
for income generation.

This is a necessity given the abject poverty prevailing in rural areas and in the absence of
any social security system. People look at raising children as additional manpower, which
further exacerbates the population problem that India is reeling under. Its a Catch-22
situation! A poor villager cant afford to raise children but continues to produce them in the
hope that they will add to the income while also providing an income security in his old age.
 CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

This is one of the primary reasons one sees large families in rural areas where deep poverty
prevails.

While this situation is still understandable even if not justifiable, what about child labour
and abuse in urban and semi urban cities and towns?

The presence of a large number of child labourers is regarded as a serious issue in terms of
economic welfare. Children who work fail to get necessary education. They do not get the
opportunity to develop physically, intellectually, emotionally and psychologically. In terms
of the physical condition of children, children are not ready for long monotonous work
because they become exhausted more quickly than adults. This reduces their physical
conditions and makes the children more vulnerable to disease.5

Children in hazardous working conditions are even in worse condition.6 Children who work,
instead of going to school, will remain illiterate which limit their ability to contribute to their
own well being as well as to community they live in. Child labour has long term adverse
effects for India.

To keep an economy prospering, a vital criterion is to have an educated workforce equipped

with relevant skills for the needs of the industries. The young labourers today, will be part of
Indias human capital tomorrow. Child labour undoubtedly results in a trade-off with human
capital accumulation.

Child labour in India are employed with the majority (70%) in agriculture7 some in low-
skilled labour-intensive sectors such as sari weaving or as domestic helpers, which require
neither formal education nor training, but some in heavy industry such as coal mining.8

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there are tremendous economic
benefits for developing nations by sending children to school instead of work. Without
education, children do not gain the necessary skills such as English literacy and technical

5 Lieten, G. K. (2004). Child labour and poverty. In G. K. Lieten (Ed.), Working children around the world:
Child rights and child reality, 63-80. New Delhi: Institute For Human Development.

6 Dhariwal, Navdip (13 June 2006). "Child Labour - India's Cheap Commodity". BBC News.

7 "Civil society urges PM to ban child labour". The Times of India. 22 June 2010.
Retrieved 20 September 2011.

8 Gardiner Harris (25 February 2013). "Children Toil in India's Mines, Despite
Legal Ban". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2013. We have very
good laws in this country", said Vandhana Kandhari, a child protection specialist
at Unicef. "Its our implementation thats the problem.
 CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

aptitude that will increase their productivity to enable them to secure higher-skilled jobs in
future with higher wages that will lift them out of poverty.

CONCLUSION

Child Labor is a menace and an obstacle in Indias development. New generation is the base
of development of a developing country and as India is going on a wrong path, it must be
directed to the right one.

To end this problem child labour, each and every citizen should come forward and take
necessary steps. We can do many things to make people aware of this crime by organizing
campaigns, road shows, and free education for poor people, advertisements, provide
employment to their parents and many more. Without having unity we could not be able to
give our future leaders a successful, happy, bright and secure life.
 CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: CONSEQUENCES

Each and every citizen is responsible for this crime Child Labour either those who are
taking benefit of labour work for less pay or those who are ignoring working children. Until
we all shall not understand the harmful and dangerous effects of child labour, we cannot get
rid of this. Firstly, parents should change their thinking about importance of education that
how much is this important for their kids. We all should avoid child labour in our domestic
area or work area and if we find this crime happening somewhere, we should take necessary
steps to stop this. There is a power in Unity we should follow this rule in order to make
our children happy, healthy and educated.
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BIBLOGRAPHY

BOOKS REFFERED:-

WEBSITE REFFERED:-