PROJECT TITLE:

CHILD IS MEANT TO LEARN NOT TO EARN

NAME OF THE STUDENT ROLL NO SEMESTER

V.R.L.NIKHILA 2018122 4

Y. VINAYA 2018102 4
D.SUMANTH 2018120 4

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….. 1
2. CAUSES FOR THE CHILD LABOUR…………………………… 4
3. MAGNITUDE OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA…………………. 5
4. GOVT. INTIATIVES AND LEGISLATIONS……………………. 6
5. M.C.MEHTA V. STATE OF TAMIL NADU……………………… 9
6. ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOUR……………………………. 12
7. NEXUS BETWEEN CHILD LABOUR AND POVERTY………… 13
8. INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION………………… 13
9. INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE…………………… 14
10. OBJECTIVES………………………………………………………… 15
11. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………17

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Introduction on Child Labour
Children are the greatest gift to humanity and Childhood is an important and impressionable stage
of human development as it holds the potential to the future development of any society. Children
who are brought up in an environment, which is conducive to their intellectual, physical and social
health, grow up to be responsible and productive members of society. Every nation links its future
with the present status of its children. By performing work when they are too young for the task,
children unduly reduce their present welfare or their future income earning capabilities, either by
shrinking their future external choice sets or by reducing their own future individual productive
capabilities. Under extreme economic distress, children are forced to forego educational
opportunities and take up jobs which are mostly exploitative as they are usually underpaid and
engaged in hazardous conditions. Parents decide to send their child for engaging in a job as a
desperate measure due to poor economic conditions. It is therefore no wonder that the poor
households predominantly send their children to work in early ages of their life. One of the
disconcerting aspects of child labour is that children are sent to work at the expense of education.
There is a strong effect of child labour on school attendance rates and the length of a child’s work
day is negatively associated with his or her capacity to attend school. Child labour restricts the right
of children to access and benefit from education and denies the fundamental opportunity to attend
school. Child labour, thus, prejudices children’s education and adversely affects their health and
safety. India has all along followed a proactive policy in addressing the problem of child labour and
has always stood for constitutional, statutory and developmental measures that are required to
eliminate child labour. The Constitution of India has relevant provisions to secure compulsory
universal primary education. Labour Commissions and Committees have gone into the problems of
child labour and made extensive recommendations. India’s judiciary, right up to the 2 apex level,
has demonstrated profoundly empathetic responses against the practice of child labour. Despite
several proactive legislations, policies and judicial prouncements, the problem of child labour
persists as a challenge to the country.

Child
International Labour Organization (ILO) states, the term child labour is best defined as work that
deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to their
physical and mental development. It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally
dangerous and harmful to children, or work whose schedule interferes with their ability to attend
regular school, or work that affects in any manner their ability to focus during school or experience
healthy childhood.
1. ILO states that child labour may be defined in different ways, and different definition would
yield different estimates of child labour. According to ILO, children or adolescents who
participate in work that does not affect their health and personal development or interfere with

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 their schooling, is not child labour; rather it may generally be regarded as being something
positive. Such harmless work includes activities such as helping their parents at home, assisting
family or earning pocket money outside school hours and on holidays. Such kinds of activities
may contribute to children’s development by providing them with skills and experience, and
help to prepare them to be productive members of society during their adult life.
2. UNICEF definition of child labour is different. A child is involved in child labour activities if
between 5 to 11 years of age, he or she did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28
hours of domestic work in a week, and in case of children between 12 to 14 years of age, he or
she did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and
domestic work per week. UNICEF in another report says, "Children’s work needs to be seen as
happening along a spectrum, one end being destructive or exploitative work and beneficial
work - promoting or enhancing children’s development without interfering with their
schooling, recreation and rest’ being the other end. And between these two end there are vast
areas of work that may or may not negatively affect a child’s development."
3. In India , The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 has defined the child as
anyone who is “a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age” The law further
has defined the establishment for employment as, “The “establishment” includes a shop,
commercial establishment, work-shop, farm, residential hotel, restaurant, eating-house, theatre
or other place of public amusement or entertainment”.
4. The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 states that employment in hazardous
industries is prohibited, Such industries are classified into 13 occupations and 57 processes. In
the last 5 years, the number of hazardous processes listed in the schedule of the Act has
increased from 18 to 57 and occupations from 7 to 13. Also as per Article 24 of the Constitution,
no child below the age of 14 years is to be employed in any factory, mine or any hazardous
employment. Further, Article 39 requires the States to direct its policy towards ensuring that
the tender age of children is not abused and that they are not forced by economic necessity to
enter a vocations unsuited to their age or strength. Recently, with the insertion of Article 21A,
the State has been entrusted with the task of providing free and compulsory education to all the
children in the age group of 6-14 years. India's Census 2001 office defines child labor as
participation of a child 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 in 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 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.

Causes for the Child Labour

The various government studies and policy statements and also as per different social and economic
scholars the following are some of the major reasons for the problem of child labour in India. This
issues become very evident from the plans of the government being targeted towards solving these
issues.

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 1. Poverty
2. Lack of education
3. Economic uncertainties
4. Indebtedness
5. Employment (or lack of employment)
6. Landlessness at rural areas for majority of the population
7. Weak policy of legal framework 8. Weak social awareness

Magnitude of Child Labour in India

The magnitude of child labour in India has been witnessing enormous decline in the last two
decades, both in terms of magnitude and workforce participation rates. Evidence drawn from the
National Sample Survey data suggest that India’s child workforce during 2004-05 was estimated at
little over nine million (9.07 million) as against twenty-one and half million (21.55 million) in 1983.
During this period, the number of child employment has declined sharply by 12.48 million. There
is considerable fall in child workforce is observed among boys than girls. The corresponding fall in
boys and girls workforce during 1983 to 2004-05 is observed to have decreased from 12.06 to 4.76
million, and 9.49 to 4.31 million, respectively. In effect, the gender difference that existed between
boys and girls (adverse against boys) during the early 1980s has almost dissipated in recent years,
the difference being slowed down from 2.57 million to roughly 0.45 million. However, in absolute
numbers, the problem is large. As per the Census 2001, there are 1.26 crores economically active
children in the age-group of 5-14 years. It was 1.13 crores in the 1991 Census.

Among the states, Uttar Pradesh accounts for a larger share of close to onefourth of all child labour
in India followed by Andhra Pradesh. While Maharastra and West Bengal respectively garnered
nine and eight percent of India’s child employment. The share of Uttar Pradesh has dramatically
shot up in the last one decade from less than 13 per cent in the mid-1990s to close to 23 per cent in
2004-05, which is a cause for serious concern. On the other hand, the share of Andhra Pradesh
seems to have declined quite considerably during this period. The occupation-wise data of children
in this age group of 5-14 working in the non-agricultural sector has been classified. Though these
occupations in the Census data do not match with the occupations listed as hazardous under the
Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, a tentative segregation of data into hazardous & non-
hazardous occupations gives a broad estimation of children working in different occupations. As
per this data, 36.43 lakh children in the age group of 5-14 years are working in non-agricultural
sector in the country, out of which 12.19 lakh children are working in hazardous occupations.

Global Scenario
Empirical estimates of the ILO show that the number of economically active children in the world
in the age group 5-14 years was nearly 191 million in 2004, with a work participation rate of 15.8
per cent. Children involved in hazardous work comprise around 38.7 per cent of global child labour
population. Among the different regions, largest number of child workers, 122 million constituting
64% was concentrated in Asia and the Pacific, within which India accounts for a substantial size.
3.2. In four years, from the year 2000 to 2004, the number of child labour globally fell by 11 per
cent. During this period the magnitude of children in hazardous work decreased by 26 per cent. The

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decline was even steeper (33 per cent) for children in hazardous work in the age group of 5-14 years.
The global picture shows a declining trend i.e. the more harmful the work and the more vulnerable
the children involved, the faster the decline. In Latin America and the Caribbean the number of
children at work has fallen by two-thirds over these four years with the child work participation rate
at 5 per cent. Interestingly, the activity rate of children in this age group in India as per Census 2001
is 5%, which has come down from 5.7% in 1991. Sub-Saharan Africa observed to have made the
least progress where the rates of population growth, HIV/AIDS infection and child labour remain
alarmingly high. In the Global Report of the ILO, it has been highlighted that the combination of
political will, effective utilization of resources and the right policy choices can definitely contribute
in a great way to end child labour worldwide.

Government Initiatives Legislation, Policy, Programmes and other Interventions

The Constitutional guarantees are reflected in the policies, plans, laws and schemes on child labour.
As per Article 24 of the Constitution, no child below the 5 age of 14 years is to be employed in any
factory, mine or any hazardous employment. Further, Article 39 requires the States to direct its
policy towards ensuring that the tender age of children is not abused and that they are not forced by
economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength. Recently, with the insertion
of Article 21A, the State has been entrusted with the task of providing free and compulsory
education to all the children in the age group of 6-14 years.
1. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986) was the culmination of efforts
and ideas that emerged from the deliberations and recommendations of various committees
on child labour. Significant among them were the National Commission on Labour (1966-
1969), the Gurupadaswamy Committee on Child Labour (1979) and the Sanat Mehta
Committee (1984). The Act aims to prohibit the entry of children into hazardous

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 occupations and to regulate the services of children in non-hazardous occupations. In
particular it is aimed at
 the banning of the employment of children, i.e. those who have not completed their
14th year, in 18 specified occupations and 65 processes
 laying down a procedure to make additions to the schedule of banned occupations
or processes
 regulating the working conditions of children in occupations where they are not
prohibited from working
 Laying down penalties for employment of children in violation of the provisions
of this Act and other Acts which forbid the employment of children
 Bringing uniformity in the definition of the child in related laws.
2. Despite several proactive legislations the problem persists as a challenge to the country. In
consonance with the above approach, a National Policy on Child Labour was formulated
in 1987, setting out objectives and priorities to eradicate child labour and protect all
children from exploitation. The three components stated in the National Policy on Child
Labour are:
(a) Legislative Action Plan emphasizing strict and effective enforcement of legal
provisions relating to Child Labour
(b) Focus on General Development Programmes for benefiting children 6 and their
families, and
(c) Project-based Plan of Action focusing on areas with high concentration of child labour
through implementation of National Child Labour Project.

3. Child Labour exists in India notwithstanding the Laudable provisions of the Constitution
and laws addressing child labour. Despite the fact that a host of social, economic and
cultural factors is responsible for continuance of child labour, Government is committed
to the task of elimination of child labour in all its forms by adopting gradual and sequential
approach to address the problem in its enormity.

4. To address the traditional and stereotype demand and supply factors including cheap and
docile labour, poverty, illiteracy, indebtedness, unemployment and landlessness, that
contribute to the prevalence of child labour, Government of India follows a multipronged
strategy which involves strong enforcement of legal provisions relating to child labour with
simultaneous efforts towards rehabilitation of children and by making efforts of raising the
income levels of parents through linkages with the employment and income generation
programmes and other poverty alleviation programmes of the Government.

5. With the objective to implement the multi-pronged strategy the National Child Labour
Project (NCLP) was first initiated in 1988, as a part of a larger Plan of Action arising out
of the National Child Labour Policy. The National Child Labour Project has been
strengthened by several major initiatives at national, state and district level in the country
aiming at elimination of child labour. The main thrust of this scheme has been to reduce
the incidence of child labour in the pockets of their concentration. Providing education

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 through special schools, and subsequently mainstreaming them in regular schools are the
major activities under the NCLP at the ground level. The working children are identified
through surveys conducted by the independent agencies, and inspections conducted by the
Labour Department. On the basis of their reports, children are withdrawn 7 from labour
force. These children are enrolled in the special schools which provide formal/non-formal
education, vocational training, supplementary nutrition, monthly stipend, regular health
check-up, etc., and are subsequently mainstreamed in formal education or self-employment
within a period of six months to three years of their enrolment in the special schools.
The principal agency for implementation of the NCLP is the Project Society formed at district
levels and registered under the Registration of Societies Act, 1860. The Project Society
functions under the overall chairpersonship of District Collector. The funds under the Scheme
are sanctioned by the Ministry directly to the District Collector, who in turn, disburses them
amongst the NGOs for running these Special Schools for working children. The funds are also
provided under the Scheme for conducting regular child labour surveys, awareness generation
programmes and training of instructors/teachers, etc. The District Collector is assisted by the
members of the Project Society who could be drawn from the relevant departments of the
Government at the district levels, trade unions, employers’ associations, and voluntary
organizations.

The operationalization of the NCLP involves

(a) Establishing a Project Office in each of the child-labour endemic district

(b), conducting survey and identification of child labour, particularly in hazardous

occupations,
(c) Opening up of special schools and supporting them,

(d) Enrolment of working children in the special schools and ensuring their formal/informal
education up to a maximum period of three years,
(e) Providing mid-day-meals and regular health check-ups to the enrolled children, and finally

(f) Mainstreaming those children and keeping track of them for some time after mainstreaming.
In addition to these, the Project Office is also expected to (1) establish convergence of services
and schemes with other departments, and (2) implement and monitor different labour laws
relevant for abolition of child labour. All these stages are components of one integrated
approach aim at reducing the intensity of child labour and also effectively contribute to overall
development of children belonging to vulnerable section of the society in the concerned
districts and subsequently at the all-India level. National Child Labour Project was first
launched in 1988 and the project was implemented in nine districts. By the end of 1989, a total
of 12 projects were operational in eight states covering 13,668 working children who were
employed in hazardous industries such as Glass, Brassware, Lock, Carpet, Slate, Tile, Match
and Fireworks, Gems, Agro-Chemicals and Beedi. In August 1994, the process of
rehabilitation of Child Labour was intensified after the in-depth consultations with District
Collectors of child labour-endemic districts. Consequently, the NCLP Project was extended to
76 districts. The coverage progressively increased to 85 projects in 2001 and expanded to 100

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 districts by the end of 9th five year Plan, and further expanded to 250 districts during the 10th
Plan period and 271 districts during the 11th Plan period.

The Supreme Court had issued a number of directions to the Central as well as state governments
to eliminate child labour. Major thrust to the NCLP came with the landmark judgement of the
Hon’ble Supreme Court in December 1996 in the case of M.C. Mehta Vs. State of Tamilnadu. The
Honourable Supreme Court gave certain directions regarding the manner in which the children
working in the hazardous occupations were to be withdrawn from work and rehabilitated, as also
the manner in which the working conditions of the children employed in non-hazardous occupations
were to be regulated and improved upon. The Hon’ble Court specifically ordered withdrawal of
children working in hazardous industries and ensuring their education in appropriate institutions. It
also prescribed employment of at least one adult member of the family of the child so withdrawn
from work, a contribution of Rs.20,000/- per child was ordered to be paid by the offending employer
into a corpus of fund set up for the welfare of child labour & their families. Failing which, the State
Government to contribute to this Welfare Fund Rs.5,000/- per child. The interest earnings of this
corpus were to be used for providing financial assistance to the families of these children. The
Hon’ble Court also ordered regulation of working hours for the children engaged in non-hazardous
occupations, so that their working hours did not exceed 5-6 hours per day and that at least two hours
of education was 9 ensured. It further directed that the entire expenditure on education of these
children be borne by their employers. Thus the landmark judgment of the Honourable Supreme
Court in December, 1996 in the case of M. C. Mehta vs. State of Tamil Nadu gave further impetus
to the implementation of the different poverty alleviation schemes targeting child labour
households.
The formulation and implementation of the National Child Labour project involves consultation
with all the concerned Ministries/Departments. At the National level the progress of the programme
is being monitored by the Central Monitoring Committee headed by Secretary, Ministry of Labour
& Employment. A core group has been set-up for active convergence on a sustained basis among
various ministries at the central level for rehabilitation of child labour and their families. This core
group is headed by Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment comprising representatives from

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concerned Ministries such as Women and Child Development, HRD, Social Justice and
Empowerment, Rural Development, Urban Housing and Poverty Alleviation. At the national level,
various activities relating to the NCLP are carried out by the Child Labour Division in the Ministry
of Labour & Employment (MoLE). Presently, the Child Labour Division is headed by Joint
Secretary. The implementation of the NCLP Scheme is monitored by the Ministry of Labour &
Employment (MoLE) through prescribed periodical reports and regular visits of Officials of MoLE,
State Governments and Audit Departments. Funds are released based on the progress of project
activities.

M.C.MEHTA V. STATE OF TAMIL NADU AND OTHERS 1

(1996) 6 SCC 756
BENCH:
KULDIP SINGH, B.L. HANSARIA, S.B. MAJMUDAR

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CASE:

The Honourable Supreme Court gave certain directions regarding the manner in which the children
working in the hazardous occupations were to be withdrawn from work and rehabilitated, as also
the manner in which the working conditions of the children employed in non-hazardous occupations
were to be regulated and improved upon.
The Supreme Court gave the following directions:

1. Every state government must conduct a survey, to be completed within six months, on the
types of child labour carried out in the state.
2. The survey could begin with the modes of employment mentioned under Article 24 of the
Constitution of India. The most hazardous employment would rank first in priority, to be
followed by a comparatively less hazardous employment, and so on.
3. To ensure compliance with Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, an
employer must be asked to pay a sum of Rs 20,000 as compensation for every child
employed in contravention of the provisions of the Act.
4. The employer would be liable to pay this amount even if he were to disengage the child
presently employed.
5. The inspectors, appointed under Section 17 of the Act, would bear the responsibility of
ensuring this.
6. The sum paid as compensation should be deposited in a fund to be known as Child Labour
Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund.
7. Such a fund should be established district-wise or area-wise.

1
(1996) 6 SCC 756

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 8. The fund so generated should be used only for the concerned child. The income earned
through the fund would also be a part of the fund. To generate greater income, the fund
could be deposited in a high-yielding scheme of any nationalised bank or other public body.
9. The State should ensure that an adult member of the family (whose name would be
suggested by the parent/guardian of the concerned child) whose child is in employment in a
factory or a mine or in other hazardous work gets a job anywhere, in lieu of the child.
10. The employment could be combined with other assured employment as this would not
require generation of much additional employment.
11. The employment so given could be in the same industry where the child was employed or a
public undertaking, and could be manual in nature. The undertaking chosen for employment
shall be one that is nearest to the place of residence of the family.
12. In those cases where it would not be possible to provide employment to the adult member,
the appropriate government would deposit a sum of Rs 25,000 every month for each child
employed in a factory, a mine, or any other hazardous employment, in the Child Labour
Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund.
13. In case of obtaining employment for an adult, the parent/guardian shall have to withdraw
their child from work. Even if no employment was provided, the parent/guardian shall have
to see that the child is spared from the requirement to work, as an alternative source of
income would have become available to him.
14. The employment given or payment made would cease to be operative if the child is not sent
by the parent/guardian for education.
15. On discontinuation of the employment of the child, his education would be assured in a
suitable institution. It would be the duty of the inspector to see to it that free and compulsory
education up until the age of 14 is provided to the child.
16. Penal provision contained in the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986,
would be used where employment of a child labour prohibited by the Act is found.
17. Also, wherever child labour is employed in non-hazardous jobs (which is permissible under
the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986), the working hours of the child
must not be more than four to six hours a day. Every child so employed must receive
education for at least two hours each day. The entire cost of education must be borne by the
employer. It would be the responsibility of the inspector to ensure this.

FACTS:
This case here is taken as an example of a PIL which became instrumental in changing the landscape
of the child rights scenario and related jurisprudence in India. M. C. Mehta filed a PIL in the
Supreme Court of India alleging that many children were being employed in several hazardous
industries particularly in the firecracker and matchstick industries in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu. The
Constitution provides “no child below the age of age of fourteen years shall be employed to work
in any factory or mine or engaged in other hazardous employment”12 Child labour is a huge
problem which is a socially acknowledged reality but the PIL filed indented to bring about this
crucial issue in the eyes of law. As of December 1, 1985 there were 221 registered match factories
in Sivakasi; these factories employed 27,338 workmen of which 2,941 were children. With the help

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of this PIL, Mehta raised his concern for the future and safety of these children who were working
in these factories. In a larger perspective if we see then it is a case of mass violation of human rights.
Moreover, the conditions in which these children were working were also very perilous to their
health and overall well-being. This judgment examines the continuation and the reasons for child
labour despite the enactment of Child labour (Prohibition and regulation) Act, 1986. In the course
of hearing, the supreme court of India appointed a committee which would visit the site and make
a report pertaining to the different aspects of the matter. This committee was appointed earlier on
the same issue to understand find solutions to the child labour problem in Sivakasi. The committee
submitted its report on November 11, 1991 and gave several recommendations. It recommended
that the state of Tamil Nadu should be directed that children should not be employed in hazardous
industries of any sorts. Children must also have a separate premise where they should not work
more than six hours. Proper transport facilities, recreation facilities and education should be
provided in or around the factory. The recommendations were also made on providing the basic diet
for children, monthly payment and insurance. It was also recommended to start a national
commission on children’s welfare which would prepare a scheme for abolition of child labour.

RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY COURT -APPOINTED COMMITTEE

In the course of the hearing, the court appointed an advocates committee to visit the area and make
a comprehensive report relating to the various aspects of the matter, as mentioned in the order of 14
August 1991. The committee was to consist of three advocates: Shri R.K. Jain, Ms Indira Jaisingh,
and Shri K.C. Dua. The committee submitted its report on 11.11.91. The report contained many
recommendations:
1. The State of Tamil Nadu should be directed to ensure that children are not employed in
fireworks factories.
2. The children employed in the match factories for packing must work in separate premises.
3. Employers should not be permitted make the children work for more than six hours a day.
4. Proper transport facilities should be provided by the employers and the state government.
5. Facilities for recreation and education should be provided in or around the factory.
6. Employers should make arrangements for providing basic diet to the children. In case they
fail to do so, the government may be directed to provide for basic diet – the ‘one meal a day’
programme of the State of Tamil Nadu for school children may be extended to the child
worker.
7. Piece-rate wages should be abolished and payment should be made on a monthly basis.
Wage should be proportionate to the work done by the child.
8. All workers working in the industry should be brought under the Insurance Scheme.
9. For Sivakasi area, a committee should be headed by a retired High Court judge or a person
of equal status along with two social workers, who should be answerable either to the
Supreme Court or to the High Court. Employers of all the industries should be directed to
deposit Rs 2 per month per worker towards a welfare fund, and the State should be directed
to make a matching contribution.

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 10. A National Commission for children's welfare should be set up to prepare a scheme for
child labour abolition in a phased manner. It should be answerable to the Supreme Court
and report its progress at periodical intervals to the Supreme Court.

OBSERVATIONS MADE BY THE SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court recognised that Sivakasi had ceased to be the only centre employing child
labour; the malady was no longer confined to that place. The court also recognised that child labour
was an all-pervasive national problem in India even after 50 years of independence – and despite
the enactment of various legislations. Further, the Supreme Court recognised poverty as a basic
cause for child labour. The court observed that until an alternative income was assured to the family,
child labour could never be effectively tackled.

Elimination of Child Labour in India – Coordination with ILO

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) launched the International Programme for Elimination
of Child Labour (IPEC) in the year 1991 with the objective to end child labour globally. India was
the first country to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in the year 1992. During the
11th Plan Period, three Projects viz., INDUS Project, Andhra Pradesh Phase-II & Karnataka Project
were implemented in the country under ILO-IPEC. Jointly funded by the 10 Ministry of Labour,
Government of India and the Department of Labour, United States of America (USDOL), the
INDUS Child Labour Project was implemented in ten hazardous sectors in 21 districts across five
states viz. Delhi (NCT Delhi), Maharashtra (Districts of Amravati, Jalna, Aurangabad, Gondia and
Mumbai Suburban), Madhya Pradesh (Districts of Damoh, Sagar, Jabalpur, Satna and Katni), Tamil
Nadu (Districts of Kanchipuram, Thiruvannamallai, Tiruvallur, Nammakkal and Virudhunagar) and
Uttar Pradesh(Districts of Moradabad , Allahabad, Kanpur Nagar, Aligarh and Ferozabad). The
project adopted a participatory method to identify beneficiaries and enrolling child workers in
schools, transitional education centres and vocational training centres was seen as a key strategy for
rehabilitation of child and adolescent workers withdrawn from work. The project was instrumental
in the operationalising the public education component in the field. The Project also developed
income generation strategies for child labour elimination by linking child labour families with the
ongoing government schemes that provide access to micro credit and subsidies. The project has
systematically worked at developing a comprehensive multi-pronged communication strategy. A
variety of tools have been developed to aid awareness raising efforts at the field level. Through its
Action Programmes, the INDUS project worked towards sensitising and building capacities of key
government agencies and civil society partners in project states on child labour. The project, through
an action research to study the occupational health and safety made efforts to develop interim
solutions to protect adolescents and young adults from hazards at work places. The project has also
operationalised a beneficiary tracking system, for tracking and following up on the progress of all
project beneficiaries. Through this project, an estimated 103,152 child and adolescent workers were
withdrawn and rehabilitated. The Project was concluded in March 2009.

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NEXUS BETWEEN POVERTY AND CHILD LABOUR
Child labour is both a cause and a consequence of poverty. Empirical evidence suggests there is a
close relation between the two. Poverty causes child labour, being a mean of survival, while child
labour perpetuates poverty because of less human capital accumulation, low productivity and low
wages. Rena (2009) finds out that the problem of child labour is closely associated with poverty
and underdevelopment. It is often pointed out that poverty is the main cause for child labour in
general. As in all the developing countries including India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, Malawi, Sudan, and Chad, the prevalence of
poverty is high and therefore, child labour in these developing countries, particularly in Asia and
Africa, does exist to a larger extent.10 The World Bank (1998) reports that the labour force
participation rate of children aged 10 to 14 is highest, 30–60 percent, in countries with per capita
income of $500 or less (at 1987 prices). But it declines quite rapidly, to 10–30 percent, in countries
with incomes between $500 and $1,000. Low adult market wages result in higher poverty rates and
increase in illiterate adult market wages increases the household budget and thus it reduces poverty
and consequently child labour.

Poor families cannot afford to send their children to school because: a) they don’t have money to
afford their educational expenditures b) their survival is at stake and they want these little hands to
work and supplement the household budget. Thus, mostly, children from poor households are forced
to work instead of attending school. Consequently, they acquire little or no education which results
in lower human capital accumulation. When these children accumulate little or no human capital,
they lack necessary skills. As a result of it they, once grown, have to do unskilled jobs and their
productivity remains low. Thus their wages or earning remains low. This reinforces poverty. In this
way children from poor families inherit poverty and child labour from their parents and transfer it
to their next generation. This cycle of poverty and child labour, in which poverty causes child labour
and child labour perpetuates poverty, continues. This leads to the intergenerational persistence of
poverty and child labour.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION (ILO)

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The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to
advance social justice and promote decent work by setting international labour standards. It was the
first specialied agency of the UN. The ILO has 187 member states: 186 of the 193 UN member
states plus the Cook Islands are members of the ILO. The tripartite structure is unique to the ILO
where representatives from the government, employers and employees openly debate and create
labour standards.
The International Labour Office is the permanent secretariat of the International Labour
Organization. It is the focal point for International Labour Organization's overall activities, which
it prepares under the scrutiny of the Governing Body and under the leadership of the Director-
General.

The ILO employs some 2,700 officials from over 150 nations at its headquarters in Geneva, and in
around 40 field offices around the world. Among these officials, 900 work in technical cooperation
programmes and projects.

In 1969, the ILO received the Nobel Peace Prize for improving fraternity and peace among nations,
pursuing decent work and justice for workers, and providing technical assistance to other
developing nations. Fifty years later to mark the organization’s centenary, it convened a Global
Commission on the Future of Work, whose report, published in January 2019, made ten
recommendations for governments to meet the unprecedented challenges of a changing world of
work. Those included a universal labour guarantee, social protection from birth to old age and an
entitlement to lifelong learning.

The International Labour Organization has developed a system of international labour standards
aimed at promoting opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in
conditions of freedom, equity, security and dignity.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE

The ILO organizes once a year the International Labour Conference in Geneva to set the broad
policies of the ILO, including conventions and recommendations. Also known as the “international
parliament of labour”, the conference makes decisions about the ILO’s general policy, work
programme and budget and also elects the Governing Body.
Each member state is represented by a delegation: two government delegates, an employer delegate,
a worker delegate and their respective advisers. All of them have individual voting rights and all
votes are equal, regardless the population of the delegate's member State. The employer and worker
delegates are normally chosen in agreement with the most representative national organizations of
employers and workers. Usually, the workers and employers’ delegates coordinate their voting. All
delegates have the same rights and are not required to vote in blocs.
Delegate have the same rights, they can express themselves freely and vote as they wish. This
diversity of viewpoints does not prevent decisions being adopted by very large majorities or
unanimously.

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Heads of State and prime ministers also participate in the Conference. International organizations,
both governmental and others, also attend but as observers.

MEMBERSHIP
The ILO has 187 state members. 186 of the 193 member states of the United Nations plus the Cook
Islands are members of the ILO. The UN member states which are not members of the ILO are
Andorra, Bhutan, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, Nauru, and North Korea.

The ILO constitution permits any member of the UN to become a member of the ILO. To gain
membership, a nation must inform the director-general that it accepts all the obligations of the ILO
constitution. Other states can be admitted by a two-thirds vote of all delegates, including a two-
thirds vote of government delegates, at any ILO General Conference. The Cook Islands, a non-UN
state, joined in June 2015.

Members of the ILO under the League of Nations automatically became members when the
organization’s new constitution came into effect after World War II.

POSITION WITHIN THE UN

The ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). As with other UN specialized agencies
(or programmes) working on international development, the ILO is also a member of the United
Nations Development Group.

OBJECTIVES
1. To promote and realize standards and fundamental principles and rights at work;
2. To create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment;

3. To enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all;

4. To strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.

These objects are realized in a number of ways:

1. Formulation of international policies and programmes to promote basic human rights, improve
working and living conditions, and enhance employment opportunities;

2. Creation of international labour standards in the form of Conventions and Recommendations,

backed by a unique system to supervise their application;
3. An extensive programme of international technical cooperation;

4. Training, education, research, and publishing activities to help advance all of these efforts.

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CONCLUSION:
Government and every member of the society has to work towards the complete removal of the
child labour. Especially as this has a direct bearing on the economy. And for any economy to really
develop and be professional tomorrow the child of today must gain right education, environment
and opportunity to develop. All corporate should as a part of corporate citizenship charter give a
pledge and declaration that they would not employ or encourage child labour. All educational
institutions especially management institutes should include in their oath of the passing out student
a commitment of not employing or encouraging child labour. Any attempt has been made through
this paper to look at the magnitude and the planning of government in India on the issue. There is
further scope of studying the sector specific implications and importance of the same. Also there is
urgent need for studying the role and perspective of the society towards child worker specifically
towards the new emerging service sectors in India. It is also suggested that a process of studying
the issue from ethical and moral perspective also. Especially since the culture of a society plays the
vital and important role in establishing the norms and laws. Government has accordingly been
taking proactive steps to tackle this problem through strict enforcement of legislative provisions
along with simultaneous rehabilitative measures. State Governments, which are the appropriate
implementing authorities, have been conducting regular inspections and raids to detect cases of
violations. Since poverty is the root cause of this problem, and enforcement alone cannot help solve
it, Government has been laying a lot of emphasis on the rehabilitation of these children and on
improving the economic conditions of their families

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