0% found this document useful (0 votes)
5 views13 pages

childlabour

Uploaded by

Y John Samuel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
Download as pdf or txt
0% found this document useful (0 votes)
5 views13 pages

childlabour

Uploaded by

Y John Samuel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1/ 13

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/362409632

"A Critical Analysis Of Child Labour In India"

Article in International Journal of Current Research · August 2022

CITATIONS READS

9 38,634

2 authors, including:

Bindu Roy
DAV Centenary College Faridabad
27 PUBLICATIONS 99 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Bindu Roy on 02 August 2022.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.


International Journal of Current Research in Multidisciplinary (IJCRM)
ISSN: 2456-0979
www.ijcrm.com Volume 1 Issue 5 ǁ

“A Critical Analysis Of Child Labour In India”


1,
Mrs. Niti Nagar, 2,Mrs. Bindu Roy
1,2,
Assistant Professor, Dav Centenary College, Faridabad.

Abstract : Child labour is a serious problem from many decades and a challenge for many
developing countries. It has existed over the centuries not only in the impoverished areas of
developing countries but also in developed countries until the beginning of the 20 th century. Many
countries have enacted various laws and have taken serious initiative to eradicate child labour, yet
still the problem is very widespread throughout the world. The problem of child labour appears in
severe form and various factors are involved with it. The causes for the incidence of child labour in
India are complex and deeply rooted into the society. Poverty seems to be the main cause. Child
labour can be found in both urban and rural areas. However the vast majority of child labour
occurs in rural areas since poverty is more rampant. Although many poor rural families struggle
for a better life in urban areas, this pushes families to force their children to work in order to
increase the family income and ensure survival. This paper analysis the various responsible factors
for child labour and attempts to find out those areas where there is discrimination in child labour.
In addition the objective of this paper is to make a critical analysis of child labour in India. The
findings reveal that child labour was a serious evil for the developing country -India. But now as
per census report 2011, The total number of working children in the country has declined from
1.26 crore as per the census 2001 to 43.53 lakh as per census 2011 which shows 65 percent
reduction.

Keywords: child labour, forms, factors, discrimination, critical analysis

I. Introduction
For many years, child labour has been one of the biggest obstacles to social development. It is a challenge and
long-term goal in many countries to abolish all forms of child labour. Especially in developing countries, it is
considered as a serious issue these days. Child labour refers to children who miss their childhood and are not
able to have the basic amenities which a child should have. Recently the International Labour Organization
(ILO, 2013) estimated there are around 215 million children between the ages five to fourteen who work
worldwide. They are often mistreated and work for prolonged hours, in very bad conditions. This can affect
their health physically, mentally and emotionally. These children do not have the basic rights like access to
school or health care.

According to ILO (2013) the largest Numbers of child labourers are working in hazardous work and the total
number of child workers is increasing, even though it is forbidden by law. These children are vulnerable to
diseases and they struggle with long-term physical and psychological pain. The main cause that induces children
to work is poverty. These children work for their survival and their families (Mapaure, 2009). Some studies like
Dessay and pallage (2003) argue not all the work that children do is harmful or brutal. Some work may provide
successful learning opportunities, such as babysitting or newspaper delivery jobs, but not if the work exposes
them to psychological stress, like human trafficking, prostitution and pornographic activities.

The international organizations have made great efforts to eliminate child labour across the world. Many
countries have adopted legislation to prohibit child labour, nonetheless child labour is widespread throughout
the world. It is not easy task for developing countries like India to achieve banning child labour.

Meaning Of Child Labour : Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives
children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically,
socially or morally dangerous and harmful

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page 7|


A Critical Analysis Of Child

Defining child labour is not as simple and straight forward as it may appear because it encompasses three
difficult-to-define concepts “child”, “work” and “labour”.
In the context of child labour, a working definition of a “child” may be a person below the general limit of
fifteen years or in special circumstances fourteen years, set by the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No.138).
According to ILO(1983), “child labour includes children prematurely leading adulteries, working long hours for
low wages under conditions damaging to their health and to their physical and mental development, sometimes
separated from there families, frequently deprived of meaningful education and training opportunities that
would open for them a better future.”

II. Contemporary Definations Of Child Labour


Child Labour is both a cause and a consequence of poverty – the international Center on Child Labour and
education- (http://www.knowchildlabor.org).

The term child labour has many definitions by different scholars. According to Suda(2011), the term child
labour refers to when children is working in any type of work that is dangerous and harmful to children‟s health
or the work hinders their education. For Moyi(2011) child labour refers to low wages, long hours, physical and
sexual abuse. According to Edmonds and Pavcnik(2005) child labour is viewed as a form of child labour abuse,
when children work in bad conditions and hazardous occupations. The term child labour is generally interpreted
as “all cases in which children are exposed to harm at work whether or not children are less than 14 years old or
less” (UNICEF, 2005, p.10), the meanings and implications of child labour have been highly dependent on its
social, cultural, and economic contexts as well as missions, strategies, and objectives of each working
organization (Post & Sakurai, 2001; post, 2001a).

Trade unions, consumer groups and the International Labour Organization (ILO) often used “child labor” and
“child laborer” instead of “working children,” implying that children should be kept away from the labor force
at least until they reach a minimum working age on the basis of the fact that these organizations historically
tended to protect and secure adult labor markets (ILO, 1997; Post, 2001a; Myers, 1999). In other words, the
ILO's primary concern was to protect adult employment and wages, the idea that “children‟s economic freedom
should be abridged to protect the economic welfare of adults” has been reiterated implicitly in various forms of
child labor legislation. Conversely, UNICEF and UNICEF- affiliated NGOs referred to “child labor” according
to article 32 of the Conventions on the Rights of the child, in which child labor includes any economic activities
impending or hindering the child's full development or education. This UNICEF tradition continues, as these
organizations often describe child labour as “working children” (www.unicef.org).
The term 'child labour', suggests ILO, is best 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, or work whose schedule interferes
with their ability to attend regular school, or work that affects in any manner their ability to focus during war
and clubs and boutros, school or experience a healthy childhood.

III. Types Of Child Labour


Child labour is a term that needs to be unpacked: it cannot be used in a sweeping manner but covers a range and
variety of circumstances in which children work. Child labourers are involved in the following forms of works:-
 Child labour: - Those children who are doing paid or unpaid work in factories, workshops, establishment,
mines and in the service sector such as domestic labour. The ministry of Labour, Government of India has
employed the term „child labour' only in the context of children doing „hazardous‟ work. By implication,
children who are not doing „hazardous‟ work are not considered to be child labourers and are said to be
doing child work.

 Street children: - Children living on and off the streets, such as shoeshine boys, ragpickers, newspaper-
vendors, beggars etc. are called street children. Most children have some sort of home to go back to in the
evening or nights, while street children are completely alone and are at the mercy of their employers. They
live on the pavements, in the bus stations and railway stations.

 Bonded children: - Children who have either been pledged by their parents for paltry sums of money or
those working to pay off the inherited debts of their fathers. Bonded children are in many ways the most
difficult to assist because they are inaccessible. If the carpet owner has bought them, they cannot escape. If
the middle-class housewife has paid for them, they cannot run away. If the landlord in the village owns
them, they will spend their life in servitude till they get married and can, in turn, sell their children.

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page 8|


A Critical Analysis Of Child

 Working children: - Children who are working as part of family labour in agriculture and in home-based
work. If children are working 12-14 hours a day along with their parents at the cost of their education, their
situation is similar to that of children working for other employers. In fact children, particularly girls, are
expected to take on work burdens by parents in complete disproportion to their strengths and abilities. This
is the largest category of children who are out-of-school and are working full time. And it is here that we
find the largest percentage of girls working at the cost of education.

 Children used for sexual exploitation: - Many thousands of young girls and boys serve the sexual
appetites of men from all social and economic backgrounds. Direct links between the commercial sexual
exploitation of children and other forms of exploitative child labor are numerous. Factories, workshops,
street corners, railway stations, bus stops and homes where children work are common sites of sexual
exploitation. Children are especially powerless to resist abuse by employers, either as perpetrators or
intermediaries. The physical and psychosocial damage inflicted by commercial sexual exploitation makes it
one of the most hazardous forms of child labor.

 Migrant children: – India faces a huge challenge with “distress seasonal migration “. Millions of families
are being forced to leave their homes and villages for several months every year in search of livelihoods.
These migrations mean that families are forced to drop out of schools, something that closes up the only
available opportunity to break the vicious cycle generation after generation. At worksites migrant children
are inevitably put to work. Many industrial and agro- industrial sectors like brick-making, salt manufacture,
sugar cane harvesting, stone quarrying, construction, fisheries, plantations, rice mills and so on run largely
on migrant labour.

 Children engaged in household activities: – Apart from children who are employed for wages (either
bonded or otherwise) as domestic help, there are a large number of children (especially girls) who are
working in their own houses, engaged in what is not normally seen as “economic activity”. These children
are engaged in taking care of younger siblings, cooking, cleaning and other such household activities. As
seen in the literature on women‟s work, such activities need to be recognized as „work‟. Further, if such
children are not sent to school, they will eventually join the labour force as one of the above categories of
child labour.
IV. Review Of Literature
Krveger (1996) has showed evident trend from cross-country sample, that low income households are more
likely to send their children to labour market which is uncommon in richer household. Basu et.at. (1999) has
found that during the beginning up the Industrial Revolution children were forced to work around family farms
in factories , tending crops or preparing food . They worked in Industries and their working conditions were
very dangerous and often deadly. At that time the industry preferred children to work because children provided
cheap labour and more malleable workers. Bass (2004) has analyzed the frequency of child labour in developed
as well as developing countries. Indeed child labour was almost completely reduced from the developed world.
However currently child labour still continues because of rapid population growth, high rates of unemployment,
inflation, poverty, malnutrition, bad leadership, corruption and low wages.

Serwadda Luwaga (2005) has described that child labour is taking place all over the world particularly in low
income countries and these children are working in all sectors of economy, such as, agriculture, manufacturing,
fishing, construction, domestic service, street vending etc. children are normally unregistered as employers and
working in a very poor and dangerous condition without social protection. Lavison and Murray (2005) have
reported that child labour are involved in many different forms of works which include risks and hazards. These
children are vulnerable to physical pain and injury particularly being exposed to health hazard. Omokhodion and
Odusote (2006) have attempted to report that any work that children does outside home is classified as child
labour. According to them, working outside home is usually exposed to environmental hazards which may affect
their health and safety. Fasih (2007) has started that child labour creates unskilled and uneducated labour which
affects country‟s development and economy.
Bhat (2010) has described the definition of child labour. He has said that it is not simple because It includes
three difficult concepts to define which are „child‟ „labour‟ and „work‟. He has also claimed that the term of
childhood could be defined by age but in some societies, people ceased to be a child at different ages. Bilal
Ahmad Bhat (2010) tried to analyse the importance of education in the context of child labour .He tried to find
out the impact of child labour on children‟s school attendance. He suggested some solutions to overcome child
labour with the help of education. Bhat (2011) has reported the first legislation came to ban child labour in 1833
and 1844 .It complied that children should not work , and the idea was to remove all children should not work,

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page 9|


A Critical Analysis Of Child

and the idea was to remove all children from labour which interfered with school. However many children as
child labour which was prohibited by law continued to be involved. Aqil (2012) has analyzed that when parents
have worked in their childhood, their children will work as well, passing it from generation to generation. Then
once they are grown, they become uneducated and low skilled. That‟s why Parents Education plays a vital role
in children education as it can increase the possibility for their children to have a good education.
Das (2012) has reported that the incidence of child labourers throughout the world is difficult to verify because
of the lack of reliable statistics of child labour and many child labourers are invisible.

V. Objectives
The objectives of this paper are:
1) To analyze the various responsible factors for child labor.
2) To find out those areas where there is gender discrimination in child labor.
3) To make a critical analysis of child labor in India.

VI. Research Methodology


The research design of this paper is based on descriptive studies. The study is based on primary data and
secondary data. Observation method is used to meet the second objective of the study. To fulfill the third
objectives, the researchers have used analytical term. The analytical study is based on the data of last five
decades from 1971 to 2011.

VII. Socio-Economic Factors Related To Child Labour


There are some socio-economic factors that causes child labour –

1) Poverty as root cause : Different circumstances affect the child labour. Studies have demonstrated that the
most notable reason is poverty (Bhat & Rather, 2009). Decisions about child labour and schooling are
generally made by parents. If the family‟s income below the poverty line, parents think that children should
also contribute in their family income. Basu (1998) used a theoretical model of child labour, where he
showed the only reason parents send children to labour is because of their low income. Consequently poor
parents cannot afford schooling for their children. Thus, mainly poor households are to send forced their
children to labour instead of sending to school.

2) Family size : In fact, the involvement of children in large poor households usually more rather than smaller
households which demonstrates family size have an effect on child labour. Parents oblige their children to
work because they are not able to manage the demands of a large size family. There are also gender
differences among household size. Not everyone and of all age in the family are working as child labour,
which depends on the child's age and gender, for example boys are more likely to attended to school than
girls.

3) Family condition : There are many growing children who have either lost one or both the parents and those
impacted by HIV/AIDS in the family, are forced to work in order to support themselves and their siblings.
The numbers of orphaned children are increasing particularly in sub Saharan Africa, many whom become
street children, and live in very difficult circumstances. (Vandenberg, 2007).

4) Traditional or cultural factors : Culture is another factor which forces children into labour market.
Different cultures of many societies make children start work at very young age which are related to
traditions and cultural factors. They assumed that children need to learn skills that can be good for their
future. According to Tauson (2009) in rural Guatemala; parents prefer their children to work because they
considered it beneficial for them as they learn work skills.

5) Corruption : Corruption is the one of major cause for abusing resources, wherever there is poverty; there
is also corruption (Murphy, 2005). According to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2012)
“Corruption exacerbates poverty and inequality, undermines human development and stability and sustains
conflict, violates human rights, and erodes the democratic functioning of countries”. Corruption can have
hugely negative effect on children‟s right that deprives basic services such as health care, education and
infrastructure. Corruption can diminish children‟s ability to escape poverty.

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page


10|
A Critical Analysis Of Child

6) Civil war : The civil war is another factor contributing to child labour. The war destroys the economy of
the country, people become much poor and all resources go to the war. Wars burn all good things that any
country could have. It brings diseases, poverty, damages, and many other horrible things. Again, no help
will be of use as long as the war is continues.

7) Urban migration : Many rural families migrate to urban areas because of rural push and urban pull
factors. As a consequence of that, they are often forced to live and work in the street as they lack access
to basic requirements such as food; shelter etc. and these children become street workers as vendors.
Mostly street workers are vulnerable to violence and become more susceptible to illegal works, such as
stealing, trafficking, drugs and prostitution (Yadav & Sengupta, 2009). These children live in urban
poverty; many child labourers live in unhealthy poor conditions slum areas and work in poor
environment such as domestic work, or work in hotels and restaurants etc. (Serwadda- Luwaga, 2005)

This means that the population is increasing in cities due to immigration and natural growth. Urban
poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon. Urban poverty in developing countries faces many
challenges in their daily lives. Many poor people are living under great hardship, due to unemployment,
housing shortages, violence and unhealthy environments. Increased urbanization has resulted in
poverty in the cities. Urban poverty raises slums. These areas are characterized by high unemployment,
poor sanitation, inadequate access to clean drinking water and inadequate housing.

8) Globalization : Globalization is another cause of child labour. Globalization has positive and negative
impacts, nevertheless; globalization might give developing countries the opportunity to increase their
gross domestic production (GDP) per capita via new trade possibilities and ascend their foreign direct
investment (FDI) inflows. Globalization also has brought adverse impacts on child labour in
developing countries. In recent years, many international companies moved their production abroad.
These companies often indulge in hiring children as cheap labours as they are endurable, and Carry out
commands given by their employers even if they‟re abused and exploited (Mapaure, 2009). Mishra
(2012) claims that in India, globalization has obliged more children to work in hazardous occupations
like brick kiln, motor garage, hotels, shops, transportation, manual loading work etc.

9) Relationship between child labour, Family income and Education : Lack of education or poor
quality education is another factor that contribute to high incidence of child labour. Education is
considered one of the main alternatives to abolish child labour. Practically family income affects
children‟s education and poor parents cannot afford to pay for children however, children are compel to
work and are less enrolled.

10) The opportunity costs of education : The cost of education is another problem amongst poor
households. This has contributed to the exploitation of children. Schools need to be affordable and
accessible. Kondylis and Marco (2006) assume, that schools available in developing countries may
help to increase school enrollment but may not reduce the incidence of child labour. Bhat (2010)
argues that the quality education can help to keep children away from work, consequently it is
important for a school to have educated teachers ratio in the classrooms. However for many poor
parents it can be costly to send their children to school, as they families live on children‟s income and
cannot afford school fees, uniforms or other additional costs. (Bhat-2010). This is a problem in
developing countries to provide quality free education because it will cost money for governments
(Budhwani et al. 2004).

Areas Of Gender Discrimination In Child Labour– : Discrimination is also present amongst child labor
themselves. Older children may discriminate against younger children, foreign or minority children or children
from a different caste. The sex division of labour of adults is also reflected in children‟s occupation.

Meaning of gender difference: While studying issue of gender difference, it is important to keep in mind that
the term of “gender” is different from term “sex”. “Sex” means the biological differences between male and
female that do not change. The way of treatment of boys and girls and their expected behavior are based on
gender differences. The activities that boys and girls are expected to do are referred to as their gender roles. For
example- A person is not born being able to do beautiful needle work and art of cooking but he/she can learn
how to do it but in most cultures, it is found that girls are taught these activities rather than boys. “Gender”

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page


11|
A Critical Analysis Of Child

refers to the learned, social differences and relations between girls and boys. Process of socialization through
which children learn how to behave is not gender- neutral but shapes the various roles and responsibilities of
boys and girls are assigned which is based on their sex. As children grow up, they follow the behavior of people
around them such as parents, relatives, neighbors and teachers and reproduce the existing social differences
between men and women. For example- A boy often acts in a manner that is consistent with the way he has seen
other boys and men around him behaving.

Factors affecting gender difference: Gender affected by factors like age, class/caste, race, ethnicity, location
(rural or urban), culture, religion, socio-economic factors to determine what opportunities present themselves to
young people and the working conditions.

Reasons of gender differences in child labour : Existence of gender difference can be seen in child labour.
Hence, it is necessary to check out the different factors related to this. Gender differences usually depend on
different cultural determinants, family background and tradition of the work culture assigned to boys and girls.
There is a discrimination of work between boys and girls. Boys may often be engaged towards sectors like
automobile, fishing & mining and construction etc. because such nature of job is considered as heavy work and
girls are motivated to do domestic work and lighter work like in Textile Industry usually women are employed.
This discrimination is based on biological factors which is baseless.

The involvement of boys and girls in different areas (as per general observation)-

Areas Involvement of boys and girls as child labourer


1. Domestic work Girls are more involved rather than boys
2. Dhabas / restaurants / hotels / Boys are more involved rather than girls
3. Agarbati, dhoop and detergent making Approximate equal involvement of boys and girls
4. Paan, bidi and cigarettes Boys are more involved rather than girls
5. Spinning / weaving Girls are more involved rather than boys
6. Construction Boys are more involved rather than girls
7. Brick – Kline, tiles Boys are more involved rather than girls
8. Jewellery Boys are more involved rather than girls
9. Carpet making Boys are more involved rather than girls
10. Automobile, vehicle, repairs Boys are more involved rather than girls

Work Participation Of Children As Per Nss

Work Participation of children

Distribution of (per 1000) of persons by principal usual activity category

Age (in Rural Urban Total


NSS
years) Male Female Male Female Male Female
5-9 2 1 2 1 2 1
2004-05
10-14 54 49 44 24 52 43
5-9 2 1 0 0 1 1
2009-10
10-14 27 21 24 8 26 18

If we compare the above data of 2004-2005 and 2009-2010, it is observed that the child labor has declined both
in the age group of 5-9 and 10-14. Similarly the work participation of children has decreased, both in rural and
urban areas. But the involvement of male persons is more than the involvement of female person both in rural
and urban areas. As per the statistics, child labor appears to be more in villages than in urban areas. Nine out of
ten village children are employed in agriculture or household industries and craftwork. Due to urbanization,

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page


12|
A Critical Analysis Of Child

more children are getting in to the service and trading sectors rather than marketing. To differentiate on the basis
of gender, it is considered that more boys are employed in laborious activities than girls. This consideration is
made based on the fact that it is difficult to take a count of girls working in households.

Critical Analysis Of Child Labour In India :As per the census 2011, the total number of child labor in the
country has reduced by 65 percent. The government also said that elimination of child labor was its “priority”.
The total number of working children in the country has declined from 1.26 crore as per the census 2001 to
43.53 lakh as per census 2011 which shows 65 percent reduction.

Year Child labor as reported by census


1971 to 2011
1971 10753985
1981 13640870
1991 11285349
2001 12666377
2011 4353247

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page


13|
A Critical Analysis Of Child

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page


14|
A Critical Analysis Of Child

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page


15|
A Critical Analysis Of Child

Note:

* 1971 Census figures of Assam includes figures of Mozoram


** Census Could not be Conducted
*** Census figures 1971 in respect of Mozoram included under Assam
**** includes marginal workers also

States with Maximum %age of Child labour as per Census 1971-2011 in age group 5-14 yrs

Statistics of child labour in India:

As per census reports, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra are top five
states where no. of child labour is more than other states. The highest jump in terms of percentage is of Uttar
Pradesh where child labour increased by 12% to 21%. More than 300000 children are estimated to be trapped
in India‟s carpet industry. Most of India‟s carpets are woven in Uttar Pradesh where the majority of workers are
low-caste Hindu boys. As per the previous records, the child laborers were mostly working in agriculture, paan
(betel), bidi, construction, domestic work, spinning, and weaving sector etc. The priority of the government is
to eliminate child labor especially in hazardous occupations. Indian law specifically defines 64 industries as
hazardous and it is a criminal offence to employ children in such hazardous industries. In 2001, an estimated 1%
of all child workers, or about 120,000 children in India were in a hazardous job. Notably, Constitution of India
prohibits child labour in hazardous industries (but not in non-hazardous industries) as a Fundamental Right
under Article 24. Additionally, various laws and the Indian Penal Code, such as the Juvenile Justice (care and
protection) of Children Act-2000, and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Abolition) Act-1986 provide a basis in
law to identify, prosecute and stop child labour in India. India formulated a National Policy on Child Labour in
1987. This Policy seeks to adopt a gradual & sequential approach with a focus on rehabilitation of children
working in hazardous occupations. It envisioned strict enforcement of Indian laws on child labour combined
with development programs to address the root causes of child labour such as poverty. In 1988, this led to the
National Child Labour Project (NCLP) initiative. This legal and development initiative continues, with a current
central government funding of Rs. 6 billion, targeted solely to eliminate child labour in India. The Ministry of
Labour and Employment had implemented around 100 industry-specific National Child Labour Projects to
rehabilitate the child workers since 1988.

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page


16|
A Critical Analysis Of Child

Under this scheme, children in the age group of 9-14 years are rescued from hazardous occupations and enrolled
in NCLP special training center which has provisions for bridge education, vocational, training, mid-day meal,
stipend, health care and others before being mainstreamed into formal education system. A 2009–10 nationwide
survey found child labour prevalence had reduced to 4.98 million children (or less than 2% of children in 5–14
age groups). The 2011 national census of India found the total number of child labour, aged 5–14, to be at 4.35
million and the total child population to be 259.64 million in that age group. The decrease in number of children
working is an encouraging sign, and suggests the effectiveness of the schemes (direct or indirect like focus on
primary school enrollment under “The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act” of 2009)
implemented by the Government though other reasons including social awareness and economic growth are also
playing a role. Many NGOs like Bachpan Bachao Andolan, ChildFund, CARE India, Talaash
Association, Child Rights and You, Global march against child labour, RIDE India, Child line etc. have been
working to eradicate child labour in India.

VIII. Conclusion
In 2015, the country of India is home to the largest number of children who are working illegally in various
industrial industries. Agriculture in India is the largest sector where many children work at early ages to help
support their family. Many of these children are forced to work at young ages due to many family factors such
as unemployment, a large number of family members, poverty, and lack of parental education. This is often the
major cause of the high rate of child labour in India. A variety of Indian social scientists as well as the Non-
Governmental Organization (NGOs) have done extensive research on the numeric figures of child labour found
in India and determined that India contributes to one-third of Asia‟s child labour and one-fourth of the world's
child labour. Due to a large number of children being illegally employed, the Indian government began to take
extensive actions to reduce the number of children working, and to focus on the importance of facilitating the
proper growth and development of children. Due to the increase of regulations and legal restrictions on child
labour, there has been a 65 percent decline in child labour from 2001 to 2011. Although this is a great decrease
in the country of India, there is still high numbers of children working in the rural areas of India. With 85
percent of the child labour occurring in rural areas, and 15 percent occurring in urban areas, there are still
substantial areas of concern in the country of India.

References
1. Aqil, Zahid, “Nexus between poverty and child labour: Measuring the impact of Poverty Alleviation on
Child Labour”. Good thinkers Organization for Human Development, kasur, 2012.
2. Ahmad (2012) carried out a research in Aligarh city of Uttar Pradesh in India, where he assumes that poor
children under the age of fourteen years are obliged to work in different sector.
3. Bhatt, Bilal Ahmad, “Gender, education and child labour- A sociological perspective” Centre of Central
Asian Studies, University of Kashmir, J&K, vol. 5(6): 2010 pages-323-328.
4. Bhatt, Bilal Ahmad, “Child labour in the cotton industry of Uzbekistan: a sociological study”, Centre of
Central Asian Studies, University of Kashmir, vol.54, issue no. 1,.2011, pages 84-99
5. Bhat BA and Rather TA., “Child labour in the handicrafts home industry in Kashmir- a sociological study”,
Int NGO J, 4(9).2009, 391-400
6. Bass.L.E., “Child labour in Sub-Saharan Africa Lynne”: Reiner Publisher, 2004.
7. Basu, k, “Child labor: consequences, and cure, with Remarks on International labor Standards” journal of
Economic Literature, vol. XXXVII.U, 1999.
8. Basu,k. And P.H.Van, “The Economic of Child Labor,” American Economic Review, 88, 1998, 412-427.
9. Das, Saswati, “Incidence of child labor and child schooling jn India: Pattern and Determinants,” ISRN
Economics. Vol.2, 2012.
10. Dash, Vishnu Mohan, “Factors contributing the incidence of child labor in Small Scale Commercial
Establishment: A study in Delhi”, OIDA International Journal of Sustainable development, Vol.05, No.12,
2013, pp.41-58.
11. Dessy, Sylvain and Pallage, Stephane, “ A Theory of the Worst Forms of Child labor” ,The Economic
Journal 115(500), 2003, pp.68-87.
12. Fasih T., “Analyzing the impact of Legislation on child labor in Pakistan” World Bank Policy Research
Working Paper No.4399, 2007.
13. International Labor Organization. (2012). Tackling child labour: From commitment to action International
Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) - Geneva: vol.1.
14. International Labour Organization, (2013). World Report on Child Labor Economic Vulnerability, some
protection and the fight against child labour.Geneva.

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page


17|
A Critical Analysis Of Child

15. Kondylis, Florence: Manacorda, Marco, " Marco proximity and child labor” evidence from rural Tanzania
University of Wisconsin Press.vol.47.1, 2006, p.32-63.
16. Krueger,A., “Observations on International Labor Standards and Trade,” NBER Working Paper series,
Working Paper 5632, 1996
17. Levison Deborah, Murray- Close Marta, “Challenges in determining how child work affects child health.”
Public Health Report, volume 120, 2005.
18. Mapaure, Clever, “Child labor: A Universal problem from a Namibian perspective” in Oliver C Ruppel,ed,
Children‟s Rights in Namibia, Windhoek: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 2009.
19. Mishra, L., “History of Labour Rights”, Social Change, no.42 .vol.3, 2012, pp.335-357.
20. Movi, Peter, “Child labor and school attendance in Kenya”, Educational Research and Reviews, Vol.6(1),
2011 pp.26-35.
21. Murphy, Damien (2005), Eliminating Child Labor through Education: The Potential for Replicating the
Work of the MV Foundation in India, Centre for Development Studies, University College Dublin.
22. Omokhodion, F.O.,S.I. Omokhodion, and T.O. Odusote, “Perceptions of child labor among Working
Children in Ibadan, Nigeria” Child: Care, Health & Development 32(3):281-286, 2006.
23. Serwadda- Luwaga, james, “Child labor and scholastic retardation”, A thematic analysis of the 1999 Survey
of Activities of Young People in South Africa. Thesis (MA (Demography) University of Pretoria, 2005.
24. Tauson, Michelle (2009). “Child Labor in Latin America -Poverty as cause and effect”.
25. United Nations Development Programme (2012). Seeing Beyond the State: Grassroots Women‟s
perspectives on Corruption and Anti-Corruption.Institution: UNDP.
26. Yadav, S., and Sengupta. G, “Environmental and Occupational Health Problems Of child Labor: some
issues and challenges for future.” J.Hum Ecol.28.2, 2009.
27. Yadav, S. and Sengupta, G., (2009), contend that children are more vulnerable than adults due to their brain
of the child is not fully developed.

Internet resources:
www.unicef.org.
www.workingchild.org.
www.ilo.org.
http://www.knowchildlabor.org.
Website of ISO

| Volume 1| Issue 5 | www.ijcrm.com |Page


18|

View publication stats

You might also like