Regulation of Child Labour in India - Overview, Legislation, and Civil Society Role

Running Head: REGULATION OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
Regulation of Child Labour in India
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1REGULATION OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
Executive Summary
Child labour happens to be an economic and social issue which has been rampant in India for
quite some time now. The Indian government has undertaken quite a few efforts to regulate
and control the issue, as has the Indian civil society, especially all the non-profit
organizations located in prominent Indian cities. This report provides an overview of what is
understood as child labour, all the factors responsible for the occurrence of child labour in
India, the legislations that have been introduced to regulate and control the issue by the
Indian government and the role undertaken by Indian civil society to spread awareness of and
combat child labour. The report concludes that a collaboration is needed between the
government and civil society to eradicate the problem of child labour from the Indian
scenario once and for all.

2REGULATION OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
Table of Contents
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................4
1.1. Understanding Child Labour in the Indian Context....................................................4
1.1.1. Definition of Child Labour......................................................................................4
1.1.2. Factors Responsible for the Existence of Child Employment in India....................5
2. Legislations that Regulate Child Labour in India...............................................................6
2.1. Factories Act (1948)....................................................................................................6
2.2. Mines Act (1952).........................................................................................................7
2.3. Child Labour Act (1986).............................................................................................7
2.3.1. Hours or Period of Work.........................................................................................7
2.3.2. Penalties...................................................................................................................8
2.4. The Juvenile Justice of Children Act (2000)...............................................................8
2.5. Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009).............................8
2.6. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act (2016).........................9
2.7. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Rules (2017)......................9
2.8. Indian Constitutional Provisions for Uplifting the Child..........................................10
3. Non-Legal Initiatives Undertaken by the Indian Government to Control and Regulate
Child Labour............................................................................................................................10
4. Role of Civil Society in Regulating Child Labour in India..............................................11
5. Conclusion........................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

3REGULATION OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
1. Introduction
Child labour refers to the whole practice of tender young children engaging in different
types of economic activity on a part or full time basis. Such practice is harmful for the mental
and physical development of children and also deprives them of their childhood. Child labour
is found to be quite prominent in India, especially in rural India, where more than eighty
percent of the children are employed in small scale if not large scale jobs. The growth of an
informal economy, the absence of good schools, and poverty, are regarded as few of the
primary causes for India’s child labour problem. Other causes include cheap wages,
accessibility to factories, which are capable of producing maximum number of goods at the
lowest rates and corruption (Phillips, 2013). According to the Indian Census Report of 2011,
the child labour population in India, comprising of small children between five to fourteen
years old, is estimated to be approximately ten million (Sharma, 2016). This report analyzes
child labour in the Indian context, provides an overview of the measures undertaken by the
Indian Executive and Legislature to regulate and control child labour in India and aims to
understand also the role played by Indian non-profit organizations and the civil society at
large, in combating the issue of child labour.
1.1. Understanding Child Labour in the Indian Context
1.1.1. Child Labour Definition
For the International Labour Organization (ILO), child labour is the type of work which
strips children off their dignity, their potential and their childhood in general, and which
dangerous for a child’s physical as well as mental development. The term is also referred to
by the ILO as work which is morally, socially, physically and mentally harmful and