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ANALYSIS OF CHILD LABOUR LEGISLATION IN INDIA AUTHORED BY: SRISAMUTHRA.A. & RASHMI SHRI.R.S.ANALYSIS OF CHILD LABOUR LEGISLATION IN INDIA BY: SRISAMUTHRA.A. & RASHMI SHRI.R.S.
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ANALYSIS OF CHILD LABOUR
LEGISLATION IN INDIA
AUTHORED BY: SRISAMUTHRA.A. &
RASHMI SHRI.R.S.
BISHOP COTTON WOMEN’S CHRISTIAN LAW
COLLEGE, BENGALURU
ABSTRACT:
Children are the biggest gift to
their family ?and they are also future pillars of our nation. But due to the
various factors they become child laborers. Once they become child labourers
they miss so many things which they are supposed to get and experience during
their childhood. Recently a lot of labour legislations are formed for the
protection of child labourers. Protection of rights of children are also
guaranteed by the constitution of India. These child labourers also face a lot
of consequences such as injuries, physical abuse, lack of education etc. Thus,
it is a biggest challenge to the world to eliminate child labour.
INTRODUCTION:
Children are considered and childhood
is typically meant for learning, bonding and exploring. It can be said that
carving childhood paves way for a better future. The law provides people below
14 years of age are children and hiring them under any kind of work or
occupation is known as child labour. However there are certain exceptions to
this restriction. The law provides as to where a child can be employed and
where a . The Indian government has enacted various acts to prohibit employment
of children and to enhance their welfare. However in India the children are
constantly being exploited. The major reason for child labour is due to poor
socio-economic conditions and often children are forced to work by their own
parents to meet their daily expenses.
CHILD LABOUR:
Child labour is one of the worst concepts which is
happening in most of the countries all over the world. In 2013,International
Labour organisation made an estimation that around 215 million children who are
5 to 14 years of age works as child labour all over the world. Child labour
means group of children who are too young working in hazardous places i.e)
engaged in hazardous activities such as working in mines, engaged in activities
which deals with chemicals and pesticides etc. These children are incapable of
getting their basic amenities also which they are supposed to get.
Some of the definitions of child labour are,
(i) Children who are engaged in work unsuitable for their
capacities as children or in work that may jeopardize their health,
education or moral development and whose age is below 14
years. Children who practice and engage in economic activities, on a
part or full-time basis.
(ii) The practice deprives children of their childhood and
is harmful to their physical and mental
development and
(iii) Child labourers constitute a group of working
children who are either too young to work or are engaged in
hazardous activities- that is, work that is potentially
harmful to their physical, social, psychological or educational development”[1]
CONSTITUTIONAL
PROVISIONS:
Article 15 (3)
The State is empowered to make the
special provisions relating to children, which will not be violative of the right
to equality [2].
Article 21
No person shall be deprived of his
life or personal liberty, except according to procedure established by law. The
Supreme Court held that “life? includes free from exploitation and to live a
dignified life[3].
Article 21A (Right to Education)
The State shall provide free and
compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years, in
such manner as the State may, by law, determine. Where children are allowed to
work, in such establishment, it is the duty of employer to make provisions for
the education of child labourer.[4]
Article 23
Traffic in human beings and beggar
and other similar forms of forced labour are prohibited and any contravention
of this prohibition shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.[5]
Article 24 (Prohibition of Employment
of Children in Factories, etc.)
No child below the age of 14 years
shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other
hazardous employment
The Supreme Court held that
“hazardous employment” includes construction work, match boxes and fireworks
therefore; no child below the age of 14 years can be employed. Positive steps
should be taken for the welfare of such children as well as for improving the
quality of their life.[6]
Article 39 (e)
The State shall, in particular,
direct its policy towards securing the health and strength of the tender age of
children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity
to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength[7].
Article 39 (f)
The State shall, in particular,
direct its policy towards securing that children are given opportunities and
facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and
dignity; and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and
against moral and material abandonment[8].
Article 45
The State shall endeavour to provide
early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age
of six years.[9]
Article 51A (e)
It shall be the duty of every citizen
of India, who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to
his child or ward as the case may be, between the age of six and fourteen years.[10]
In the case of People’s Union for
Democratic Rights v. Union of India and Others,[11]
The Supreme Court observed that it was a clear breach of Article 24 of the
Constitution to employ children below the age of 14 in construction work. The
court proceeded to prohibit any kind of violation of Articles 23 and 24 and
further laid emphasis on strict observance of fundamental rights by private
individuals and spoke strongly against any form of forced labour.
The Supreme Court, in the case of
Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India & Others[12],
took into cognizance the employment of children in the carpet manufacturing
industry in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh. It instructed the District magistrate to
conduct raids, and subsequently got 144 children, who were under the forced
custody of the owners, released.
M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu and
Others,[13] the
Supreme Court gave directions to the government to eliminate child labour,
which included the conducting of surveys for the identification of working children,
ensuring the withdrawal of children working in hazardous industries and
ensuring their education in appropriate institutions. In cases where a child
was withdrawn from work, the Supreme Court directed the Government to ensure
that at least one adult member of the child’s family receives employment.
REASONS FOR CHILD LABOUR
Children are
supposed to work as child labourers because of
many socio-economic factors. They are
i) Poverty:
One of the important factors of child labour is poverty.
Because of poverty people are unable to support themselves well, they can't
afford proper education for their children and even it is very difficult to run
their day-to-day life. So, such families without any choices send their
children to work in hazardous places, factories etc.
ii) Lack of education:
Today also in so many villages people are unable to send
their children to school because there are lack of facilities for education and
if they also wish to get education they have to cross through so many
obstacles. And they are also not aware of their rights, so because of
illiterate and to reduce poverty in their family they send their children to
work as child labour.
iii) Backwardness:
Socio-economic
backwardness is one of the main reasons for child labour. Though the world is
developing there are also many places where people are not developed.
Illiteracy, lack of living standard, unemployment etc. are some of the grounds that cause roots to child labour.
iv) Family Size:
If a family is
large, then there must be high income to maintain it.Parents are responsible
for the maintenance of children, but due to large family size they may not be
able to meet the demands of the family at such circumstance they send their
children to work.And in that too, family places gender discrimination, in most
of the places girls often go to work with their parents, and they send boys in
the family to school.
v)Tradition:
Tradition is one of
the essential factors of creating child labour. In our society there are
different cultures, in some families they have a culture that children after
their certain age must go to work. They believe that making children to work
will improve their skills. They think that it will make their children more
diligent and wise in future but they forgot that it will affect their
children’s childhood.
LLEGISLATION FOR CHILD LABOUR:
The State Governments, which are the appropriate
implementing authorities, are conducting regular inspections to detect cases of
violations. Since poverty is the root cause of child labour growth, the
Government is putting a lot of emphasis on rehabilitation of these children and
improving the economic condition of their families.
Some of the significant child labour legislations are,
Some of the significant child labour legislations are,
i)The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act 1933: If parents
pledge their children as labourers then this act will impose penalties on
parents.
ii) Employment of Children Act 1938: This act prohibits
employment of children in certain industries.
iii) The Factories Act of 1948: This Act prohibits that
children below the age of 14 years should not be employed in any factory
iv) The Plantations Labor Act 1951: This Act prohibits
children below 12 years of age.
v)The Mines Act of 1952: This act prohibits employment of
children below 18 years of age.
vi) The Motor Transport Workers Act 1961: In this act
children below 15 years of age are prohibited from employment in any motor
transport undertaking.
vii) The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)Act,1986:
This act regulates employment of children and employment of children in certain
employments.
vii) The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of
Children Act of 2000 : This act states that employing a child in a hazardous
area is a crime and is also punishable.
viii) The Right to Children for Free and Compulsory
Education Act of 2009: This act states that children below 6 to 14 years must
get compulsory education.
ix) The Formulation of a new National Child Labour Policy
x)The setting up of Taskforce on Child Labour
xi) The Adoption of Convention on the Rights of the Child
CONSEQUENCE OF CHILD LABOUR:
When children
becomes child labour we face lot of problems which affects them till the end of
their life.
Some of them are,
i)Injuries:
When child laborers engage in work they face accidents
like fractures, internal injuries etc which affects them during their lifetime.
ii)Physical abuse:
Child labourers faces lot of physical abuses such as
corporal punishment and also emotional maltreatment etc. Young girls face
sexual abuse problems by adults, and because of that sexually they get
transmitted diseases. Children also get used to drugs and alcohol. And at times
they are also not provided with proper food, treatment, shelter etc.
Lack of education:
Children due to work activities had no time to
go to school because of that they are not getting proper education, this is
also one of the reasons which leads their life towards poverty.
CONCLUSION:
Thus, child labour is the biggest issue and it
is a strong challenge before the nation. Poverty, lack of education, family
size, tradition and backwardness are the various reasons why children become
child labourers.
When children are employed in
hazardous areas they will be affected by a lot of health issues such as skin
problems and while inhaling toxic gas they get exposed to that. When children
becomes child labour due to various factors they forget to get so many things
in life such as education, childhood etc. When these children are engaged in
work it not only affects their physical health but also mental health. And
in most of the places employers take children
as labourers for employers advantage i.e., they can pay less for the children
in the workplace and children are not likely to demand high wages like adults.
So that employers will gain high profit by paying low wages. Thus, Government
of India has framed so many policies for the eradication of child labour. Most
of the labour legislation are also formed for the welfare of child labour and
also for its proper regulation.
[1] United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (October,2013)
.Impact of Unpaid Household Services on the Measurement of Child Labour,
Statistics and Monitoring Section, Division of Policy and Strategy.
[2] Article 15(3) of THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA,1950
[3] Article 21 A of THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA,1950
[4] Article 21A of THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA,1950
[5] Article 23 of THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA,1950
[6] Article 24 of THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA,1950
[7] Article 39(e) of The CONSTITUTION OF INDIA,1950
[8] Article 39(f) of THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA,1950
[9] Article 45 of THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA,1950
[10] Article 51A(e) of THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA,1950
[11] AIR 1982 SC 1473
[12] AIR 1984 SCC 802
[13] AIR 1997 SC 699
Article Information
ANALYSIS OF CHILD LABOUR LEGISLATION IN INDIA AUTHORED BY: SRISAMUTHRA.A. & RASHMI SHRI.R.S.ANALYSIS OF CHILD LABOUR LEGISLATION IN INDIA BY: SRISAMUTHRA.A. & RASHMI SHRI.R.S.
Authors: SRISAMUTHRA.A., RASHMI SHRI.R.S.
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/05/06
- Volume 2
- Issue 7
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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
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