Over the last decade, the number of child workers in India has fallen dramatically. While 12.6 million children aged between five and 14 years were at work in 2001, that figure had fallen to 4.3 million in 2011.
Despite this, the past decade has seen only half-hearted legal efforts to move against child labour, experts say.
In December, as the previous government scrambled to salvage the last shreds of its dignity by passing whatever bills it could manage to push through parliament before the end of the 15th Lok Sabha, it missed one significant piece of legislation that would have transformed the discourse around child labour in India for decades.
Legal gaps
At present, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 only bans children under 14 from working in hazardous industries. The proposed amendment would have prevented children under from working at all, except to help their families after school hours. Individuals between 14 and 18 would also not be employed in hazardous industries.
The law has remained static until 2006, when the Ministry of Labour expanded its definition of hazardous industries to prevent people from employing children as domestic workers or as servers at eateries. It is, however, inadequate.
“This act in the current context is contradictory and we need to review immediately,” said Asha Bajpai, professor at the Centre for Law and Society at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. “We now have Article 21A of the Constitution [the Right to Education Act] which says that every child below the age of 14 must be in school, but if you allow them to work in non-hazardous industries, how can they be in school?”
Even as the number of child workers has dropped, child rights organisations say that the situation may be slightly worse than the authorities are willing to admit. According to estimates by Childline, a helpline for children, if the population of Indians under 18 years is considered, that number may be closer to five million.
The organisation says that there has been an increase in the number of children working in agriculture, as low-skilled adults have migrated to cities to work in sectors like construction, security and hospitality.
Service-sector boom
“Before 2003, you used to have adult migrant labour going to states like Punjab and Haryana for either harvesting or sowing,” said Nishit Kumar, communications director at Childline. “The economic boom of 2003 happened in sectors like service and construction. The bottom end of that is manned by illiterate adults. So who then replaces them in their old jobs? That is children.”
Another significant problem facing child workers is that the process of rehabilitation has not been adequately thought through. Children who are rescued from working in hazardous industries are often sucked back into the cycle because they are not monitored after being returned to their families.
“Rehabilitation should start at the time of rescue,” said Kavita Saxena, founder of the Women and Child Welfare Foundation. “Young girls often disappear between the times when commissions are deciding what to do with them.”
“When children are rescued they are sent to the Child Welfare Committees of their district,” said Nicole Menezes, co-director of Leher. “There is no follow-up mechanism. For rehabilitation, there is no data for whether the child goes back to work.”
Right to education
With the Right to Education Act, children are entitled to free and compulsory education, but even if children are sent to schools after getting rehabilitated, their education, if it exists at all, is rarely skill-based. This leaves little incentive for children themselves to stay on.
This is exacerbated by the fact that child labour is under purview of the Ministry of Labour, but child welfare is under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. This leaves a gap as the ministries pass children from the care of one to another. This is another reform activists are pushing towards.
“Child welfare schemes have to be integrated together to be effective,” said Menezes. “The government has to follow up with their child victims. The government should really overhaul the two ministries.”
Despite this, the past decade has seen only half-hearted legal efforts to move against child labour, experts say.
In December, as the previous government scrambled to salvage the last shreds of its dignity by passing whatever bills it could manage to push through parliament before the end of the 15th Lok Sabha, it missed one significant piece of legislation that would have transformed the discourse around child labour in India for decades.
Legal gaps
At present, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 only bans children under 14 from working in hazardous industries. The proposed amendment would have prevented children under from working at all, except to help their families after school hours. Individuals between 14 and 18 would also not be employed in hazardous industries.
The law has remained static until 2006, when the Ministry of Labour expanded its definition of hazardous industries to prevent people from employing children as domestic workers or as servers at eateries. It is, however, inadequate.
“This act in the current context is contradictory and we need to review immediately,” said Asha Bajpai, professor at the Centre for Law and Society at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. “We now have Article 21A of the Constitution [the Right to Education Act] which says that every child below the age of 14 must be in school, but if you allow them to work in non-hazardous industries, how can they be in school?”
Even as the number of child workers has dropped, child rights organisations say that the situation may be slightly worse than the authorities are willing to admit. According to estimates by Childline, a helpline for children, if the population of Indians under 18 years is considered, that number may be closer to five million.
The organisation says that there has been an increase in the number of children working in agriculture, as low-skilled adults have migrated to cities to work in sectors like construction, security and hospitality.
Service-sector boom
“Before 2003, you used to have adult migrant labour going to states like Punjab and Haryana for either harvesting or sowing,” said Nishit Kumar, communications director at Childline. “The economic boom of 2003 happened in sectors like service and construction. The bottom end of that is manned by illiterate adults. So who then replaces them in their old jobs? That is children.”
Another significant problem facing child workers is that the process of rehabilitation has not been adequately thought through. Children who are rescued from working in hazardous industries are often sucked back into the cycle because they are not monitored after being returned to their families.
“Rehabilitation should start at the time of rescue,” said Kavita Saxena, founder of the Women and Child Welfare Foundation. “Young girls often disappear between the times when commissions are deciding what to do with them.”
“When children are rescued they are sent to the Child Welfare Committees of their district,” said Nicole Menezes, co-director of Leher. “There is no follow-up mechanism. For rehabilitation, there is no data for whether the child goes back to work.”
Right to education
With the Right to Education Act, children are entitled to free and compulsory education, but even if children are sent to schools after getting rehabilitated, their education, if it exists at all, is rarely skill-based. This leaves little incentive for children themselves to stay on.
This is exacerbated by the fact that child labour is under purview of the Ministry of Labour, but child welfare is under the Ministry of Women and Child Development. This leaves a gap as the ministries pass children from the care of one to another. This is another reform activists are pushing towards.
“Child welfare schemes have to be integrated together to be effective,” said Menezes. “The government has to follow up with their child victims. The government should really overhaul the two ministries.”
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!