Child labour in India
Conversely, children between the ages of 14 and 18 are defined as "Adolescent" and are allowed to be employed except in mining, flammable substance- and explosives-related work, and other hazardous processes, per the Factories Act of 1948.
The companies claim they have strict policies against selling products made by underage children for their own profit, but there are many links in a supply chain making it difficult to oversee them all.
Unlike any other country,[clarification needed] 23 goods were attributed to India, the majority of which are produced by child labour in the manufacturing sector.
[20] The term 'child labour', suggests ILO,[21] 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.
[24] UNICEF, however, points out that India faces major shortages of schools, classrooms and teachers particularly in rural areas where 90 percent of child labour problem is observed.
The Constitution of India in the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy prohibits child labour below the age of 14 years in any factory or mine or castle or engaged in any other hazardous employment (Article 24).
The constitution also envisioned that India shall, by 1960, provide infrastructure and resources for free and compulsory education to all children of the age six to 14 years.
Children between age of 14 and 18 are instead defined as "Adolescent", and the law allows them to be employed except in mining, flammable substance- and explosives-related work, and other hazardous processes.
This legislation also mandated that 25 percent of seats in every private school must be allocated for children from economically disadvantaged groups (though implementation gaps remained).
This Policy seeks to adopt a gradual & sequential approach with a focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations.
[31] A BBC report, similarly, concludes poverty and inadequate public education infrastructure are some of the causes of child labour in India.
According to a 2008 study by ILO,[32] among the most important factors driving children to harmful labour is the lack of availability and quality of schooling.
[45] In the 2005 ILO report, debt-bondage in India emerged during the colonial period, as a means of obtaining reliable cheap labour, with loan and land-lease relationships implemented during that era of Indian history.
[47][48] According to an ILO report, the extent of bonded child labour is difficult to determine, but estimates from various social activist groups range up to 350,000 in 2001.
[53] Child labour in India are employed with the majority (70%) in agriculture[54] some in low-skilled labour-intensive sectors such as sari weaving or as domestic helpers, which require neither formal education nor training, but some in heavy industry such as coal mining.
[55] According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are tremendous economic benefits for developing nations by sending children to school instead of work.
[9] Without education, children do not gain necessary skills such as literacy and technical aptitude that would increase their productivity to enable them to secure higher-skilled jobs in future with higher wages that will lift them out of poverty.
In the year 1999, the International Labour Organization co-published a report with Universal Alliance of Diamond Workers, a trade union.
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in a separate 1997 press release observed that child labour continued to flourish in India's diamond industry.
The South Gujarat Diamond Workers Association, another trade union, acknowledged child labour is present but it is not systematic, is less than 1% and against local industry norms.
[56] A more recent study from 2005, conducted at 663 manufacturing units at 21 different locations in India's diamond and gem industry, claims incidence rates of child labour have dropped to 0.31%.
[62] In 2011, Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu was home to over 9,500 firecracker factories and produced almost 100 percent of total fireworks output in India.
In 1989, Shubh Bhardwaj reported[64] that child labour is present in India's fireworks industry, and safety practices poor.
The child labour in small, unorganized sector operations suffered long working hours, low wages, unsafe conditions and tiring schedules.
The child labourers in manufacturing typically toil in supply chains producing for the domestic market of fireworks, matches or incense sticks.
[67] In 2012, a German news investigative report claimed that in states like Karnataka, non-governmental organisations had found up to 15,000 children working in the 1,100 silk factories in 1998.
A large number of brick kilns around Bangalore and Hosur employ bonded and child labour, under the pretext of offering high wages.
In 2018, 22 bonded labourers including children were rescued from a brick kiln near Anekal in Bangalore and the employers were arrested by the police.
[77] The Indian government has enacted a plethora of acts, laws, organizations, and institutions to combat the overwhelming prominence of child labour.
Some of the initiatives include the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act which is a piece of legislation that prohibits the engagement of children in certain employment (mostly in dangerous conditions) and regulates the conditions of work of children;[78] the National Policy on Child Labour seeks to adopt a sequential approach with focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations & processes in the first instance;[79] and the Ministry of Labour and employment functions to provide and supervise a range of policies concerning child labor in India.
