Measures to Prevent Child Labour in India

Unfortunately, child labour is a prevalent social evil all over the world. It continues to pose as a problem to governments worldwide. The term ‘child labour’ is used to refer to the work which not only robs children of their childhood, but also has a negative impact on the dignity and self-respect of the child. Child labour is detrimental to the physical and mental development of a child. It refers to any form of work which is physically, mentally, socially or morally harmful for children.

Being engaged in child labour results in children being forced to drop out of school and discontinue their education. Child labour spans across various sectors such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, domestic service etc. Social issues such as poverty and illiteracy are often linked to the perpetuation of child labour. Other factors such as existing social norms, lack of decent work opportunities, situations of emergencies and natural calamities, lack of awareness, lack of access to basic education and job opportunities etc. are also responsible for the practice of child labour. It has been estimated by the International Labour Organization (ILO) that around 150 million children worldwide are still engaged in child labour.

 Children are extremely vulnerable, and therefore easy to get exploited.. They are employed as they provide cheap labour and are unaware of their rights. Child labourers are at risk of facing immense physical, psychological and emotional trauma. Child labour is a practice which negatively impacts the development, health and well-being of all children.

As per the 2011 Census of India, it was found that there are more than 10.2 million children ‘economically active’ in child labour between the ages of 5-14. Out of this, 8 million children were estimated to be working in rural areas, whereas around 2 million children were estimated to be working in urban areas.

Millions of children engaged in child labour are deprived of their childhood, health and better future prospects. Child labour is a serious violation of child rights, and that is why there have been several measures toprevent child labour in India. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986) was established and then further amended over the subsequent decades, “to prohibit the engagement of children in certain employments and to regulate the conditions of work of children in certain other employments”.

Save the Children is one of India’s leading NGOs advocating for child rights. We run various programmes across multiple states of India to spread awareness about the evils of child labour. Save the Children believes that every child deserves access to basic education, healthcare and nutrition in order to create a better life for themselves.