ChildLabour Synopsis (1)

UNIVERSITY NAME

LOGO

DEPARTMENT OF LAW

(Session: 2012-13)

“CHILD LABOUR”

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree

Of

P.HD

In

LAW

GUIDED BY: SUBMITTED BY:

UNIVERSITY NAME

LOGO

DEPARTMENT OF LAW

(Session: 2012-13)

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that NAMEstudent of P.HD in the academic year 2012-2013 of

this institute have completed their Dissertation Part-1 “CHILD LABOUR”and

submit a satisfactory report as a part of requirement for the award of degree of

Master of engineering from COLLEGE NAME

Guide Head of Department Director

DECLARATION

We hereby declare that the work which is being presented in the dissertation part-I report entitled

“CHILD LABOUR”

In partial fulfillment of PHD in LAW an authentic record of our own work carried out under the guidance of Asst. Prof. .The work has been carried out at University name.

I N D E X

1. ABSTRACT

2. INTRODUCTION

3. REVIEW OF LITERATURES

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

5. CONCLUSION

6. REFERENCES

ABSTRACT

Child labor is regarded as one of the most serious problems of human rights

violations in thecontemporary world. Millions of children around the world have

their rights violated every dayand this is of great concern for the international

community. The purpose of this study is tosystematically examine & evaluate child

labor in developing Indian Countries and showhow it affects children‘s ability to

access education & care in comparison to developed . One central aim is this is to

increase our understanding of new realities and aspects ofeducational approaches

in reducing child labor as well as to research the awareness of theconsequences of

child labor in developing countries. In South Asia many cross sectional

studieshave been done on children‘s labor as well as their education. But there are

few studiescomparing these findings with those from developed countries. I want,

within the frame of thisstudy to find out what the child labor situation in South

Asia is like and what measures are beingtaken with respect to child labor both,

from the local and international arena the study design is comparative,

retrospective & qualitative in nature.

Subjects over seventeen years of age are excluded from this sample. Qualitative

researchmethods employed in the study have included semi-structured interviews,

structured texts anddocuments. Various cases have been collected in a uniform

manner and these together with fieldnotes on children collected programs comprise

the main empirical basis for thediscussion and conclusions of the study, although

additional information from external sourceshave also been used.

INTRODUCTION

Child labor may be defined as all economic activity for children under the age of

12 years. Itmay also be defined as weekly economic activity lasting enough to

undermine the health and education of those aged 12-14. Additionally, it may be

defined as all "hazardous work" whichcould threaten the health of children under

the age of 18. As we see here, different frameworkshave been proposed for

defining child labor to find a solution to the problem. UNICEF defineschild labor

as work that exceeds a minimum number of hours, depending on the age of a

childand on the type of work, such work is considered harmful to the child and

should therefore beeliminated. Ages 5--11, at least one hour of economic work or

28 hours of domestic work perweek. Ages 12—14, at least 14 hours of economic

work or 28 hours of domestic work per week.

Ages 15—17, at least 43 hours of economic or domestic work per week (UNICEF

2008). Somedefine child labor based on the patterns of children‘s activities. Others

define it on the basis of the negative impact of work on children's physical, mental,

social and moral development as wellas deprivation from educational

opportunities. Childlabor involves mainly the questions of children‘s work in early

age, long working hours, hazardous working conditions and insufficient access,

attendance or progress in school.

However, there is no consensus on what child labour is and how it should be

tackled.According to UNICEF, there are today over 250 million children being

exploited for profit orforced to work. In terms of international treaties, there are

218 million children working illegallytoday. Of these children, 126 million are

engaged in hazardous work, such as mining or handlingchemicals, which is

otherwise described as the "worst forms of child labor". A further categoryknown

as "unconditional" includes even more severe forms of child labor such as

prostitution,military enrolment and slavery. This last category includes the use of

children as bondedlaborers making brick kilns, assembling boxes, polishing shoes,

stocking a store's products, orcleaning. No statistics are available for this

unconditional‘category but the numbers are likelyto be close to 10 million. Whole

generations of children are currently being deprived of thechance to take their

rightful places in the society and economy of the 21st Century.

In developing societies, many children do not have choice and control over their

work andeducation. Many from poor households work because they do not have

the same opportunities toget education as middle and upper class children. There is

one clear qualitative differencebetween child labor in South Asia from that of

Europe as well as Nordic countries. Manychildren in developing countries cannot

choose the nature and working conditions of their work,while children in Western

countries can choose for example, to work part-time to earn extrapocket money.

Another difference is that many child workers in South Asia do not

haveopportunities for leisure and play while the work children in Western

countries carry out doesnot interfere with their leisure and play activities.

The mainstream interpretation of child labour framed in the discourse of children

rightsarticulates very clearly what should characterise an ideal childhood modelled

on theconditions of the developed world and middle class families around the.

Theinterpretation is reflected in the existing international laws and policies with

provisions onchildren’s rights as well as their participation in work. On the account

of existing diversityand complexities underlying the reality of children in the

developing countries, this view ofchildhood idealized as ‘Western’ should not

simply be discounted as hegemonic. Rather, it isimportant to interrogate its

categories such as child labor; children’s rights; childhoods; andhow they are

constructed in the communities where they are enacted. In essence, it is notclear

whether people at local community levels in developing countries like

Uganda(including children, parents, and any other valued sources of local opinion),

have similarviews as reflected in both international and domestic provisions on

child labor; or havedivergent, competing, or complementary discourses regarding

what child labor means, orwhat it does not mean.

This thesis is organized into three major parts namely: i) the introduction; ii)

presentation offindings; and iii) the implications of the findings to both theory and

practice. Theintroductory part presents the context and statement of the problem,

key research issues andquestions, theoretical frame of reference, and the

methodology used in the collection, analysisand reporting of findings. The section

on findings comprises seven chapters. The first twochapters discuss the factors or

conditions that shape working childhoods. Emphasis is put onecological and

parenting factors and work undertaken by children aged 5-14 years in

fishingcommunities. The four chapters that follow examine the discourses on child

labor andrepresent the views of various actors. A specific discourse on child labor

emerging from theviews of children both working and school going children, is

also presented. The last twochapters of the findings focus on the interface between

child labor and education and theinterpretation of child labor in light of existing

laws and policies. The final part synthesizesthe findings from each chapter and

discusses their implications to both theory and practice.

LITRATURE REVIEW

The Constitution of India (26 January 1950), through various articles enshrined in

the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy, lays down

that:

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 (Article 24);

The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the

age six to 14 years. (Article 21 (A));

The State shall direct its policy towards securing that the health and strength

of workers, men and women and the tender age of children are not abused

and that they are not forced by economic necessity to enter vocations

unsuited to their age and strength (Article 39-e);

Children shall be given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy

manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and

youth shall be protected against moral and material abandonment (Article

39-f);

The State shall endeavor to provide within a period of 10 years from the

commencement of the Constitution for free and compulsory education for all

children until they complete the age of 14 years (Article 45).

Child labor is a matter on which both the Union Government and state

governments can legislate. A number of legislative initiatives have been

undertaken at both levels.

The major national legislative developments include the following:

The Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986: The Act prohibits

the employment of children below the age of 14 years in 16 occupations and 65

processes that are hazardous to the children's lives and health. These

occupations and processes are listed in the Schedule to the Act. In October

2006, the Government has included children working in the domestic sector as

well as roadside eateries and motels under the prohibited list of hazardous

occupations. More recently, in September 2008 diving as well as process

involving excessive heat (e.g. working near a furnace) and cold; mechanical

fishing; food processing; beverage industry; timber handling and loading;

mechanical lumbering; warehousing; and processes involving exposure to free

silica such as slate, pencil industry, stone grinding, slate stone mining, stone

quarries as well as the agate industry were added to the list of prohibited

occupations and processes;

The Factories Act, 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of children below

the age of 14 years. An adolescent aged between 15 and 18 years can be

employed in a factory only if he obtains a certificate of fitness from an

authorized medical doctor. The Act also prescribes four and a half hours of

work per day for children aged between 14 and 18 years and prohibits their

working during night hours.

The Mines Act, 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18

years of age in a mine. Further, it states that apprentices above 16 may be

allowed to work under proper supervision in a mine.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act, 2000: This Act

was last amended in 2002 in conformity with the UN Convention on the Rights

of the Child covers young persons below 18 years of age. Section 26 of this Act

deals with the Exploitation of a Juvenile or Child Employee, and provides in

relevant part, that whoever procures a juvenile or the child for the purpose of

any hazardous employment and keeps him in bondage and withholds his

earnings or uses such earning for his own purposes shall be punishable with

imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be

liable for fine. In some States, including Karnataka and Maharashtra, this

provision has been used effectively to bring to book many child labour

employers who are otherwise not covered by any other law and to give relief

and rehabilitation benefits to a large number of children.

The Minimum Wages Act, 1948: Prescribes minimum wages for all

employees i n all establishments or to those working at home in certain sectors

specified in the schedule of the Act. Central and State Governments can revise

minimum wages specified in the schedule. Some consider this Act as an

effective instrument to combat child labor in that it is being used in some States

(such as Andhra Pradesh) as the basis on which to prosecute employers who are

employing children and paying those lower wages.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act,

2009: Provides for free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14

years. This legislation also envisages that 25 per cent of seats in every private

school should be allocated for children from disadvantaged groups including

differently abled children.

An important judicial intervention in the action against child labor in India was the

M.C. Mehta case (1996) in which The Supreme Court, directed the Union and state

governments to identify all children working in hazardous processes and occupations,

to withdraw them from work, and to provide them with quality education. The Court

also directed that a Child Labor Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund be set up using

contributions from employers who contravene the Child Labor Act. Additionally, in

1993, the Supreme Court in Unnikrishnan v. State of Andhra Pradesh ruled that each

child has the right to free education until he or she completes the age of 14 years.

Artcle 21-A which was incorporated into the Constitution, reflects this standard. In

2005, the M.V. Foundation, an NGO working on child rights brought a public interest

litigation petition which argues that child labor up to the age of compulsory education

is unconstitutional and is a negation of rights under Article 21-A which provides for

compulsory education up to the age of 14. This case is still pending before the

Supreme Court. Notably however, under this case the Court has asked the

Government to file a status report on the implementation of SarvaShikshaAbhiyan, a

government programme providing free and compulsory education to all children. An

important judicial intervention in the action against child labor in India was the M.C.

Mehta case (1996) in which The Supreme Court, directed the Union and state

governments to identify all children working in hazardous processes and occupations,

to withdraw them from work, and to provide them with quality education. The Court

also directed that a Child Labor Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund be set up using

contributions from employers who contravene the Child Labor Act. Additionally, in

1993, the Supreme Court in Unnikrishnan v. State of Andhra Pradesh ruled that each

child has the right to free education until he or she completes the age of 14 years.

Artcle 21-A which was incorporated into the Constitution reflects this standard. In

2005, the M.V. Foundation, an NGO working on child rights brought a public interest

litigation petition which argues that child labour up to the age of compulsory

education is unconstitutional and is a negation of rights under Article 21-A which

provides for compulsory education up to the age of 14. This case is still pending

before the Supreme Court. Notably however, under this case the Court has asked the

Government to file a status report on the implementation of SarvaShikshaAbhiyan, a

government programme providing free and compulsory education to all children.

India is a signatory to the:

ILO Forced labor Convention (No. 29);

ILO Abolition of Forced labor Convention (No. 105);

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Government policies and programmes

In pursuance of India's development goals and strategies, a National Child labor

Policy was adopted in 1987 following the Child labor (Prohibition and Regulation)

Act, 1986. The national policy reiterates the directive principle of state policy in

India's Constitution. It resolves to focus general development programmers to

benefit children wherever possible and have project based action plans in areas of

high concentration of child labour engaged in wage/quasi-wage employment.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has been implementing the national

policy through the establishment of National Child labor Projects (NCLPs) for the

rehabilitation of child workers since 1988. Initially, these projects were industry

specific and aimed at rehabilitating children working in traditional child labor

endemic industries. A renewed commitment to fulfill the constitutional mandate

resulted in enlarging the ambit of the NCLPs in 1994 to rehabilitate children

working in hazardous occupations in child labor endemic districts.

The strategy for the NCLPs includes the establishment of special schools to

provide non-formal education and pre-vocational skills training; promoting

additional income and employment generation opportunities; raising public

awareness, and conducting surveys and evaluations of child labor.

The experience gained by the Government in running the NCLPs over several

years resulted in the continuation and expansion of the projects during the Ninth

Five-Year Plan (1997/02). Around 100 NCLPs were launched across the country to

rehabilitate children working in hazardous industries such as glass and bangles,

brassware, locks, carpets, slate tiles, matches, fireworks, and gems. The Central

Government made a budgetary allocation of Rs 2.5 billion (about US$57 million)

for these projects during the Ninth Five-Year Plan. The Government of India has

expanded the coverage of the NCLPs to an additional 150 districts and increase the

budgetary allocation to over Rs 6 billion (about US$131 million) during the Tenth

Five-Year Plan (2003/07). Children in the age group of 5 - 9 years were enrolled

directly under the SarvaShikshaAbhiyan or the Education for All Movement

commenced under the 10th Five Year Plan. Further, those in the age group of 9 -

14 were admitted to special schools under the NCLP schemes. Besides this,

components of healthcare and vocational training were also augmented.

Most significantly in 2001 - 02 the Government launched the

SarvaShikshaAbhiyan or the Education for All Programme which is an effort to

universalize elementary education. This programme aims to achieve the goal of

universal elementary education of satisfactory quality by 2010.

Schemes for Children under the 10th Five Year plan include the Planning

Commission's Integrated Programme for Street Children which aims to prevent the

destitution of children and engineer their withdrawal from streets by providing

facilities like shelter, nutrition, health care, education, recreation and protection

against abuse and exploitation. Accordingly to the Government, during the 10th

Five Year Plan, over 200,000 children benefitted from this.

Further, the Scheme for Working Children in Need of Care and Protection by the

Ministry of Women and Child Development provides non-formal education,

vocational training to working children to facilitate their entry into mainstream

education. This scheme has been implemented through NGOs. According to the

Government, around 7,000 children benefited from this programme from 2005 -

2007.

The strategy outlined for the 11th Five Year plan (2007 - 12) includes expanding

the NCLP scheme to ensure universal enrolment of children in the 6 - 14 age group

to cover those in the hard-to-reach segment. It also includes substantial

improvements in the quality and standard of education and teacher training.

Another notable Government initiative under the 11th plan is to amend all laws to

recognize everyone under the age of 18 as children and to take appropriate

measures to protect their rights accordingly.

In September 2009, IPEC launched a Convergence Project against Child labor

which covers 5 States - Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.

The project will demonstrate effective convergence-based models for elimination

and prevention of child labor including trafficking/migration of children in each

state.

The International laborOrganization (ILO) states that child labor may be defined in

a number of different ways, and a different definition yields a different estimate of

child labor in India as well as other countries. According to ILO, children or

adolescents who participate in work that does not affect their health and personal

development or interfere with their schooling, is not child labor; rather it may

generally be regarded as being something positive. he is also a man who their

parents around the home, assisting family or earning pocket money outside school

hours and over holidays. These kinds of activities, suggests ILO, may contribute to

children’s developmentally, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children,

or work whose schedule interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or

work that affects in any manner their ability to focus during school or experience

healthy childhood.

UNICEF defines child labor differently. A child, suggests UNICEF, is involved in

child labor activities if between 5 to 11 years of age, he or she did at least one hour

of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work in a week, and in case of

children between 12 to 14 years of age, he or she did at least 14 hours of economic

activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work per week.

UNICEF in another report suggests, "Children’s work needs to be seen as

happening along a continuum, with destructive or exploitative work at one end and

beneficial work - promoting or enhancing children’s development without

interfering with their schooling, recreation and rest - at the other. And between

these two poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a child’s

development."

India's Census 2001 office defines child labor as participation of a child less than

17 years of age in any economically productive activity with or without

compensation, wages or profit. Such participation could be physical or mental or

both. This work includes part-time help or unpaid work on the farm, family

enterprise or in any other economic activity such as cultivation and milk

production for sale or domestic consumption. Indian government classifies child

laborers into two groups: Main workers are those who work 6 months or more per

year. And marginal child workers are those who work at any time during the year

but less than 6 months in a year.

Some child rights activists argue that child labor must include every child who is

not in school because he or she is a hidden child worker. UNICEF, however, points

out that India faces major shortages of schools, classrooms and teachers

particularly in rural areas where 90 percent of child labor problem is observed.

About 1 in 5 primary schools have just one teacher to teach students across all

grades.

RESEARCH METHODOLGY

Research Design

For our research we will take up descriptive Research design as it answers the

question what is going on? A good description is a fundamental to the research

enterprise and it adds immeasurable of the shape and nature of the society.

Data Collection will be done in two phases:-

PreliminaryPhase - In the initial phase we will try to understand what child labor

law is? Below is the process we would be following:-

Secondary Phase: - Based on the outcome of the preliminary phase; a

detailed questionnaire will be developed to collect information for the study.

Sampling Technique: - All these data will help in formulating very

comprehensive case study. All sample units will be personally contacted and

interviewed.

The methodology which will be used for carrying out the report is as follows:-

Type of Data Sources: For present research work, primary as well as secondary

data will be used.

Tools for collecting Primary Data: - The information will be collected directly

1. Questionnaire and Surveys: - This will include range of response questions,

close ended questions, providing limited answers to specific responses or on

a numeric scale.

2. Interview: This will include people to interview, Develop the interview

questions including open-ended questions and close ended questions and

carefully eliminating leading questions.

Tools for collecting Secondary Data: - Various statistical tools will also be used

to analyzing the secondary data.

1. Document Review: - Obtaining the actual forms and operating documents

currently being used. Reviews blank copies of forms and samples of actual

completed forms.

2. Observation: - analyzing annual reports and press releases, verifying the

statements made during the interviews.

3. Web Search: - The information related to outside region (other part of India

and Globe) will be studied from internet to other published papers.

4. Various policies will be dealt in details by referring various government

publications and reference book, journals, published data from time to time.

CONCLUSION

So there is a need to look at every aspect of child labor, education and poverty; all

issues must beaddressed in relation to each other. The prioritization of children

which the country is talkingabout must be put on the political agenda. There is a

need to move away from using words andtowards taking affirmative action in

achieving the goals. The next step would be to develop morecoherent policies, to

ratify and implement more conventions, and addressing all the issues linkedto child

labor, education and poverty, and ensuring that they are effectively protected by

the lawsand legislation. Now this is the time that the countries should not hesitate

to admit the existence of child labor as the biggest obstacle to EFA. Denial will

never lead to solutions. Also thatMinistries of Education cannot be complacent by

saying that the issue of child labor is outsidethe domain of the Education

Ministries. This is a fundamental problem. The dominant areas ofprevalence of

child labor should be identified and special educational measures should be taken.

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World Off Track ToMeet Education Goals, 72 Million Still Out of School

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