India has the largest number of working

children in the world (60- 115 million)

Estimated 15 million children are bonded

labourers* (latest figures from Human
Rights Watch -1999)

400,000 children in hazardous industries

About 300, 000 children, aged 5 to 15

forced to work in carpet industry

100,000 children, in the age group 6-14

years, are working in the diamond industry

About 5000 children, in the age group of 516 years are employed in the silk industry
of southern Karnataka

Child Prostitution: 15% of Indias estimates

2.3 million prostitutes are children

*Bonded labour is an extreme form of exploitation. It takes

place when a family receives an advance paymentto
hand a child over to an employer. (Human Rights
Watch)

INDUSTRIES EMPLOYING
CHILD LABOUR

Agriculture
Beedis
Brassware
Mining
Fireworks
Gemstones
Glassware
Silk and Textile Industry
Stone Quarries
Prostitution
Fireworks and Matches
Carpets
Domestic Workers

No Free
Time
No
Education

No Sick
Leave/Health
Care
Malnutrition

Sexual
Abuse

No Freedom
Of Movement
Emotional
Isolation
No or Little
Wage
No
Possessions
No Privacy

Forced Labour
Extreme Working
Hours
Exhaustion

Corporal
Punishment
Arbitrary
Assault

Prolonged
exposure to
hazardous
conditions, toxic
environments

Born into a caste

Sold into bondage
Transference of debt
Kidnapped
Lured by false promises
Withholding of documents, possessions
The Supreme Court of India has stated that payment
of less-than minimum wages amounts to slavery,
for all labour adult and child

Poverty is the cause of

child bonded labor.

If children do not work

their families will starve.

Child labor is a result of

over-population.

There is nothing wrong in

allowing children to work
in non-hazardous
occupations.

Child bonded labor is the

result of many complex
socio-economic factors.
Moreover, it does not solve
poverty.

In most cases, children in

bonded labor do not prevent
families from starving.

Even though population

growth has decreased, child
labor has grown.

Any job with long and hard

hours is hazardous to a
childs growth (and a large
fraction are actually
employed in hazardous
environments).

If children work, they become

equipped with skills for the
future.

Their work is monotonous,

hazardous, exhausting and
retard their development; no
skills for future are developed.

That is no reason to enslave a

child. Moreover, research has
shown substituted adult labour
would have minimal economic
impact on these industries.

Only 8% of products from child

labor in India is exported.

Enough laws and resources

exist; we lack implementation
and political will.

Industry will collapse if child

labour is not available.

A global ban on child labour

products will force the
elimination of the practice of
child labour and protect
children's rights.
Legislation prohibiting child
labour is sufficient to resolve
the problem.

Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation)

Act, 1986
The Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act
was enacted in 1986 and defines a child as "a
person who has not completed their fourteenth
year of age."
Exceptions/ Loopholes of this law:
Only

prohibits child labor in twenty-five

hazardous industries (hazardous only as defined by
adult labor standards)
Glaring

loopholes and exceptions allow

employers to violate the principles of this law
e.g. child members of the employers family can
be employed in such occupations - many
employers use extended family child members
as laborers
Tacitly

allows use of child labor, even in

hazardous occupations or industries.
The

act is also inapplicable to governmentsponsored programs

Bonded Labour System

(Abolition) Act, 1976
Abolishes the "bonded labour
system" and covers all of the
many permutations of the
bonded labor system in modern
India.

Other Laws
Factories Act, 1948
Beedi and Cigar Workers Act, 1966
Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes
Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989
Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act,
1979
Contract Labour Act, 1970
Minimum Wages Act, 1948
Plantation Labour Act, 1951
Apprentices Act, 1961
Shops and Establishments Act, 1961

U.N. Convention on the Suppression of Slave Trade and Slavery, 1926

ILO Forced Labour Convention 1930, (No. 29)
U.N. Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave
Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, 1956
ILO Abolition of Force Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)
U.N. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966
U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989
India is a party to these international human rights conventions and
is legally bound by them.
However, India has NOT yet ratified the following ILO conventions,
which are critical to eliminate child labour and bonded labour.

Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour,

1959 (No.105)
Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No.138)
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)

Actions include

Awareness Raising;
Law Enforcement;
Labour Inspection;
Educational Support;
Support for Children
and Families; and
Cooperation with
International Initiatives

Ratifying Governments must

Design, implement and monitor

programmes
Enforce the Conventions provisions,
Prevent worst forms of child labour
and remove and rehabilitate victims
Ensure access to free basic
education
Take account of the special needs of
girls and at-risk children ;
Ensure Universal Education.

India has the largest number of NGOs

working in the area of child labor and bonded
child labor; e.g.
Global March
Bachman Bacau Mandolin SACCS

Some very successful consumer campaigns

have been run by these organizations:
Pugmark
'Fair Play' In The 2002 FIFA World Cup

International NGOs
Freetheslaves.org
Iccle.org
Antislavery.org