A STUDY OF THE EXTENT OF CHILD LABOUR IN

RURAL INDIA

NAME:- KABITA SAHU ENROLLMENT NO:-165064003

COURSE:-MARD CENTER CODE:-2134

GUIDED BY:-DR.RABINDRA KUMAR MISHRA

INTRODUCTION
CHILD LABOUR is a global phenomenon; no country or region is immune.
Ten years after launching a worldwide campaign against child labour, the
International Labour Office (ILO) has launched a comprehensive new look at
the problem. The findings are cause for concern; despite” significant
progress” in efforts to abolish child labour, the report says an alarming
number of children remain trapped in its worst forms. These and other issues
topped the discussion at the International Labour Conference on June as well
as the launch of the first World Day Against Child Labour. The Conference
states that 250 million are working children between the age group of 5-14.
South Asia has the largest concentration of child labour and of children not
participating in school education. Multilateral organizations and national
governments need to focus the greater part of their efforts on the children
most at risk-i.e., those in morally and physically hazardous occupations.

EXTENT OF CHILD LABOUR IN RURAL INDIA

One of the major problems for those whose task it is to develop child labour
policies or to put policies into practice is the lack of adequate statistical
analysis of its incidence and especially the trends over time. Recent estimates
of child labour have tended to increase the number of child workers, with the
ILO estimating in 1996 that there are as many as 250 million in developing
countries, aged between 5 and 14 years, are in the workforce, with about 120
million of these in full time work. A 2002 study indicates that 111 million
children under the age of 15 years are in hazardous work. Most of these
children are in Asia-60 percent or 150 million but there is little information
on whether the situation has improved or is worsening over time, even
though ILO estimates increased from 73 million in 1993 to 246 million in
2002. This greater estimate gives the impression that the problem is growing
rapidly, but we argue that this is largely a statistical illusion.
India is Popular and Peninsular Country in the World. India has the largest
Child Labour Population in the world. The 1981 census put it at 13.65
rd
million, while the 43 round of the National Sample Survey estimated it at
17.02 million. Most of the child workers – over 90% are to be found in just
11 States.

Global Data:
The following table is self explanatory on Child labour in its
various grades / classifications.
The projection explained is quite alarming.

Some Global Data on Indian Children to

Assess the Magnitude of the Problem
Projectio
ns of
Child
Labour
in India:
1981 to
2000

WORLD
PERSPEC
TIVE
Child labour
has for long
been an
issue of
significance
to the
international
community
which has
embraced a number of basic instruments relating to this problem. It was one of the first
issues to be tackled by the International Labour Office (ILO) which at its first convention,
held in 1919, passed the Minimum Age(Industry) Convention (No.5) that prohibited the
employment of children under the age of 14 years in manufacturing. These two
instruments and particularly the former provide a wide-ranging framework for setting
standards for the prevention and elimination of child labour. The convention requires
countries to set minimum ages for various types of work with the minimum age being
related to the age at which children within individual nations complete compulsory
education. In practice, this is deemed to be atleast 15 years for developed countries and
14 years for developing nations, except for light work which is set at 13 and 12 years
respectively and hazardous work likely to jeopardize the safety, health or morals of young
persons for which the minimum age is 18 years. Over time, one of the primary goals of
the ILO has been to raise the minimum working age in all countries to 16 years.
Convention 138 allows exemptions for particular industries or enterprises and does not
apply to family firms, domestic service and home duties. This process was assisted by the
establishment of the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour(IPEC).
This programme, funded initially by the German government, recognizes that legislation
is only one component of a successful strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate child
labour. IPEC has sought to establish priorities and run action – oriented programmes in a
number of countries, to remove children from some of the most harmful and exploitative
occupations, and to rehabilitate the children involved.

Distribution and labour force participation rates (PR) of children (10-14 years)
by Major Geographical areas 1990.

From the above table we can see that Child Labour is high in Asia and
Africa and almost Nil in Americas and Europe due to Education and
Welfare of Children.
Director General Hansen called for a 15-year programme to eliminate
child labour.’He proposed a four-point strategy involving a political
commitment to the effective and total abolition of child labour,
encompassing prevention, removal and rehabilitation; the adoption of a
new International Convention to suppress all extreme forms of child
labour; and a global compact of international cooperation and mutual
assistance to allocate more resources to fight world poverty and child
labour and to combat the international aspects of the problem such as
the sale and trafficking of children and child sex tourism.(UNICEF
1997).
CONCLUSION
The two main explanations for child labour and non-enrolment of
children in schools are that low household expenditure and parental
human capital.
Ways to reduce Child Labour
􀀹Reducing Poverty.
􀀹Educating Children
􀀹Raising Public awareness
􀀹Legislation and regulation

The report lists the many causes of child labour, all of which must be
addressed. While poverty is a major factor, there are many other related
causes, such as economic and political instability, discrimination,
migration, criminal exploitation, traditional
cultural practices, a lack of decent work for adults, inadequate social
protection, a lack of schools, and the desire for consumer goods.

The work of the IPEC and UNICEF has emphasized that child labour is
a multi-faced problem which requires not only prevention through
legislation but enforcement, rehabilitation, education, social
mobilization and development of alternative sources of family income if
it is to be eliminated. International resources are limited and this has led
to the strategy to target high priority areas as the best way to reduce the
use of child labour.
From the discussion we can conclude that India is leading in child
labour when compared to other countries in the world. This conclusion
is from the datas expressed in the previous pages. The child labour in
India is also due to influence of the parents.