CHILD LABOUR

• Pandemic – affected the Indian children
 Orphaned
 Child Labour

• Factors of Child Labour – pre existed.

• Third decade of the 21st century:
 152 million – child Labour
 73 million – hazardous work.

Statistics

• 2011 census – 10.1 million children (5-14 years) are working.
 8.1 million – rural areas
 26% – cultivators;
32.9% – agricultural labourers.

• UNESCO’s estimates
 38.1 million – out of school. • Rapid Survey on Children (2013-14)
 Less than half of children – 10-14 years have completed primary education.
• Child Labour:
 long-term devastating consequences – education, skills and acquisition.
 reduce – possibilities to overcome poverty, incomplete education and poor-quality jobs.

Policy and programmatic interventions

• Contributions
 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005
 the Right to Education Act 2009
 Mid-Day Meal Scheme.

• Education and wage employment (unskilled) for rural families.

• Ratification – ILO child labour Conventions
 Convention No. 138 – Minimum Age
 Convention No. 182 – Worst Forms of Child Labour.

• Online portal – allows to share information and
to coordinate on child Labour at all levels for
effective enforcement of child Labour laws.

• Child Labour – rate of reduction slowed by two-thirds .

• Important – consider the trends while developing policy and response.

• India – slower economic growth and rising unemployment.
• Lockdowns – backtrack the efforts invested and the gains made in eliminating child Labour.

• Present – economic insecurity, lack of social
protection and reduced household income
 Children – to contribute to their family income.
 Exposed to risk and exploitative work.
 Distant learning – child drop out.

• Digital divide.
 Annual Status of Education Report, 2020 – a third of the total number of enrolled
children received learning materials

Way Forward

• Right level of commitment, policy and programmatic interventions.

• Strong alliance – ending child Labour in all its forms by 2025 as agreed to in Sustainable Development
 Goal 8.7
 Eradicate forced Labour and to end modern slavery and human trafficking.
 Secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child Labour in all its forms by the end of 2025.