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An Overview Of Child Labour In India
R. Amaravati ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This document provides an overview of child labour in India, defining it as work that deprives children aged 5-14 of their childhood, dignity, and development. The document identifies structural causes including poverty, lack of educational opportunities, inadequate laws, and insufficient protective legislation. Child labour prevents children from attending school and represents a loss of human potential for the nation. The issue has become a public concern following the industrial revolution and the emergence of children's and workers' rights concepts.
Key points
- Child labour is defined as work affecting children aged 5-14 who are out of school and engaged in hazardous or non-hazardous occupations
- The ILO defines child labour as work that deprives children of childhood, potential, dignity, and causes physical and mental harm
- Root causes include structural poverty, lack of educational opportunities, inadequate laws, orphanhood, and insufficient protective legislation
- Child labour prevents children from attending school and represents lost human capital for national development
- The issue entered public debate with universal schooling, changes since the industrial revolution, and emergence of children's rights concepts
Limitations
This document is an overview or background paper rather than a research study with original data or evaluation. It does not provide empirical evidence on the scale of child labour in India, specific outcomes for affected children, or evaluation of any interventions to address the problem.
Abstract
The growing problem of child labour in most of the developing countries is of great concern. The existence of child labour deprives a nation of its potential human capital who could have been more productive and resourceful if not forced to work in their childhood. The issue of child labour entered the public debate with the advent of universal schooling, with the changes in working conditions since the industrial revolution, and with the emergence of the concept of workers’ and children’s rights. In simple words, child labour refers to that group of children between 5-14 years age who are out of school and are engaged either in hazardous or non-hazardous occupations. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines child labour as the work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and harmful to their physical and mental development. The existence of child labour deprives them from the opportunity to attend school. The structural persistence of poverty, lack of educational opportunities, inadequate laws, orphan hood, insufficient protective legislation, among a few things, are the root cause of the prevalence of child labour in India