Peer-reviewed article
The Problem of Child Labour in Indian Society
Prof. Vishakha Mankar ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001Child labour in India affects an estimated 10.12 million children aged 5–14 years, denying them education, health care and safe childhoods. The problem stems from poverty, illiteracy, indebtedness and social inequality, and has serious impacts on children's physical, mental and intellectual development. Although India has constitutional protections and laws against child labour, including the 2016 Child Labour Act and the 2009 Right to Education Act, these protections are not effectively enforced in practice. The document argues that solving this problem requires coordinated action from government, society, families and non-governmental organisations.
Key points
- In 2011, approximately 10.12 million children aged 5–14 in India were engaged in child labour
- Child labour violates children's rights to protection from exploitation, education, health and dignity
- Poverty, illiteracy, indebtedness and social inequality are root causes of child labour in both rural and urban areas
- Despite legal protections including Article 24 of the Indian Constitution and the 2016 Child Labour Act, enforcement remains weak
- Global context: approximately 217 million children work worldwide, many full-time
Limitations
This document provides a policy overview and does not present original empirical research, fieldwork data, or evaluation of specific interventions to reduce child labour. It cannot tell us about the effectiveness of particular programmes or what works best to protect children from labour exploitation.
Abstract
AbstractThe problem of child labour in India is a clear violation of social, economic and human rights.Poverty, illiteracy, indebtedness and social inequality are prevalent in many families in India, be it rural orurban. And this leads to millions of children working in various industrial, domestic and informal sectors,depriving them of their right to education, health and a safe childhood. According to the 2011 census, anestimated 10.12 million children in the age group of 5–14 were engaged in child labour, which seriouslyaffects their physical, mental and intellectual development. Article 24 of the Indian Constitution prohibitschild labour and Article 21A ensures the right to education. Efforts are also made to protect child rightsthrough the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 2016, the RTE Act 2009, the Juvenile JusticeAct and international treaties. However, despite the laws, child rights continue to be exploited in manyplaces. Although many schemes to eradicate child labor are being touted at the government level, the realityis different.Child labor is a direct assault on the human rights of children—their right to protection fromexploitation, right to education, right to health, and right to dignity are being denied. Therefore, thisproblem can only be solved through joint efforts of the government, society, family, and NGOs. It isimperative that citizens themselves come forward to raise their voices against child labor and protect childrights, because a safe, dignified, and educational childhood for every child is the fundamental foundationfor a bright future for the country.A proportion of children in India are engaged in child labour. In 2011, the national census of Indiafound the total number of child labourers (age 5–14) to be 10.12 million, out of the total of 259.64million children in that age group.[2] The child labour problem is not unique to India; worldwide, about 217million children work, many full-time.