Challenging Task of Tackling Child Labour Problem

Abstract

The Constitution of India, the supreme law of the land, prohibits in no uncertain terms child labour below the age of 14 years in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. This becomes abundantly clear if we read Article 24 of this supreme law which also envisioned that India shall, by 1960, provide infrastructure and resources for free and compulsory education to all children falling in the age group of 6-14 years. Since ours is a federal form of government, both the central governments and state governments could legislate for tackling the problem of child labour. There are legislations to prevent child labour in various ways. India formulated a National Policy on Child Labour in 1987 which seeks to adopt a gradual and sequential approach to rehabilitate children working in hazardous occupations. The National Child Labour Project (NCLP) was in continuation of the major goal of 1987 Policy. Despite these efforts, child labour continues to drag the attention of leading social scientists in some states including Karnataka.