Small Hands, Heavy Burden: AStudy of the Legislative Framework Governing Child Labour in India

Abstract

Any work that deprives children of their childhood and fundamental rights is referred to as child labour. It's unfortunate that child labour has not only been one of the biggest obstacles to the overall growth of societies across the globe, particularly in the developing world, but also continues to be one of the biggest developmental challenges for many countries. Governments around the world have enacted various laws and have been taking several initiatives to eradicate the problem of child labour, but it remains rampant throughout the developing world with India being no exception. In fact, despite continuous efforts by the consecutive governments, India continues to be the home to one of the largest population of child labours in the world with a majority working in hazardous industries and processes. This paper attempts to summarise the constitutional and legislative framework governing child labour in India apart from giving a brief overview of the scale of the problem from an Indian perspective.