Suggest the ways to tackle the following problems: Child labour

“No child should work; every child must learn.”

Kailash Satyarthi

Despite constitutional guarantees like Article 24 (prohibiting child labour) and Right to Education (Article 21A), child labour persists in India, especially in informal sectors. According to the Census 2011, India has 10.1 million child labourers (5–14 years). Poverty, social norms, informal employment, and lack of awareness sustain this problem. Tackling child labour demands a holistic approach combining legal action, education, rehabilitation, and community participation.

Strengthening Legal and Institutional Enforcement

• Strict implementation of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, which bans employment of children below 14 years in all occupations.
• More surprise inspections by labour departments in brick kilns, dhabas, factories, construction sites and agriculture.
• Establish fast-track child labour courts for quicker conviction of traffickers and exploiters.

Example (Haryana):

In Faridabad and Gurugram industrial belts, labour inspectors rescued children from small-scale welding units and garment workshops in 2022–23, leading to closure of illegal operations.

Ensuring Access to Quality Education

• Improve school accessibility, midday meals, and transportation support.
• Strengthen enrollment and retention through bridge schools for rescued children.
• Promote digital learning centers in rural/urban slum areas.

Example (Haryana):

Saksham Haryana Education Reform Program improved learning levels and increased school enrollments, significantly reducing dropout-driven child labour in districts like Hisar, Jhajjar, and Bhiwani.

Economic Support for Vulnerable Families

• Expand coverage of:
• MGNREGA
• National Livelihood Mission
• Self-Help Groups (SHGs)
• Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scholarships
• Provide conditional cash transfers to families who send children to school instead of work.

Example:

Haryana’s Mukhyamantri Shiksha Yojana provides financial incentives to children of economically weaker families, reducing the compulsion for child labour.

Community Awareness and Social Mobilisation

• Conduct awareness campaigns in slums, rural blocks, industrial belts.
• Encourage Panchayats, NGOs, women’s SHGs and youth clubs to report cases.
• Promote Childline 1098 as a primary reporting tool.

Real-Life Example:

In Panipat carpet-weaving clusters, NGOs collaborated with women SHGs to report child labour, resulting in rescues and enrollment of children into special training centers.

Rehabilitation and Skill Development

Provide rescued children with:

• Counseling
• Educational bridging
• Vocational training for teenagers (14-18 years) under PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).
• Track progress with Child Protection Units under JJ Act.

Child labour is not merely an economic failure but a violation of childhood. A child’s hands should hold books, not tools. Haryana’s experience shows that strong enforcement, education and community partnership can curb child labour significantly.

As Nelson Mandela said:

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

Eliminating child labour is thus essential to building a just, humane, and developed India (Viksit Bharat 2047).