Context: Every year, the World Day against Child Labour is celebrated on June 12 with an objective to end the brutalities of child labour across the world. 

Key Points

• The theme this year is, “COVID-19 – Protect children from child labour now, more than ever”.
• Despite efforts from governments, different agencies and NGOs the condition of child labour remains abysmal throughout the globe.
• Nine out of ten children involved in labour work are in Asia, Africa and the Pacific. The percentage of Child labour is the highest in low-income countries. According to the ILO, Africa has the largest child labours in the world accounting to one-fifth of child labour in the world.

Background

• It was launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2002  with the aim to have focussed attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and devise efforts needed to eliminate it completely.
• This day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society and people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and the required course of action to address the issue. Child labour is often associated with prostitution and drug trafficking.

What is child labour?

• According to International Labour Organization (ILO), the term ‘child labour’ is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential, and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.
• Bonded Labour is exploitation in which the child is forced to work as a payment of debt taken by his/her parent and Urban Child Labour is where the street children who spend almost all of their life on street work as labourers.

Causes

• The main causes are poverty, lack of education, lack of employment opportunities, rapid urbanization, improper implementation of laws, failure of Government schemes etc. 

Consequences of Child labour

• The problem of Child labour could lead to a further set of problems like child slavery, child trafficking, Human rights violation, and most important roadblock of a nation’s development.

Provisions  to eradicate child labour in India

• Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act(1986) to prohibit the engagement of children in certain employments and to regulate the conditions of work of children in certain other employments. 
• Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016: The Amendment Act completely prohibits the employment of children below 14 years. This amendment also prohibits the employment of adolescents in the age group of 14 to 18 years in hazardous occupations and processes and regulates their working conditions where they are not prohibited.
• National Policy on Child Labour (1987), with a focus more on the rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations and processes, rather than on prevention. 
• The Right to Education Act 2009 has made it mandatory for the state to ensure that all children aged six to 14 years are in school and receive free education. 

Constitutional Provisions

• As per Article 21(A) and Article 45, the child has the Right to Education i.e. the state shall provide compulsory and free education to the children of the age six to 14 years.
• In Article 24, there is a provision that a child below the age of 14 years cannot be employed in any mine, factory or hazardous workplace.
• As per Article 39(f), the child’s youth and childhood are to be protected against moral and material abandonment and exploitation.

Other measures

• Ratification of two fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), PENCIL scheme, Kailash Sathyarthi’s campaigns and recently ILO and UNICEF are developing a simulation model to look at the impact of COVID-19 on child labour globally.