If laws could abolish child labour, there would be no child labourer left in India today. The Constitution of India prohibits employment of children below 14 in any factory, mine or any other hazardous employment. The Directive Principles of State Policy say that the State must secure children from abuse and ensure that they are not forced by economic necessity to enter vocations unsuited for them; that they shall be given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and that childhood and youth shall be protected against moral and material abandonment. The Factories Act, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act and a host of other laws make employing children a punishable offence. Despite these laws, we can see children working in undignified conditions almost everywhere. India is home to the largest number of working children in the world. Government statistics put their numbers around 20 million while other agencies claim that it is 50 million.
The law must specify harsher punishment and a faster system of administering it so that those who violate it are deterred from abusing children. Greedy employers looking for a vulnerable, docile and cheap workforce, bribery and other forms of corruption and apathy among law enforcement agencies, combined with connivance among traffickers, employers, politicians and bureaucracy are all responsible for the persistence of the evil. But the evil cannot be eradicated even through better enforcement of laws. Its prevalence is evidence of a lack of political will and social concern. We must simultaneously address issues such as poverty, illiteracy, lack of awareness, parents’ gullibility and a child unfriendly mindset in communities.
