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STREET CHILDREN, LEGISLATION AND EMPERICAL STUDY
SOCIOLOGY PROJECT
Advika Photumsetty
2014070
DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY
VISAKHAPATNAM
OCTOBER 2014
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Acknowledgment
I would like to sincerely thank our Professor Mr. Laxmipathi Raju for giving me this opportunity
to take up this project regarding ‘Street children, legislation and empirical study’. I thank him
for all his support and guidance. I have my level best to collect various data and information
about the topic in order to provide a clear picture regarding the same.
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Abstract
A street child in India is someone for whom the street has become his or her habitual abode and
source of livelihood; and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsible
adults. In India there are about 400,000 street children. This study will involve detailed research
on street children, their lifestyle and livelihood and steps taken by the government in regard to
this matter. This study will also discuss the important legislations regarding street children and
their protection. Empirical study will give insight at the day to day life of street children and
their hardships.
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Contents
1. Research Methodology
2. Introduction
3. Causes for Chld Labour
4. Child Labour in India
5. Child labour laws in India
6. Consequences of Child Labor
7. Conclusion
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Research Methodology
The topic of Street children, legislations and empirical study has a very vast background.
Documentation of many practices is varied as many different outlooks on the topic exist. The
research methodology used in this project is a doctrine study. The material mentioned in this
project has been derived from various other research papers, journals and other online
documentation. Also included in this project is the empirical study of the few street children I
have interacted with.
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Introduction
Street children are a term for children experiencing homelessness who live on the streets of a
city. Homeless youth are often called street kids and street youth; the definition of street children
is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers use UNICEF’s concept of boys and girls,
aged under eighteen years, for whom "the street" (including unoccupied dwellings and
wasteland) has become home and/or their source of livelihood, and who are inadequately
protected or supervised. Female street children are sometimes called gamines, a term that is also
used for Colombian street children of either gender. 1
Some street children, notably in more developed nations, are part of a subcategory called thrown
away children who are children that have been forced to leave home. Thrown away children are
more likely to come from working class and single parent homes. Street children are often
subject to abuse, neglect, exploitation, or, in extreme cases, murder by "clean-up squads" that
have been hired by local businesses or police. In Western societies, such children are sometimes
treated as homeless children rather than criminals or beggars.2
Three major Categories’ of street children:-
1. Children who live on the street with their families and often work on the street. There
may be children from migrated families, or temporarily migrated and are likely to go
back to their homes.
2. Children who live on the street by themselves or in groups and have remote access or
contact with their families in the villages. Some children travel to the cities for the day or
periods of time to work and then return to their villages.
3. Children who have no ties to their families such as orphans, refugees and runaways3
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_children2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_children3 http://www.childlineindia.org.in/street-children-india.htm
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It is the second and third category of children who are most vulnerable as they are easy victims
of abuse, and inhuman treatment. They often engaged in petty theft or prostitution for economic
survival. Children run away from their homes for a variety of reasons. Some may have faced
traumatic experiences in their homes. Their parents may be abusive or have problems with
alcoholism, poverty and unemployment. Some children leave home drawn by the glamour of the
big cities.
Street children vary across cities and regions. But a majority of these children are boys. It is also
important to note girl street children are often not found in visible spaces and hence hard to trace.
Age wise 40% of the street children are between 11-15 years while another 33% are between 6-
10 years age group. A study found that majority (89.8%) of children live on the street with their
parents/family.
One of the most important consequences’ of an increase street children is the rise in street
children.
Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their
childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically,
socially or morally dangerous and harmful. In Indian terms child labour is defined as any child
below the age of 14 years who is working to earn livelihood without attending school. Various
organisations have defined child labour in various senses. International Labour Organization
(ILO) states that child labour may be defined in a number of different ways, and a different
definition yields a different estimate of child labour in India as well as other countries.
According to ILO, children or adolescents who participate in work that does not affect their
health and personal development or interfere with their schooling, is not child labour; rather it
may generally be regarded as being something positive. Such harmless work includes activities
such as helping their parents around the home, assisting family or earning pocket money outside
school hours and over holidays. These kinds of activities, suggests ILO, may contribute to
children’s development by providing them with skills and experience, and help to prepare them
to be productive members of society during their adult life. UNICEF defines child labour
differently. A child, suggests UNICEF, is involved in child labour activities if between 5 to 11
years of age, he or she did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic
work in a week, and in case of children between 12 to 14 years of age, he or she did at least 14
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hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work per
week. UNICEF in another report suggests, "Children’s work needs to be seen as happening along
a continuum, with destructive or exploitative work at one end and beneficial work - promoting or
enhancing children’s development without interfering with their schooling, recreation and rest -
at the other. And between these two poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a
child’s development." India's Census 2001 office defines child labour as participation of a child
less than 17 years of age in any economically productive activity with or without compensation,
wages or profit. Such participation could be physical or mental or both. This work includes part-
time help or unpaid work on the farm, family enterprise or in any other economic activity such as
cultivation and milk production for sale or domestic consumption. Indian government classifies
child labourers into two groups: Main workers are those who work 6 months or more per year.
And marginal child workers are those who work at any time during the year but less than 6
months in a year.
In 2000, the ILO estimates, "246 million child workers aged 5 and 17 were involved in child
labour, of which 171 million were involved in work that by its nature is hazardous to their safety,
physical or mental health, and moral development. Moreover, some 8.4 million children were
engaged in so-called 'unconditional' worst forms of child labour, which include forced and
bonded labour, the use of children in armed conflict, trafficking in children and commercial
sexual exploitation. UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children Report says only that although the
exact number is not known, it is surely in the hundreds of millions.
CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR
The vicious circle of poverty is considered the key cause of child labour but however there are
other reasons as well such as:
1. Parental illiteracy
2. Tradition of making children learn the family skills
3. Absence of universal compulsory Primary education
4. Social apathy and tolerance of child labour
5. Ignorance of the parents about the adverse consequences of Child labour
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6. Ineffective enforcement of the legal provisions pertaining to child labour
7. Non-availability of and non-accessibility to schools
8. Irrelevant and non-attractive school curriculum
9. Employers prefer children as they constitute cheap labour and they are not able to
organize themselves against exploitation.
THESE CAUSES CAN BE FURTHER SUBDIVIDED INTO
Primary causes
International Labour Organisation (ILO) suggests poverty is the greatest single cause behind
child labour. For impoverished households, income from a child's work is usually crucial for his
or her own survival or for that of the household. Income from working children, even if small,
may be between 25 to 40% of these household income. Other scholars such as Harsch on African
child labour, and Edmonds and Pavcnik on global child labour have reached the same
conclusion.
Lack of meaningful alternatives, such as affordable schools and quality education, according to
ILO is another major factor driving children to harmful labour. Children work because they have
nothing better to do. Many communities, particularly rural areas where between 60-70% of child
labour is prevalent, do not possess adequate school facilities. Even when schools are sometimes
available, they are too far away, difficult to reach, unaffordable or the quality of education is so
poor that parents wonder if going to school is really worth it.
Cultural causes
In European history when child labour was common, as well as in contemporary child labour of
modern world, certain cultural beliefs have rationalised child labour and thereby encouraged it.
Some view that work is good for the character-building and skill development of children. In
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many cultures, particular where informal economy and small household businesses thrive, the
cultural tradition is that children follow in their parents' footsteps; child labour then is a means to
learn and practice that trade from a very early age. Similarly, in many cultures the education of
girls is less valued or girls are simply not expected to need formal schooling, and these girls
pushed into child labour such as providing domestic services.
Macroeconomic causes
Biggeri and Mehrotra have studied the macroeconomic factors that encourage child labour. They
focus their study on five Asian nations including India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and
Philippines. They suggest that child labour is a serious problem in all five, but it is not a new
problem. Macroeconomic causes encouraged widespread child labour across the world, over
most of human history. They suggest that the causes for child labour include both the demand
and the supply side. While poverty and unavailability of good schools explain the child labour
supply side, they suggest that the growth of low paying informal economy rather than higher
paying formal economy is amongst the causes of the demand side. Other scholars too suggest
that inflexible labour market, sise of informal economy, inability of industries to scale up and
lack of modern manufacturing technologies are major macroeconomic factors affecting demand
and acceptability of child labour.
CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
"Out of school children comprise the workers and non workers. In our view they together signify
a measure of deprivation among children and can be considered as a potential labour pool always
being at the risk of entering the labour force" - NCEUS, 2007
India is sadly the home to the largest number of child labourers in the world. The census found
an increase in the number of child labourers from 11.28 million in 1991 to 12.59 million in 2001.
M.V. Foundation in Andhra Pradesh found nearly 400,000 children, mostly girls between seven
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and 14 years of age, toiling for 14-16 hours a day in cottonseed production across the country of
which 90% are employed in Andhra Pradesh.40% of the labour in a precious stone cutting sector
is children. NGOs have discovered the use of child labourers in mining industry in Bellary
District in Karnataka in spite of a harsh ban on the same. In urban areas there is a high
employment of children in the zari and embroidery industry. Poverty and lack of social security
are the main causes of child labour. The increasing gap between the rich and the poor,
privatization of basic services and the neo-liberal economic policies are causes major sections of
the population out of employment and without basic needs. This adversely affects children more
than any other group. Entry of multi-national corporations into industry without proper
mechanisms to hold them accountable has lead to the use of child labour. Lack of quality
universal education has also contributed to children dropping out of school and entering the
labour force. A major concern is that the actual number of child labourers goes un-detected.
Laws that are meant to protect children from hazardous labour are ineffective and not
implemented correctly. A growing phenomenon is using children as domestic workers in urban
areas. The conditions in which children work is completely unregulated and they are often made
to work without food, and very low wages, resembling situations of slavery. There are cases of
physical, sexual and emotional abuse of child domestic workers. The argument for domestic
work is often that families have placed their children in these homes for care and employment.
There has been a recent notification by the Ministry of Labour making child domestic work as
well as employment of children in dhabas, tea stalls and restaurants "hazardous" occupations. In
2000 the ILO estimated 5.5 million children had been forced in labour in Asia, while the Bonded
Labour Liberation Front placed 10 million bonded children in India alone. In 1998 the
government of India labelled bonded child labour as a marginal problem with only 3000 or so
cases. A survey in Tamil Nadu in 1995 found 125,000 bonded child labourers in the state alone.
Child bonded labour in India is mostly in the agricultural sector but has in recent times been
moving into other sectors as well such as beedi-rolling, brick kilns, carpet weaving, commercial
sexual exploitation, construction, fireworks and matches factories, hotels, hybrid cottonseed
production, leather, mines, quarries, silk, synthetic gems, etc. Child labour in India is addressed
by the Child Labour Act, 1986 and National Child Labour Project.
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CHILD LABOUR LAWS IN INDIA
After its independence from colonial rule, India has passed a number of constitutional
protections and laws on child labour.
The Constitution of India in the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy
prohibits child labour below the age of 14 years in any factory or mine or engaged in any other
hazardous employment (Article 24). The constitution also envisioned that India shall, by 1960,
provide infrastructure and resources for free and compulsory education to all children of the age
six to 14 years. (Article 21-A and Article 45).
India is a federal form of government, and child labour is a matter on which both the central
government and state governments can legislate, and have. The major national legislative
developments include the following:
The Factories Act of 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14
years in any factory. The law also placed rules on who , when and how long can pre-adults aged
15–18 years be employed in any factory.
The Mines Act of 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18 years of age in a
mine.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986: The Act prohibits the employment
of children below the age of 14 years in hazardous occupations identified in a list by the law. The
list was expanded in 2006, and again in 2008.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000: This law made it a crime,
punishable with a prison term, for anyone to procure or employ a child in any hazardous
employment or in bondage.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009: The law mandates free
and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years. This legislation also mandated that
25 percent of seats in every private school must be allocated for children from disadvantaged
groups and physically challenged children.
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The Apprentices Act, 1951:A person shall not be qualified for being engaged as an
Apprentice . . . unless he is not less than 14 years of age.
Plantation Labour Act, 1951:"Child means a person who has not completed his 14th year."
(There is no prohibition of children. A certificate of fitness is necessary for employing a child.)
The Merchant Shipping Act, 1958: The Act prohibits Children less than 14 years of age to be
engaged or carried to sea work in any capacity in any ship, subject to certain exceptions.
The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961:The Act prohibits the employment of Children less than
16 years of age in any motor transport undertaking. (Tamilnadu Amendment)
The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966:The Act prohibits the
employment of children less than 14 years of age in any industrial premises manufacturing beedi
or cigar.
The Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947: The Act prohibits employment of
Children who have not completed 14 years of age
The Tamil Nadu Catering Establishments Act, 1958: The Act prohibits employment of Children
who have not completed 16 years of age
The Tamil Nadu Handloom Workers (Conditions of Employment and Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act 1981 :The Act prohibits employment of Children who have not completed 16 years of age
The Tamil Nadu Manual Workers (Regulation of Employment and conditions of work)
1982 :The Act prohibits employment of Children who have not completed 16 years of age in
any scheduled employment.
India formulated a National Policy on Child Labour in 1987. This Policy seeks to adopt a gradual
& sequential approach with a focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous
occupations. It envisioned strict enforcement of Indian laws on child labour combined with
development programs to address the root causes of child labour such as poverty. In 1988, this
led to the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) initiative. This legal and development initiative
continues, with a current central government funding o 602 crores , targeted solely to eliminate
child labour in India. Despite these efforts, child labour remains a major challenge for india.
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CONSEQUENCES OF CHILD LABOUR
THE VARIOUS CONSEQUENCES ARE:
1. Stunted growth of future generation
2. Inability to harness human resources
3. Inability to contribute to development
4. Inability to benefit from development
5. Citizens with accumulated frustration
6. Adult unemployment
7. Depreciation in wages
8. Perpetuation of poverty
9. Persistence of child labour
10. Perpetuation of economic inequality
11. Increased abuse of children
12. Increased illiteracy
13. Ignorant populace
14. Citizens with inferiority complex
15. Malnourished citizens
16. Sick citizens
17. Political instability
18. Early morbidity of citizens
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19. Mental deformity of citizens
20. Perpetuation of ill treatment
21. Inter generational phenomenon of child labour
22. Increased bottlenecks in the development process
23. Wasted human resources
24. Wasted human talents and skills
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CONCLUSION
The concern for children and the elimination of child labour in India continues to be an area of
great concern and article of faith and commitment for successive governments. The Common
Minimum Programme of the present government also speaks about the concern of the
Government towards the problem of child labour. It states that the Government will strive for the
elimination of child labour. Child labour is a complex socio-economic problem to be dealt
through sustained efforts over a period of time. While there could be many reasons for children
not being able to complete even their primary education or the vocational training programmes,
studies have revealed that it is poverty of the families, extent of social backwardness and an
unsuitable curriculum which have contributed to the children either not going to school or
dropping out of school even before they complete their compulsory education. As per the
provisional figures of Census 2001, there are 12.5 million working children in age group of 5-14
years as compared to the child population of 252 million. Concerted attempts have been made to
follow a pro-active policy in the matter of tackling the problem through constitutional, statutory
and developmental measures. Article 24, 39 and 45 of the Constitution consciously incorporate
provisions to secure labour protection and free and compulsory education for children up to the
age of 14 years. The number of National Child Labour Projects has been increased from existing
100 to 250 in as many districts in child labour endemic states for mainstreaming of children into
formal schooling system during the current Plan. Fifty districts have already been identified and
project launched on January 14, 2004 during the visit of Director General, International labour
Organisation in India. The process for the identification of rest of 100 districts on the basis of
2001 census data on child labour has also been completed and NCLPs in these districts are likely
to be launched very soon.
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Empirical Study 1. Name: Ramu
Age: 8
Job: Rag picker
Parents: Single Parent
Family Background: Alchoholic Father, House wife Mother
Education: 3rd standard
2. Name: Shri
Age: 6
Job: Tea seller
Parents: Married
Family Background: Tea seller, house wife
Education: No education
3. Name: Loku
Age: 10
Job: Begging
Parents: Single Parent
Family Background: Construction working, Labour work
Education: No education
4. Name: Shyam
Age: 9
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Job: Begging
Parents: No parents
Family Background
Education: No education
5. Name: Rakesh
Age: 6
Job: No job
Parents: Begging
Family Background: Lives with grandparents
Education: Only 2 years of schooling
6. Name: Kumar
Age: 11
Job: Rag picking
Parents: Parents begging
Family Background: Begging
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SOLUTIONS TO END CHILD LABOUR
The main SOLUTION to end child labour is educating the parents of such children. Child
Labour is a problem that is faced by the children; they get forced to work and are constrained
from their own freedom of will. With no one to teach them their essential knowledge and treat
them safely with dignity they will grow up with thinking that the world owed them a living and
will develop a dull, unhealthy or sometimes rogue mentality which will eventually make them
lose their self-esteem, respect and forget their responsibilities as a human. They were not taught
as how ordinary children should be taught i.e. that they have rights to their bodies, their feelings,
their property, and to be treated by other with respect as a worthy human being. This will all
ultimately point to one main cause which is; better parents .As a child learning their basic
essentials like health habit, manners, respect, etc. are needed, things that are usually taught by a
parents or in a school which also would mostly require parents.
Parents influence can arguably be the most important ingredient in a person's childhood. They
are the only trusted source that an offspring can first look up to for guidance, advice and to be
directed to the right path. Therefore, in order to have the child labourers restored back to a
classroom or have childhood life, there is the need of a parent, a parent who has the general
knowledge one would require to raise children. For this the government or even NGOs (Non-
Governmental Organizations) can implement educational programmes or institutes that grant
parents the knowledge they would need in life and to take care of their family and children. They
could more specifically do it for parents of child workers, and who lacks the knowledge about
child rights and the future consequences the child would face due to the hardships being faced at
their young age.
Through this education the parents can learn about ways to overcome these problems and the
requirements for them to succeed and pursue their goals. This can help the parents rehabilitate
themselves and care for their children, ultimately reducing the number of child labourers. It is
also important of how the parents looks after their child because sooner or later when the child
grows up and needs to raise his/her own children they will remember how they were raised by
their parents and thus the future of that child will be a result of how that child's parents were
looked after during their young age and the lessons they have learnt during their growth.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
The information presented in this project has been taken from the following sources:
1. CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA by USHA SHARMA
2. CHILD LABOUR: A TEXTBOOK FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
3. CHILD WELFARE AND LAW
4. CHILDLABOUR A BOOK BY KATHLYN GAY
5. http://in.reset.to/knowledge/child-labour
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour_in_India
8. www.ranisvoice.org
9. www.ilo.org/childlabour
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