LABOUR LAW I PROJECT

THE TAMIL NADU NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL,

TIRUCHIRAPPALLI.

ACADEMIC SESSION

2016-2017
LABOUR LAW- I PROJECT

on

PLEDGING OF CHILDREN FOR LABOR: A CRITIQUE

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

DR. Preetham Balakrishnan ASHKRIT TIWARI

TNNLS, B. Com. LL.B (HONS.)

Tiruchchirappalli ROLL NO. BC0140014

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LABOUR LAW I PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .4

HISTORY OF CHILD PLEDGING 6

ROYAL COMMISSION REPORT 1929..7

THE CHILDREN (PLEDGING OF LABOR) ACT, 1933..8

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS ...9

INCIDENCES OF CHILD PLEDGING 11

CONCLUSIONS & SUGGESTIONS ..13

BIBLIOGRAPHY..15

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ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS: Pledging of Children, Child Labor, International Labour Organization,

International Programme for Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), Children (Pledging of
Labour) Act, 1933, Royal Commission Report.

Children are the greatest gift to humanity and Childhood is an important and impressionable stage
of human development as it holds the potential to the future development of any society. During
the ancient time child labor was prevailing in the society and even now somewhere it has
existence. In history there was bondage labor in which the parents or guardians pledge their
children to the people whose debtors they were and this was done for the fulfilment of the debts
or loans or a contract which they had promised to perform or to fulfil. In such a case they forfeit
their right over children and the children becomes bondage to the other party. During the British
rule this practice was prevailing in India, so during 1930s Government appointed a commission
called Royal Commission to submit a report relating to the practice of Child Pledging and on the
basis of its Report the government had enacted an Act named as The Children (Pledging of
Labour) Act, 1933, which prohibits the pledging of children for labor. Which says that any
agreement to pledge the children will be void and if the parents or guardians do so there must be
statutory penalty imposed. But even after having a legislation to prohibit the pledging there was
no improvement in the prohibition of the practice and Government of India have tried many ways
to implement the prohibition but is not capable to curb it fully. In this research work researcher
will analyze the practices relating to the bondage labor and child pledging during the history, need
of legislation and its effectiveness in the prohibition. Then researcher will try to analyze whether
there was any improvement in the prohibition after the enactment of legislation. And finally
researcher will analyze the present scenario of this practice and possible suggestions to improve
the implementation of the Act.

The researcher will take primary and secondary sources to collect the data. Primary resources will
be collected from the Acts, Conventions etc. while secondary resources will be collected from
various books, articles, websites etc. In order to reach the conclusion doctrinal approach will be
taken and researcher will end with the suggestion for the better implementation of the legislation.

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INTRODUCTION:

Child labor and poverty are inevitably bound together and if you continue to use the labor of
children as the treatment for the social disease of poverty, you will have both poverty and child
labor to the end of time. -Grace Abbott

Children are the greatest gift to humanity and Childhood is an important and impressionable stage
of human development as it holds the potential to the future development of any society. When a
child is asked or forced to do work that interferes and deprives him from his childhood activities
like playing and studying, then it becomes a crime. Childhood is a part of a human life in which
he enjoy the pleasures of life and parents love and pampering, he is not supposed to be earning,
making building, breaking stones at that very age. During the ancient time child labor was
prevailing in the society and even now somewhere it has existence. In history there was bondage
labor in which the labour of a particular person was being used in return of some bond or money
taken by them or on their behalf by someone else either from their family or some relatives or
others. A form of this practice was to the child pledging in which the parents or guardians pledge
their child to the people whose debtors they were when they fail to return the debt. In law pledge
means a thing that is given as security for the fulfilment of a contract or the payment of a debt and
is liable to forfeiture in the event of failure and child means a person who is under the age of
fifteen years in case of pledging the children for labor. So pledging the children for labor simply
means parents or guardians giving their child below 15 years as a security in order to pay a debt
or perform a contract and in case of failure they forfeit the right over their own children. During
the ancient time in India this practice was in existence and it is even now having its existence but
in some other forms and sometimes it is found in its real form as well. Even after having a
legislation for the prohibition of the child pledging {Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933},
which was enacted on the basis of recommendation of Royal Commission Report, the practice has
not been abolished from the society as the punishment given under the statute is not sufficient to
deter the people from the commission of the crime and only pecuniary punishment has to be
imposed upon the guilty people.

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Aims & Objectives:

For the issues related to child pledging, this research aims and objects:

To know the history of child pledging in India

To know about the recommendation given by various committees related to child labour
and pledging
To analyze the provisions of the Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933
To know the recent developments for the prohibition of child pledging
To know the practices prevailing in the society after the independence, and
Lastly to make recommendation for the better implementation of the provision in order to
completely prohibit child pledging.

Scope & Nature:

In this research work, researcher will analyze the practices relating to the bondage labor and child
pledging during the history, need of legislation and its effectiveness in the prohibition. Moreover,
what were the actions taken by the government to prohibit the practice if child labour, especially
child pledging in and its recent development. Then researcher will analyze whether there was any
improvement in the prohibition after the enactment of legislations and whether the provisions
given under the Act are reasonable according to present situation. Furthermore, what is the judicial
opinion regarding the issue of child pledging to what extent it has been successful. And finally
researcher will conclude the work by giving suggestions to improve the implementation and
prohibit child labour and child pledging.

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HISTORY OF CHILD PLEDGING IN INDIA

In India from the historical time itself, the practice of child pledging was prevalent and it was not
in a very large scale as there was poverty and dominance of rulers as well. During the reign kings
in the Medieval Age children were pledged by their parents for the payment of the debts taken by
them during the emergency. Creditors used to take advantage of their financial situation and
exploited them in case of failure to return the debts and even the parents loses their right over the
children and child belongs to the creditors. During medieval India Pali text contain many
references to the profession of pledging as instrument of credit, pawning their possession. The
occasional pledging of wife and children by the debtors and bankruptcy. And the debtors were in
fact debarred from joining the Buddhist sangha until they had paid their debts.1 This practice was
going on from the time immemorial and during the British rule as well these practices were
prevailing in the society but in the year of 1928 government appointed a committee to analyze the
child pledging across the nation and make recommendation related to the child labour practiced in
various forms. Before this, there were some international conventions related to the prohibition
and regulation of child labour. In 1901, the Mines Act prohibited the employment of a child under
twelve years in any mine where the conditions were dangerous to their health and safety.2
Employment of children was restricted to open-cast mines with a depth of less than twenty feet. In
1922, it was ILO Convention 5 that prompted raising the minimum age in the Factories Act to
fifteen years and restricting working hours for child workers to six hours with a half-hour break
after four and a half hours.3 In these practices because the parents had entered into agreement for
some consideration for the labour of their children and fails to return that consideration back within
the time lost their right over their children and at that point of time this was considered as the rule
that if you take a debt from someone and in return if you pledge your children and in case if you
failed to pay back the money then the child will be kept bonded until the debt had been returned.

In order to prohibit the practices like such and to protect the parents from exploitation by the
creditors and for the protection of the rights of the children, British Government appointed a

1
Upindar Singh, A history of ancient and early medieval india: from the stone age to 18th century (pearson Education
India, 2008)
2
The Indian Mines Act, 1901 (Act No. VIII. of 1901).
3
C005 - Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 1919 (No. 5) rectified by India on 3rd March 1922.

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commission named as the Royal Commission for the analysis and finding of the existing child
labour in India. The Commission was appointed in 1928 which gave the report in 1929. Then, in
1933, on the basis of findings and recommendation of Royal Commission Report the British
Government had enacted The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933, main objective of which
was to prohibit the pledging of children for labor and to protect the parents of those children from
being exploited by the creditors. The Act in particular says that any agreement to pledge the
children will be void and if the parents or guardians do so there must be statutory penalty imposed
upon them. This was the first Act which was enacted with the consideration of prohibiting the
child labour in India, so the report of the Royal Commission have the very significant role in the
prohibition of child labor.

ROYAL COMMISSION REPORT (1929):

In 1929, the Royal Commission was set up under the Chairmanship of John H. Whitley. The
recommendations of this Commission, which reported the existence of child labour in various
industries such as carpet, bidi and match making and textiles, led to the passage of the Children
(pledging of Labour) Act, 1933. The Act was perhaps the first attempt to address the issue of
bonded labour in India. The commission was set-up with the objective of looking into all the
incidents related to the child labor and was asked to give recommendation accordingly. Some of
the important recommendations laid down by the Commission are:

Registration of the names of all children who are working, in the wage book.
Prohibition of overtime work, or taking work home for children, and
The pledging of children
Legal provisions to prohibit children of 10 year and below from working
Co-operation between government, local authorities and employees to develop child
welfare centers and clinics.
Provisions of minimum education for children working in tea plantation owners.

Based on the following recommendation and the details given related to the child pledging during
that time, the British Government passed the Children (pledging of Labour) Act, 1933. Even after
this enactment there was further developments in the field of prohibition of the child labour. In

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1938, the Royal Commission Report, together with the Report of the 23rd session of the
International Labour Conference, 19374 prompted another legislation viz., the Employment of
Children Act 1938, which prohibited the employment of children in certain activities, especially
with regard to transportation of goods. It was the first Act to address directly the child labour
problem in India. In 1944, the Labour Investigation Committee (Rege Committee, 1944)5 also
recommended the prohibition of child employment in industries and the adoption of measures to
keep children away from industrial employment. In the field of prohibition of child pledging for
labour, the said Act was the major step taken by the British Government which has the provisions
related to the penalty in case of the agreement for the child pledging.

THE CHILDREN (PLEDGING OF LABOUR) ACT, 1933

There was need of statutory provisions in order to curb the practice of bonded labour in the society.
For the same there was an enactment by the government in this regard. In 1933, The Children
(Pledging of Labour) Act was came into existence. This Act has been enacted with a view to
prohibit the making of agreements to pledge the labor of children and the employment of children
whose labor has been pledged either by their parents or guardians. In the Act it is laid down that
an agreement to pledge the labour of a child shall be void.6 Here "an agreement to pledge the labor
of a child" means an agreement, written or oral, express or implied, whereby the parent or guardian
of a child, in return for any payment or benefit received or to be received by him, undertakes to
cause or allow the services of the child to be utilised in any employment.7 According to this Act
"child" means a person who is under the age of fifteen years and "guardian" includes any person
having legal custody of or control over a child.8 By the provisions of the Act penalties had been
laid down on both the parent/guardian who enters into such an agreement9 and the person who

4
International Labour Conference, Twenty-Third Session, Geneva, 3rd To 23rd June,1937.
5
Labour Investigation (Rege) Committee 1944-45: Report on an enquiry into conditions of labour in the manganese
mining industry in India. D.V. Rege. Delhi, 1945-46.
6
Children (pledging of Labour) Act, 1933, Section 3.
7
ibid, Section 2.
8
ibid.
9
ibid, Section 4, Penalty for making with a parent or guardian an agreement to pledge the labour of a child:
Whoever, being the parent or guardian of a child, makes an agreement to pledge the labour of that child, shall be
punished with fine which may extend to fifty rupees.

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makes the agreement with parent or guardian to pledge their child for labour10, which may extend
to fifty rupees and two hundred rupees respectively to the parents and the person making
agreement. Even there is the penalty to be imposed in case the person is having the knowledge of
agreement of child being pledged for the labour and then also in furtherance of that agreement
employs the child, of two hundred rupees.11 By this Act, British Government wanted to curb the
practice of child pledging for the payment of the debts of their parents or guardians. But this act
didnt prohibit the employment of the children for their services for minimum wages without any
consideration for the benefit and which is terminable at the notice of one week.12 Thus the
agreements without any consideration for the childs labor does not come under the meaning of
agreement given under this Act and does not lead to the invalidity provided it is terminable in one
weeks notice.

This Act was not considered effective enough to curb the practice of the child pledging as at that
point of time it was a practice which had its existence all over the country and it cannot be
considered to be a successful enactment as the provisions are not effective for the prohibition of
the practice. There has been found a number of incidents after independence, related to the
pledging of children for the labor and the penalty has been imposed by the concerned authorities
but by the time value of the money has been changed and the amount of penalty is not enough for
the purpose.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS

Keeping in mind the importance of children in the society and also being the future of the nation,
the constitution has given some basic rights to them. Children deserves neither to be exploited by
the economic situation nor by someone else. The State shall provide free and compulsory education

10
Ibid, Section 5: Penalty for making with a parent or guardian an agreement to pledge the labour of a child:
Whoever makes with the parent or guardian of a child an agreement whereby such parent or guardian pledges
the labour of the child shall be punished with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees.
11
Ibid, Section 6: Penalty for employing a child whose labour has been pledged.- Whoever, knowing or having
reason to believe that an agreement has been made to pledge the labour of a child, in furtherance of such agreement
employs such child, or permits such child to be employed in any premises or place under his control, shall be
punished with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees.
12
Ibid, Section 2 (Provision): Provided that an agreement made without detriment to a child, and not made in
consideration of any benefit other than reasonable wages to be paid for the child's services, and terminable at not more
than a week's notice, is not an agreement within the meaning of this definition.

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to all children of the age of six to fourteen years, in such manner as the State may, by law,
determine. Where children are allowed to work, in such establishment, it is the duty of employer
to make provisions for the education of child labourer.13 Furthermore they have been protected
from the employment in the hazardous employment by the constitution itself and for this Article
24 states that No child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine
or engaged in any other hazardous employment.14 Thus protecting them from the danger arising
out of employment.

There are some directives given to the government with regard to the protection of citizen. The
State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing the health and strength of the tender age
of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter
avocations unsuited to their age or strength.15 The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards
securing that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in
conditions of freedom and dignity; and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation
and against moral and material abandonment.16 Even there is a fundamental duty given under
Article 51A which says that It shall be the duty of every citizen of India, who is a parent or
guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or ward as the case may be, between
the age of six and fourteen years.17 So, it can be presumed by the abovementioned Articles of the
Constitution that if there is an issue related to child labour especially child pledging, then it must
be considered as the violation of constitutional provisions, thus will lead to the statutory penalties.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 Provides for free and
compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years. This legislation also envisages that 25 per
cent of seats in every private school should be allocated for children from disadvantaged groups
including differently abled children. This enactment was made by taking into consideration, the
incidents of the child labour in different fields and they have to be protected from being exploited
as they are the future of the country.

13
The Indian Constitution, 1950, Article 21 A.
14
ibid, Article 24.
15
ibid, Article 39 (e).
16
ibid, Article 39 (f).
17
ibid , Article 51A (e).

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INCIDENTS RELATED TO CHILD PLEDGING

Even though there was a specific legislation and the constitutional provisions to prohibit the child
labor and children pledging, the practice has never been curbed from the root and it has its
existence which is seen during the last century and even after the independence it havent been
stopped. There had been many incidence which proves the existence of child pledging for some
consideration and it is prevailing mainly in the lower caste of the societies. But there are no explicit
cases found till the last decade of the 20th Century. But it can be inferred that there was existence
of the practice even though it was not explicit in the society as there are a lot of studies done which
has found the existence of the said practice. For the purpose in 1977, India passed a legislation that
prohibits solicitation or use of bonded labour by anyone, of anyone including children. But
evidence of continuing bonded child labour continue. A report by the Special Rapporteur to India's
National Human Rights Commission, reported the discovery of 53 child labourers in 1996 in the
state of Tamil Nadu during a surprise inspection. Each child or the parent had taken an advance
of Rs. 10,0000 to 25,0000. The children were made to work for 12 to 14 hours a day and received
only Rs. 2 to 3 per day as wages.18 This exploits the individual rights of the children as they have
right to live their childhood in the pleasure instead of working for someone.

In the year of 2003, a rapid appraisal study carried out for the ILO Social Finance Programme in
four districts of Karnataka, found that bonded labour relationships existed because of caste-based
dependence or because of the traditional loan-based practices of Jeetam or bitti chakri, involving
the pledging of labour of an adult and his spouse, or a child against a loan taken from the
landlord/employer. The repayment conditions were in conformity with market rates and minimum
wage legislation.19 And in this case it was because they failed to repay the loan taken by the
landlord, so they were invoked to work as bonded labour until the wage amount qualifies the loan
amount taken.

There are a number of industries where childrens labour is pledged against loans taken by their
parents, and children have to work for long hours under intolerable conditions. Human Rights
Watch (1996), based on a survey of 100 bonded children in five states (Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh), has identified bonded child labour in a number of

18
Annual Report 1999-2000". National Human Rights Commission, Govt of India. 2000.
19
Chamaraj, 2003; see also CEC, 2004, p. 42-45

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occupations including agriculture, brick kilns, stone quarries, carpet weaving, bidi rolling, rearing
of silk cocoons, production of silk sarees, silver jewellery, synthetic gemstones, precious gem
cutting, diamond cutting, leather products etc. These children are made to work against debt taken
by their parents or guardians, at low or no wages, from a very young age. In a review of bonded
child labour in India, Mehta (2001) has also brought out the extent of the problem in a number of
sectors including carpet weaving, agriculture, bidis, silk, saltmaking, fireworks and matches, glass,
silver works, gemstones, leather and brick-kilns. There have been reports of bonded child labour
in other industries such as circuses, fisheries, shops and tailoring establishments, and domestic
work.20

Bondage among bidi workers, who are predominantly women and children, has been reported from
Andhra and Tamil Nadu. According to the Tamil Nadu Commissioners Report (1995), there are
about 750,000 workers in the bidi rolling industry in that State, mainly women and children. The
system of bondage is widely prevalent in North Arcot district. Children and women are in bondage
to the bidi agents who advance money to them; in many cases, the entire family is bonded. The
workers are employed in small decentralized units, which are either their homes or small factories,
through the agents. Pledging of children against loans is also commonplace in North Arcot in this
industry. In Andhra Pradesh, women and children bidi workers in the districts of Srikakulam, East
Godavari, Guntur, Nellore, Cudappa, Chittoor, Warrangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nizamabad
work under conditions of bonded labour. They remain indebted to the contractors and are paid less
than the minimum wages21. Bidi workers in the Dhamtari district of Chhatisgarh also remain in
the grip of contractors, who pay them a small wage after arbitrarily making deductions in the name
of wastage, commissions etc.22

A 2012 Wall Street Journal article, reports while the enrollment in India's school has dramatically
increased in recent years to over 96% of all children in the 614-year age group, the infrastructure
in schools, aimed in part to reduce child labour, remains poor over 81,000 schools do not have a
blackboard and about 42,000 government schools operate without a building with makeshift

20
(The Hindu, June 24, 2001), (Indian-Asian News Service, June 5, 2001) , Bonded Labour in India: its Incidence and
Pattern ,Ravi S. Srivastava, Centre for the Study of Regional Development Jawaharlal Nehru University, International
Labour Office Geneva June 2005
21
(CEC 2004, p. 23)
22
Ravi S. Srivastava, Bonded Labour in India: its Incidence and Pattern, Centre for the Study of Regional
Development Jawaharlal Nehru University, International Labour Office Geneva June 2005: (CEC 2004, p. 33).

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arrangements during monsoons and inclement weather.23 This deprives the children, right to
education guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

These incidents proves that there exists the practice of child pledging in the society but most of
the time it is not seen by the people or the authorities. Even if there are legislations for the
prohibition of the child labour or the constitutional provisions for the protection of the childrens
rights, then also there are no improvements related to the prohibition of the said practice.

CONCLUSION & SUGGESTIONS:

Children are the greatest gift to humanity and Childhood is an important and impressionable stage
of human development as it holds the potential to the future development of any society. During
the ancient time child labor was prevailing in the society and even now somewhere it has existence.
The practice of child pledging was continuing from the time immemorial and during the British
rule as well these practices were prevailing in the society but in the year of 1928 government
appointed Royal Commission Report under the Chairmanship of John H. Whitley, to analyze the
child pledging across the nation and make recommendation related to the child labour practiced in
various forms. The Commission gave report in 1929. Then, in 1933, on the basis of findings and
recommendation of Royal Commission Report the British Government had enacted The Children
(Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933, main objective of which was to prohibit the pledging of children
for labor. The Act provides that any agreement, written or oral, express or implied in which the
parent or guardian of a child, in return for any payment or benefit received or to be received by
him, undertakes to cause or allow the services of the child to be utilised in any employment. Then
such parent or guardian alongwith the person making the agreement will be penalized for the
amount which extends from fifty rupees to two hundred rupees. But this Act has not been a success
as the penalty imposed in the case of any agreement is not sufficient enough and the penalty has
to be revised by the Parliament and also if there is any incident reported related to the issue there
must be punishment for the same. Also there are constitutional provisions for the protection of the
childs rights but they are not effective enough to serve the purpose. There are directives laid down
to the government which says that the children must be provided with the education and they must

23
"Are Indian Schools Getting Even Worse?". The Wall Street Journal. 20 January 2012

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not be exploited during the tender age. During the last two decades there was a number of incidents
found in which the children were pledged for the labour in return of a very less or even without
any wages. It shows that even though we have a legislation and the child pledging is prohibited by
the law, then also it is not been executed as it was wanted to be. This is because the penalty
prescribed by the Act is same as it was at the time of enactment of the Act. The penalty to be
imposed remained constant since 1933 while the value of rupees has increased. So, in the present
it is very nominal and also there is absence of any provision related to the punishment. Finally, it
is concluded that if the practice has to be removed from the grass root level then the provision of
the Act has to be revised and the same has to be strictly followed then only it can be done.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources:

The Indian Constitution, 1950.

The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
International Labour Standards on Child Labour

Secondary Sources:

Articles:

Child Slaves in Modern India: The Bonded Labor Problem: Lee Tucker
Magnitude and Profile of Child Labour in the 1990s: Evidence from the NSS Data:
Shakti Kak
Federalism and Labour Legislation in India: Sir ATUL C. CHATTERJEE, G.C.I.E.,
K.C.S.I.
Economic roles of children in low-income countries: Gerry RODGERS and Guy
STANDING
Universal Moral Principles And The Law: Failure Of One Size Fits All Child Labour
Laws: BROWN, M. NEIL, FRONDORF ALEX, HARRISON SPOERL, RONDA,
KRISHNAN, SUMANGALI. (Houston Journal Of International Law)

Webliography:

http://heinonline.org
http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/stable/762726
[Barry_Wright,_Chris_Williams]_Intervention_and_Su (BookZZ.org).pdf

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A DECADE OF ILO- INDIA PARTNERSHIP: TOWARDS A FUTURE WITHOUT

CHILD LABOUR: International Labour Organization, Subregional Office for South
Asia, New Delhi

In 1992, India became the first country to sign an Memorandum of Understanding with the ILO to
implement IPEC as a supplement to its National Child Labour Project. IPECs goals in India were
to: Strengthen the capacity of government, employers and workers organizations, and NGOs to
develop and implement measures geared towards the elimination of child labour; Withdraw
children from hazardous work and provide them with alternatives; and Improve working
conditions where immediate withdrawal from work was not possible. It provides an overview of
various programmes and collaborative efforts undertaken by the ILO with its tripartite constituents.
It identifies some of the gaps, describes the evolving process of work and attempts to capture
lessons learnt and suggests priorities for future action. It shows that India is working with ILO to
eliminate the child labour. It is agreed that in order to protect the children from being pledged there
must be an international standard which regulates all the countries around the world and only then
child labor will discontinue.

CHILD SLAVES IN MODERN INDIA: THE BONDED LABOR PROBLEM: LEE

TUCKER [Vol. 19, No. 3 (Aug., 1997), pp. 572-629]

Notwithstanding the prevalence of the practice, child debt servitude has been illegal in India since
1933, when the Children (Pledging of Labour) Act was enacted under British rule. Since
Independence, a plethora of additional protective legislation has been put in place. There are laws
governing child labor in factories, in commercial establishments, on plantations, and in
apprenticeships. The Act calls for penalties to be levied against any parent, middleman, or
employer involved in making or executing a pledge for a child's labor. Advances are given to local
children only, to lessen the risk that they will run away. When escapes do occur or when there are
other problems with enforcing the debt obligation, the employers turn to the local panchayat
(village elders/town council) for help in resolving the dispute. In sum, the fight against bonded
child labor must be holistic, with a focus on two fronts: enforcement and prevention. Those

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employers who continue to bind children to themselves with debt, paying just pennies for a
hazardous and grueling work day, must be prosecuted. Children must be removed from bondage
and relapse. If society wants itself to be free from the bondage labor then local level should be the
first resort to take initiative for its eradication and it is possible only if there is implementation
along with the formulation of laws.

MAGNITUDE AND PROFILE OF CHILD LABOUR IN THE 1990s: EVIDENCE

FROM THE NSS DATA: SHAKTI KAK

Child labour in effect is a form of slavery and is quasi institutional. Children are pledged by their
parents to factory owners or their agents in exchange for small loans. The agricultural sector, carpet
manufacturers, brick kiln owners, bidi makers, and the silk and slate industries are reported to
engage bonded child labour despite the Pledging of Children Labour Act, 1933. It is often argued
that the phenomenon of child labour can be eradicated by the spread of universal elementary
education. Researcher agrees with this point that if the child labour has to be eradicated then it can
be done by providing proper education only.

ECONOMIC ROLES OF CHILDREN IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES: GERRY

RODGERS and GUY STANDING

There have been few analyses of the economic roles of children in the processes of socioeconomic
transformation and economic development-that is, attempts to understand the causes, functions
and consequences of child economic activities, as opposed to descriptions of their manifestations.
There are those, who would argue that this is unimportant, that child labour is undesirable and
must be stopped or regulated by law, and so we do not need to understand its sources. But the very
failure of legislation substantially to reduce child labour through much of the world shows this
view to be false. Effective policy design requires an effective understanding of the roles of children
within a broad social framework, and without the moralising, ethnocentric bias which permeates
the literature. Researcher agrees with the point that if child labor has to be eradicated, it can be
done only by the better implementation of the statutory provisions laid by the legislature and
authorities.

FEDERALISM AND LABOUR LEGISLATION IN INDIA: SIR ATUL C.

CHATTERJUN, G.C.I.E., K.C.S.I.

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In order to regulate the abuse of child labour in workshops, it appears to be desirable to proceed
by central legislation, as although the provinces have the power to extend any or all of the
provisions of the Factories Act, yet the provinces wishing to regulate workshops may be deterred
by the fear that neighboring provinces are not prepared to advance as quickly as they are and that
their industries would thereby be exposed to unfair competition. It is not surprising that in most
provinces little use has so far been made of these powers to regulate workshops. The stake is very
clear that in order to eliminate the child labour and their pledging strict rules are to be framed by
the government which is applicable to the whole nation in same manner.

EVOLUTION OF THE CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA: USHA RAMANATHAN,

(PUBLISHED IN HUGH D. HINDMAN ED, THE WORLD OF CHILD LABOUR-
AN HISTORICAL AND REGIONAL SURVEY 2009).

The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, passed into law in 1933, is the first acknowledgment of
the problem of child bondage and it was enacted because it is expedient to prohibit the making of
agreements to pledge the labour of children, and the employment of children whose labour has
been pledged. The Act defines a child as a person under the age of fifteen. While declaring that an
agreement to pledge the labor of a child shall be void, it prescribes punishment for parents or
guardians who make an agreement to pledge the labor of a child and for any person who makes
such an agreement with the parent or guardian. Punishment may also attach to one who knowingly
employs a child bound by such an agreement. This act of 1933 survives, virtually unchanged,
leaving even the minuscule penalties of Rs. 50 to Rs. 200 for the various breaches un-amended.
Thus there are no eventual improvement in the bonded labour as the penalty to be imposed is
similar as to that of the time of enactment, i.e. 50 -200 Rs., which is not at all visible in present.

UNIVERSAL MORAL PRINCIPLES AND THE LAW: FAILURE OF ONE SIZE FITS
ALL CHILD LABOUR LAWS: BROWN, M. NEIL, FRONDORF ALEX, HARRISON
SPOERL, RONDA, KRISHNAN, SUMANGALI. (HOUSTON JOURNAL OF
INTERNATIONAL LAW)

In this article the author presents a friendly critique of the efforts of human rights advocates to
use the law to accelerate the pace of historical change in the area of child labour. This provides
an introduction to the various issues and the different approaches in redressing child labour
and also the same is there for similar exploration focusing on Child Labour in India. In India,

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even now we have the child pledging prevailing in the society even though we have the
legislation for the same because it is not effective enough to curb the practices like this.

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