Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - India (Ratification: 2017)

Previous comment

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Sale and trafficking of children. Following its previous comments concerning the practical application of the provisions on trafficking of children, the Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, that as per the Crime in India-2021 report of the National Crime Records Bureau (Crime Report, 2021), in 2021, 425 cases of trafficking of children were reported under section 370 (trafficking of persons) and section 370A (exploitation of a trafficked person) of the Indian Penal Code and a total of 1,871 cases, in general, were reported under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (Juvenile Justice Act). This report also indicates that a total of 2,189 cases of trafficking of persons, involving 6,533 persons, including 2,877 children, were reported and a total of 5,755 persons were arrested for this crime in 2021. The Committee requests the Government to continue to take the necessary measures to ensure that the provisions concerning the sale and trafficking of children are effectively implemented by ensuring that thorough investigations and prosecutions are carried out and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions are imposed against the perpetrators of this offence. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide specific information on the application in practice of section 81 (buying and selling of children under 18 years for any purpose) of the Juvenile Justice Act and section 370 of the Penal Code, in particular the number of investigations and prosecutions carried out as well as the convictions and penalties applied for the offences related to the trafficking of children.

Slavery, debt bondage, forced or compulsory labour. In response to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to the statistics under the Crime Report, 2021. According to these statistics, there were 2,978 reported cases under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act from 2019 to 2021. It also notes from the Government’s report under the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) that from 2019 to 2022, 158 employers were convicted with imprisonment and fines for perpetrating bonded labour in the State of Uttar Pradesh. However, the Committee notes that the Government has not provided any information concerning the number of cases of bonded labour that involved children and the prosecutions undertaken and penalties applied in such cases. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the number of prosecutions, investigations, convictions and penalties applied under section 4 of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act and section 79 of the Juvenile Act, specifically with regard to the offences related to the forced or bonded labour of children under the age of 18 years.

Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution. With regard to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that according to the statistics from the Crime Report, 2021, 17 cases were reported in 2021 under section 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act related to procuring or inducing children for prostitution. Moreover, of the 48 cases from the previous year, 19 cases were disposed-of by the police and 29 cases were sent for trial in 2021. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information, in particular on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties applied for the offences related to the use, procuring or offering of children under 18 years for prostitution under section 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, as well as under sections 372 and 373 of the Penal Code (selling, buying, hiring, possessing or disposing of children for prostitution).

Use, procuring or offering of a child for pornography or pornographic performances. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that as per the Crime Report, 2021, 526 cases were reported in 2021 under sections 14 (second or subsequent offence related to the use of a child for pornography) and 15 (storing of child pornography material) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act of 2012. Moreover, 1,896 cases were reported under section 67B (creating, publishing or transmitting materials depicting children engaged in sexually explicit or obscene acts in electronic form) of the Information Technology Amendment Act of 2008. In addition, 1,474 cases from previous years were disposed-of by the police, while 886 cases were sent for trial, 19 cases led to convictions and 49 cases were disposed-of by the courts. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the application in practice of the provisions related to the use or procuring of children for pornography under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (sections 13, 14 and 15) and section 67B of the Information Technology Amendment Act, including information on the number of offences reported, investigations conducted, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions imposed.

Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. In response to its previous comments concerning the application in practice of the provisions related to the use, procuring or offering of a child for the production or trafficking of drugs, the Government, referring to the Crime Report, 2021 provides general information of the number of cases reported and disposed-of under the Juvenile Justice Act and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act but does not provide any specific information on cases involving children. The Committee therefore requests the Government toprovide specific information on the application in practice of section 78 of the Juvenile Justice Act and sections 31A and 32B of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act concerning the use, procuring or offering of a child for the production or trafficking of drugs, as well as section 76 of the Juvenile Justice Act prohibiting the use of children for begging, indicating the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions, as well as penalties applied for such offences.

Clause (d) and Article 4(1). Hazardous work and determination of hazardous work. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that as per the data from the Crime Report, 2021, there were 772, 476 and 613 reported cases in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively, under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 (CAL (P&R) Act), as amended. However, there is an absence of information on the penalties applied in these cases. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information, in particular on the number and nature of violations reported under section 3A of the CAL(P&R) Act, as well as the penalties imposed for the offences related to the employment of children under 18 years in the hazardous occupations listed under Part A of the Schedule.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs). Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that 1 billion Indian rupees (approximately US$12 million) have been allocated for strengthening the existing AHTUs in States and setting up new AHTUs covering all districts of the States and Union Territories (UTs) all over India. As per the Crime Report, 2021, so far 768 AHTUs are functional in the country and 20 States/UTs have achieved the target of setting up AHTUs in all districts. The Government report also indicates that in 2021, 2,189 cases of trafficking of persons were registered by the AHTUs.

The Committee further notes from the official website of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that the annual meeting of the Nodal Officers of AHTUs conducted in August 2022, emphasized the need to provide adequate training and resource material, periodically, to officers to efficiently deal with various issues involving trafficking of persons and to strengthen cooperation by establishing interstate channels of communication. The MHA issued an advisory to the State/UT Governments in July 2020 on establishing appropriate coordination mechanisms, awareness raising at all levels, intelligence and surveillance mechanisms, as well as training and sensitization of police officers in handling human trafficking cases. A national level communication platform, Crime Multi Agency Centre (Cri-MAC) was launched in March 2020 to facilitate the dissemination of information on human trafficking so as to enable the law enforcement agencies of all States and UTs to coordinate action and identify victims of trafficking. The Committee also notes from the Scheme on Institutional Mechanisms for preventing and countering human trafficking at State level, issued by MHA in December 2020, that funds were released to all States and UTs for setting up Women Help Desks, comprising trained police officials, lawyers, psychologists and NGOs, in 10,000 police stations of the States to attend all matters relating to human trafficking. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to combat trafficking of children and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard, including information on the activities undertaken by the Anti-Human Trafficking Units and the Women Help desks in identifying and combating trafficking of children as well as the training and sensitization programmes provided to officers and law enforcement bodies. It also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of cases of trafficking of children identified and dealt with by the AHTUs and the Women Help Desks, and the measures taken to withdraw and rehabilitate the victims.

District and sub-divisional magistrates and vigilance committees. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the district and sub-divisional magistrates and the vigilance committees are entrusted with the duties and responsibilities for implementation of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act. It also noted the observations made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) under the Convention No.29, that endemic levels of debt bondage in the brick kiln industry affect a huge number of people, including children, with at least 125,000 functioning brick kilns in India employing an estimated 10 to 23 million workers. Noting an absence of information in the Government’s report, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken by thethe vigilance committees and the district and sub-divisional magistrates in identifying and monitoring cases of child bonded labour, particularly in the brick kilns.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted the various measures taken by the Government to improve access to education and the significant results achieved through the National Child Labour Project Scheme (NCLP scheme), the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) (Education for All) Scheme and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme.

With regard to the implementation of the NCLP Scheme, the Committee notes the Government’s information that since March 2021, this scheme has been merged with the SSA Scheme of the Ministry of Education. It also notes the Government’s information that during 2021–22 a total of 13,271 children were rescued from work and mainstreamed into formal education under the NCLP scheme. The Government also indicates that the new National Education Policy (NEP), adopted on 29 July 2020, proposes various reforms in school and higher and technical education. According to the Government report, the NEP aims to increase the gross enrolment ratio to 100 per cent from pre-school to secondary level by 2030, and from 26.3 per cent to 50 per cent in higher and vocational education by 2035. The Committee further notes from the NEP document that one of the primary goals under the NEP, is to curtail drop-out rates and ensure universal access to education at all levels. Statistics indicate that a significant proportion of enrolled students drop out after Grade 5 or Grade 8. In order to bring children who have dropped out back to school, the NEP proposes two initiatives, namely to provide effective and sufficient infrastructures so that all children have safe access to school, and to carefully track students’ participation and attendance at school.

In this regard, the Committee notes, from the official website of the Ministry of Education (MoE), that the SSA scheme has been redesigned in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal for Education (SDG-4) and aligned with the NEP of 2020 to ensure inclusive and equitable, quality and holistic education. The SSA scheme covers 1.16 million schools, over 156 million students and 5.7 million teachers. According to the Annual Report of 2021–22 of the MoE, the major achievements of the SSA scheme during 2020–21 include: (1) special training provided to 326,000 out-of-school children; (2) transport facility provided to 242,000 children; (3) admission to school ensured to 3.267 million children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups, as per section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education Act; (4) school uniforms provided to 65.7 million children; (5) free text books provided to 88.4 million children; and (6) stipends provided to 368,000 girls with special needs. The Committee further notes that according to the MoE Report on the Unified District Information System for Education Plus – Flash Statistics 2021–22, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the primary level increased from 101.3 per cent in 2018–19 to 104.8 per cent in 2021–22, while the GER at secondary level has increased from 76.9 per cent to 79.6 per cent. However, according to this report the drop-out rates at primary, upper primary and secondary levels stood at 1.45 per cent, 3.02 per cent and 12.61 per cent respectively. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to improve access to free basic education of all children and reduce school drop-out rates as envisioned in the NEP of 2020. It requests the Government to continue to provide detailed information on the concrete measures taken in this regard, including through the implementation of the NCLP scheme and the SSA scheme, and to provide statistical information, disaggregated by age and gender, on the results achieved with regard to increasing school enrolment rates and reducing school drop-out rates and the number of out-of-school children.

Clauses (a) and (b) Preventing and removing children from the worst forms of child labour and providing for their rehabilitation and social integration.Child victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. Ujjawala Scheme. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that the Ujjawala Scheme for the prevention of trafficking, rescue, rehabilitation, reintegration and repatriation of victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, is currently being implemented across the country. State Governments are responsible for identifying districts that need immediate attention to address the issue of trafficking as well as to furnish proposals to the Central Government for support. Under the rehabilitation component of the scheme, a grant is provided for the setting up of Ujjawala Homes, and under the reintegration component, a grant is provided for setting up halfway homes (homes for victims who are gainfully employed and can live semi-independently with minimum supervision). The Government indicates that as of April 2022, there are 107 Ujjawala Homes with 1,838 beneficiaries. It also notes the Government’s information, in its report under Convention No. 29, that from 2018 to 2020, more than 16,400 victims of trafficking from various States/UTs have been rehabilitated and re-integrated into the society under this scheme.

The Government further states that it has formulated a scheme, namely NALSA (Victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation), to provide legal services to address the concerns of victims of trafficking of all age groups and at every stage, including prevention, rescue and rehabilitation. The thrust of this scheme is to provide economic and social pathways for these marginalized groups so that they are socially included and protected. The Committee requests the Government to continue to take effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in commercial sexual exploitation as well as trafficking for that purpose and to remove those who are victims of such worst forms of child labour and provide for their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard, including under the Ujjawala Scheme and NALSA scheme, and on the results achieved in terms of the number of children withdrawn and rehabilitated.

Devadasi system. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the devadasi system (a culturally sanctioned practice of temple prostitution by lower caste girls) was prevalent mainly in the States of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that it is committed to the abolishment of the practice of devadasi in the country and that various legislative steps have been taken both by the Central and State Governments to completely prohibit the practice. The Committee however notes from a Press Release of October 2022 of the National Human Rights Commission of India that a legal notice has been issued to the State Governments of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over the continued menace of the devadasi system despite laws banning it. The Press release indicated that there are more than 70,000 women who are leading their lives as devadasi in the State of Karnataka and about 80,000 such women in the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The Committee strongly requests the Government to take the necessary measures to put an end to the practice of the devadasi system and to withdraw girls from such practices and to provide for their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of girls withdrawn and rehabilitated. It also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to verify the prevalence of the practice of devadasi system, involving girls under the age of 18 years, including through the collection of data on this issue.

Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourers. The Committee previously noted that this scheme provides for a rehabilitation assistance of 200,000 to 300,000 rupees to special category beneficiaries such as children, including orphans, or those rescued from organized and forced begging rings or other forms of bonded or forced labour involving extreme cases of deprivation or marginalization, such as children rescued from trafficking and sexual exploitation.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any updated information on the implementation of this scheme. It however notes from the Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour and Employment that, to date, a total number of 315,302 bonded labourers have been identified and released. In addition, over 1.036 billion rupees have been reimbursed to the State/UT Governments as rehabilitation assistance under this scheme. Moreover, an amount of over 112.7 million rupees has also been provided to the States/UTs towards conducting surveys, awareness raising and evaluation studies on bonded labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourers, including the measures taken to withdraw children from bonded labour as well as on the number of children who have been rescued and who have benefitted from rehabilitation assistance. It also requests the Government to provide information on the findings of any surveys or studies conducted on bonded labour.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. children in street situations and runaway, abandoned or kidnapped children. With regard to its previous comments concerning the measures taken to withdraw children from street situations and provide for their rehabilitation and social integration, the Committee notes that the Government refers to the legislative and policy measures adopted for the elimination of child labour, such as the National Child Labour Project, SSA Scheme and the PENCIL portal comprising a complaint corner and child tracking system. The Government indicates that, as of February 2020, there were a total of 714 Child Care Institutes in the country that provided rehabilitation services to children in vulnerable situations, including Children Homes (206) with 39,250 beneficiaries; Specialised Adoption Agencies (250) with 2,475 beneficiaries; and Open shelters (258) with 6,704 beneficiaries.

The Committee also notes from a report of 17 May 2018 of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), entitled “Significant Achievements of Four years 2014–2018”, that the Khoya-Paya Portal launched by the MWCD in June 2015 for posting information of missing or sighted children, has more than 8,746 registered users, and that about 10,447 cases of missing/sighted children have been published on the Portal as of March 2018. Moreover, the MWCD has established a path-breaking Special Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be implemented with the help of the railways for rescue and rehabilitation of runaway, abandoned, trafficked and kidnapped children via railways. Sixty railway stations which serve as “source and destination” centres for such children have been identified. Moreover, ChildLine Help Desks have been set up in these 60 railway stations for identifying, rescuing, reuniting and rehabilitating children in difficult circumstances. In addition, CHILDLINE, a nationwide initiative for rescuing and assisting children in distress which has been extended to 420 locations, has been able to identify and reunite thousands of children with their families. The CHILDLINE has received more than 18 million calls in 2017–18. The report of the MWCD also indicates that around 200,000 posters have been put up on railway coaches to caution passengers about children around them who may need protection, and continuous announcements are made for passengers to keep a look out for such children. These services have resulted in over 34,000 children being rescued and assisted, as of January 2018. The Committee encourages the Government to continue to take effective and time-bound measures to remove and protect children living and working on the streets and children in difficult circumstances and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard, including through the Khoya-Paya Portal, SOPs with the railways and the Childline, and the results achieved in terms of the number of children withdrawn and rehabilitated.

Clause (e). Special situation of girls. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (Save the Daughter, Educate the Daughter) (BBBP) scheme. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes that the BBBP scheme is currently being implemented in all the 640 districts across the country. The Government states that this scheme has resulted in an increased awareness and sensitization against gender bias and has set a favorable trend in the child sex ratio. The Committee also notes, from the official website of the MWCD, that a savings investment scheme, namely Sukanya Samridhi Scheme, was introduced under the BBBP scheme to assist the parents of young girls in securing money for their education and future. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the implementation of the BBBP scheme, indicating the measures undertaken to promote the education of girls and the results achieved in terms of the number of girls who have been provided access to education as well as assistance through the Sukanya Samridhi Scheme.

Article 8. International cooperation and assistance. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information regarding the various meetings carried out by the Regional Task Force for the implementation of the Convention of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution, as well as by the Task Force of India and Bangladesh for dealing with cross border trafficking of persons. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its international cooperation efforts to combat the worst forms of child labour, in particular trafficking of children under 18 years. It requests the Government to provide detailed information on the progress made with regard to combating trafficking of children and the results achieved through its bilateral and international cooperation agreements.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee once again notes that there are no recent official reports, studies or statistical information available on the situation of children in the worst forms of child labour. Recalling the importance of statistical information in assessing the application of the Convention in practice, the Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure that statistical data on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour in India is made available in the near future. To the extent possible, all information should be disaggregated by age and gender.