India’s Child Labour Policies: Its Implementation Within the ILO Framework with Emphasis on Conventions 138 and 182 and the Multilateral Framework with Emphasis on the Social Clause of the WTO

The overwhelming majority of working children in India in the unorganized, agricultural and allied sectors work primarily due to socio-economic factors. Poverty, unemployment/under-employment and illiteracy, are the most important factors that contribute to child labour in India. Given the complex socio-economic dimensions of the problem, improvement in the living and working conditions of parents and in their economic conditions as well as education is crucial to the elimination of child labour. International trade has been one of the pillars of growth for developing countries. The formation of the WTO provides a threat as well as an opportunity for labour movements and their working conditions. Within this context, India has not ratified ILO Conventions 138 and 182 as yet. The international community is extremely keen that India does so as to abide by international core labour standards. However, given the complexity of the problem, the socioeconomic scenario and the availability of resources in India, a sequential, progressive, integrated and multidimensional as well as a multilateral approach towards the gradual elimination of child labour. In this paper, the author wishes to discuss the endemic issue of child labour in India, the relevant legislations to deal with it and how they have been inadequate so far, including the non-ratification of the ILO Conventions 138 and 182. The author tries to explain that this issue can only be resolved with the cooperation of the international community based on the fundamental principle of the Social clause as espoused in the WTO. Only with this multilateral framework can India be bolstered and complemented to progressively embark on strategies and policies to eradicate this menace which is so intricately twined with the socio-economic and political fabric of the country.