CHILD LABOUR AMONG MARGINALISED CASTES IN INDIA: A LEGAL AND SOCIAL ENQUIRY

ABSTRACT: –

Child labour continues to be a pressing social and legal challenge in India, disproportionately affecting children from marginalised castes, which include the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Despite constitutional guarantees and statutory measures aimed at protecting child rights, systemic discrimination, economic vulnerability, and inadequate enforcement contribute to the tenacity of exploitative labour practices. This article seeks to examine the legal and constitutional framework governing child labour, loopholes despite the judicial responses and judgments, and explores socio-economic factors that influence its prevalence. The article concludes with recommendations for the effective implementation of laws and established statutes, as well as revising guidelines to ensure that every child attains equal safeguards and opportunities for growth, with a particular emphasis on the needs of children from marginalised communities. 

INTRODUCTION:

India, being one of the most populous countries in the world, is home to a significant proportion of children, ensuring their protection and welfare, a core concern of constitutional and legal importance. Child labour continues to be among the most persistent social and legal concerns in India, despite the existence of the country’s fundamental law and statutory safeguards. According to the 2011 census, approximately 10.1 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 years were engaged in child labour, highlighting the continuing magnitude of this issue.

The problem impacts children from all socioeconomic backgrounds, but children from marginalised castes, especially those from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, are disproportionately hard hit. According to a sample survey carried out by the Telangana Labour Department, these communities account for 80–90% of the documented child labourers, underscoring the caste-based concentration of child labour in the State. Economic hardships, caste-based discrimination, and historical exclusion have all contributed to the denial of fundamental rights, especially the right to education, which has forced children from these communities into labour at a very young age.

Child labour refers to the engagement of children in work that deprives them of their childhood, hindering their educational opportunities, and endangering their physical, mental, and moral welfare. In India, the concept of child labour is often associated with socio-economic conditions, including poverty, restricted educational access, and poor adherence to labour laws. While not all forms of work performed by children are considered exploitative, according to the Indian Legislation, employment that hampers a child’s academic pursuits or exposes any minor to hazardous conditions is clearly considered child labour and is forbidden by Indian law. A distinction is often drawn between ‘child work’ and ‘child labour’. Child work may include simple and secure activities performed by children that do not jeopardise their education or development. In contrast, child labour involves work that exploits a child and breaches the legal protection that applies to children.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK GOVERNING CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA

The Indian Constitution establishes clear legal guidelines for children and requires the government to work towards ending child labour, giving priority to the greater vulnerabilities faced by marginalised groups in society. The country has a duty to guarantee that every child is treated fairly, lives with respect, has access to education, and is protected from harm when we examine both constitutional rights and governmental mandates.

Constitutional Provisions

Article 14 of the Constitution provides that everyone is equal before the law and is entitled to equal protection of the laws. This means children from marginalised castes cannot be treated differently or unfairly when seeking admission to schools, receiving educational benefits, or applying for jobs and related opportunities. Similarly, Article 15(4) allows the State to make special provisions to support socially and educationally backward classes, such as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Article 17 abolishes untouchability. It is relevant when addressing caste-based exclusion, which can lead to child labour. Persistent societal prejudice can block children from marginalised castes from getting into school or receiving public welfare benefits, which can leave them more exposed to exploitative labour.

Legal institutions have perceived Article 21’s right to live with dignity broadly. In practice, this has been treated as covering access to education, basic health care, and the right of a child to grow up in conditions that protect their dignity. This position was reinforced by inserting Article 21A, which guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged six to fourteen years. Denying someone access to education, whether directly or by forcing them into labour that keeps them out of school, breaches this fundamental right.

Article 23 bans trafficking and forced labour, and courts often rely on it in cases involving bonded child labour. Children from marginalised castes are often forced into hereditary or bonded labour. This article is an important safeguard against their exploitation. Article 24 explicitly forbids hiring individuals under fourteen years old to work in factories, mines, or any other hazardous occupation.

Article 46, which is a Directive Principle of State Policy, requires the State to promote the educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and to protect them from social injustice and exploitation. This provision cannot be enforced in court, but it sets a clear direction for lawmakers and policymakers to end child labour, especially in marginalised communities.

Statutory Framework

In India, the main law dealing with child labour is the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, as amended in 2016.The Act bans hiring children under fourteen for any job or work process. It allows adolescents to work only in jobs that are not hazardous, and only under the rules set by law. The amendment marked a significant shift by aligning domestic law with international standards, though concerns remain regarding exemptions for family enterprises.

The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, supports child labour laws by requiring that children attend school. It places a duty on the State to make sure children are enrolled and stay in school. Implementing this Act properly is necessary to prevent child labour, especially in marginalised castes where school dropout rates are still high.

The Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, is a key law that bans bonded labour and is used to deal with caste-based and inherited forms of labour. Children from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes are more often pulled into bonded labour. Strong enforcement of this law is necessary to end bonded and other exploitative forms of child labour.

Policy Initiatives

Alongside legal measures, the Government runs schemes like the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) to support children taken out of child labour, including short-term instruction at special training centres and help in moving into regular schooling. These initiatives show that the policy aims to end the problem, but the real impact will depend on whether the measures are carried out properly and whether outreach reaches marginalised communities. However, the effectiveness of such schemes remains limited due to inconsistent implementation, inadequate monitoring, and a lack of caste-sensitive targeting mechanisms.

JUDICIAL APPROACH TOWARDS CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA

The Indian judiciary has played a pivotal role in strengthening the legal framework against child labour by interpreting constitutional provisions in a purposive and child-centric manner. Through landmark judgments, the Supreme Court has not only expanded the scope of fundamental rights but has also imposed affirmative obligations on the State to eliminate exploitative child labour practices, particularly those affecting vulnerable and marginalised communities.

One of the most significant judgments in this context is in Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, The Supreme Court examined the problem of bonded labour from the perspectives of social justice and human dignity. The Court held that bonded labour is a form of forced labour prohibited under Article 23 of the Constitution and emphasised that poverty and social backwardness cannot justify the exploitation of labour, including child labour. The judgment underscored the State’s duty to identify, release, and rehabilitate bonded labourers, many of whom belonged to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. This decision laid the foundation for recognising child labour as a constitutional violation rather than merely a socio-economic problem.

In M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu, The Supreme Court dealt specifically with the employment of children in hazardous industries, particularly the Sivakasi fireworks industry. The Court categorically held that the employment of children in hazardous occupations violates Article 24 of the Constitution. It issued detailed directions for the withdrawal of children from hazardous work, their rehabilitation, and the provision of education through the establishment of welfare funds. This judgment marked a significant shift from punitive approaches to a rehabilitative and rights-based framework, reinforcing the link between child labour eradication and the right to education under Articles 21 and 21A.

Further, in People’s Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India, commonly known as the Asiad Workers case, the Supreme Court expanded the interpretation of forced labour under Article 23 by holding that labour extracted without payment of the minimum wage amounts to forced labour. Although the case did not deal exclusively with child labour, its principles have been applied in subsequent cases involving child and bonded labour, particularly in unorganised sectors where children from marginalised castes are predominantly employed.

The judiciary has consistently reiterated that the constitutional mandate to protect children must be read in conjunction with the Directive Principles of State Policy. In Unni Krishnan v. State of Andhra Pradesh, The Supreme Court recognised the right to education as an integral part of the right to life, a principle later constitutionalised through Article 21A. This jurisprudential development has strengthened the legal basis for challenging child labour practices that deprive children of educational opportunities.

Overall, judicial interventions have significantly contributed to the evolution of child labour jurisprudence in India by adopting a rights-based and welfare-oriented approach. However, despite progressive judgments, the continued prevalence of child labour among marginalised castes highlights the gap between judicial pronouncements and effective implementation on the ground.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND CHALLENGES IN ADDRESSING CHILD LABOUR AMONG MARGINALISED CASTES

India’s Constitution, laws, and court decisions set out protections against child labour, yet child labour still occurs in India, especially among marginalised groups such as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This ongoing issue shows a clear gap between what the law requires and what happens in practice, and it points to structural, administrative, and socio-economic problems that still have not been properly addressed.

A key issue is that child labour laws are not enforced consistently or reliably. Even though laws like the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act ban child labour, enforcement often falls short because agencies do not have enough staff or funding, inspections are too limited, and different authorities do not work together well. In rural and remote areas, where many marginalised communities live, abuses are often not reported or recorded, which can let exploitative practices continue without scrutiny.

A separate concern is that the child labour law includes an exemption for family enterprises. This exemption is meant to protect traditional skills, but it is often used as a cover to justify exploitative labour, especially in caste-based occupations. Children from marginalised castes are often made to do traditional family work linked to their caste, and it is sometimes described as training or learning a skill. In practice, this can hide exploitative labour and make it hard to tell where genuine skill-building ends and harmful work begins.

In many cases, the education system has structural barriers that can push children out of school and into child labour. High dropout rates among children from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are linked to poor school buildings and services, teachers being absent, language gaps in tribal areas, and unequal treatment inside schools. If schooling is not a real option, child labour is often driven by financial need, not just treated as a one-off breach of the law.
Poverty and social exclusion also make this problem worse. Many marginalised families rely on informal, unregulated work to get by, and in those settings, child labour is often treated as normal and socially acceptable. When there is no social security and little or no rehabilitation support, families may be forced to depend on children’s labour to meet basic needs, which can keep patterns of exploitation going from one generation to the next.

Moreover, rehabilitation and welfare programs for child labourers who have been rescued are still not being carried out well. These programs aren’t as effective because they take too long to identify people, don’t keep an eye on them for a long time, and don’t pay enough attention to caste-specific vulnerabilities. As a result, many children go back to work after being rescued, which goes against the goals of policies to end child labour.

SUGGESTIONS AND WAY FORWARD

Addressing child labour among marginalised castes in India takes more than having laws on the books. What matters is whether those laws are enforced consistently and fairly, with regular inspections, clear accountability for officials, and real access to complaints and remedies for affected children and families. Improving enforcement tools should be treated as a top priority. This includes doing more inspections of workers, making sure that local governments, education authorities, and labour departments work together better, and making sure that officials are held responsible for finding and stopping child labour. In rural and low-income areas, where there is often less oversight and fewer people report violations, extra care is needed.

The exception for family-run businesses in child labour laws should be reviewed and, if needed, narrowed or removed. This provision is meant to protect traditional skills, but in practice, it is often used to excuse exploitative work, especially in caste-based and hereditary jobs. The exemption should be defined in clear, narrow terms, and it should be monitored on a regular basis so it cannot be used to keep children out of school by calling it family work or vocational training.

Education must be seen as the central means of preventing child labour. Legislation and public policy should provide for the retention of children in school by removing obstacles that force parents to depend on a child’s income. Schools serving children from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities should provide safe and functional buildings, the presence of dedicated, qualified teachers, the addressing of language barriers in tribal areas, and the elimination of discrimination so that all students can learn without any form of inequity. Additionally, scholarships, mid-day meals, residential schools, and community-based learning centres can provide additional support to ensure that these children remain enrolled in school.

Rehabilitation measures for rescued child labourers should be strengthened and made sustainable over the long term. Rehabilitation should go beyond short-term help and include ongoing follow-up, mental health support, and access to skills training that does not interfere with the child’s education. Involving civil society organisations, local community leaders, and non-governmental organisations more closely can help make sure rehabilitation measures take caste-based risks into account and reflect the facts on the ground.
In closing, the issue of child labour should be addressed through an overall approach that targets its underlying structural causes. Any plan to cut poverty, widen access to social security, and stop caste-based discrimination should be built into child protection work, so these steps support and reinforce each other. Addressing the root causes of child labour among marginalised castes requires coordinated action from the legislature, executive authorities, the judiciary, and civil society.

CONCLUSION

Child labour continues to be a very serious social and legal issue in India. Children who are born into lower castes are usually more affected by child labour than children of higher castes due to the impact that poverty, caste discrimination, and lack of access to safe jobs, schools, and public support have on them. Although constitutional provisions, statutory provisions, and judicial interpretation still exist to provide protection to children against child labour, the continued prevalence of child labour indicates that there is a disconnect between the legal framework and what happens in practice – with many children experiencing child labour in spite of the existence of legal protections.

This article looks at child labour among marginalised castes by reviewing the constitutional and statutory rules, what the courts have said in key cases, and the social and economic conditions that keep the practice in place. The law sets clear protections for children’s rights, but those protections often fail in practice because enforcement is weak, education systems and related support are underfunded, legal exemptions are misused to avoid duties, and there are too few rehabilitation services.

Addressing child labour, especially among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, should be treated as a rights issue and handled in a caste-sensitive way. Any policy or action needs to consider how poverty, caste discrimination, and limited access to education and decent work can overlap and push children into labour. Providing every child with education, dignity, and protection is required by the Constitution and is also a basic duty we owe as a society.

The government needs to ensure it does more than make promises. It needs to apply its child protection laws effectively, in a manner favourable to all children, including in terms of caste. It is only then the children will be ensured the guarantee of equality and dignity in the Constitution.