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〔(National Commission For Child Rights )〕 Child labour is the practice of having children engage in economic activity, on part or -time basis. The practice deprives children of their childhood, and is harmful to their physical and mental development. Poverty, lack of good schools and growth of informal economy are considered as the important causes of child labour in India. The 1998 national census of India estimated the total number of child labour, aged 4–15, to be at 12.6 million, out of a total child population of 253 million in 5-14 age group.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=National Child Labour project )〕〔(Age Structure And Marital Status ) India Census 2001〕 A 2009-2010 nationwide survey found child labour prevalence had reduced to 4.98 million children (or less than 2% of children in 5-14 age group).〔(Labour and Employment Statistics ) Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Govt of India (January 2014), page 2〕 The 2011 national census of India found the total number of child labour, aged 5–14, to be at 4.35 million,〔(Number of child labour has reduced by 65 percent: Govt )〕 and the total child population to be 259.64 million in that age group.〔(Age Data C13 Table (India/States/UTs ), Final Population - 2011 Census of India )〕 The child labour problem is not unique to India; worldwide, about 217 million children work, many full-time.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=ILO, United Nations )〕 Indian law specifically defines 64 industries as hazardous and it is a criminal offence to employ children in such hazardous industries. In 2001, an estimated 1% of all child workers, or about 120,000 children in India were in a hazardous job. Notably, Constitution of India prohibits child labour in hazardous industries (but not in non-hazardous industries) as a Fundamental Right under Article 24.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/constitution/constitutionofindia.html )〕 UNICEF estimates that India with its larger population, has the highest number of labourers in the world under 14 years of age, while sub-saharan African countries have the highest percentage of children who are deployed as child labour.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=India- The big picture )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=UNICEF )〕 International Labour Organisation estimates that agriculture at 60 percent is the largest employer of child labour in the world,〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=ILO, Geneva )〕 while United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates 70% of child labour is deployed in agriculture and related activities.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=FAO, United Nations )〕 Outside of agriculture, child labour is observed in almost all informal sectors of the Indian economy.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Child Labour )〕〔http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ListHazardous.htm〕 Companies including Gap, Primark, Monsanto have been criticised for child labour in their products. The companies claim they have strict policies against selling products made by underage children, but there are many links in a supply chain making it difficult to oversee them all.〔 In 2011, after three years of Primark's effort, BBC acknowledged that its award-winning investigative journalism report of Indian child labour use by Primark was a fake. BBC apologized to Primark, to Indian suppliers and all its viewers.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Primark )〕 In December 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a ''List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor'' and India figured among 74 countries where significant incidence of critical working conditions has been observed. Unlike any other country, India was attributed 23 goods the majority of which is produced by child labor in the manufacturing sector. Article 24 of India's constitution prohibits hazardous child labour. Additionally, various laws and the Indian Penal Code, such as the Juvenile Justice (care and protection) of Children Act-2000, and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Abolition) Act-1986 provide a basis in law to identify, prosecute and stop child labour in India.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=International Labour Organization - an Agency of the United Nations, Geneva )〕 ==Definition== The term ''child labour'', suggests ILO,〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=International Labour Organization )〕 is best defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, or work whose schedule interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or work that affects in any manner their ability to focus during war and clubs and boutros, school or experience a healthy childhood. 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 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work per week.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=UNICEF )〕 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〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Govt of India and ILO )〕 child labor 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 laborers 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. Some child rights activists argue that child labour must include every child who is not in school because he or she is a hidden child worker.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=National Advisory Council )〕 UNICEF, however, points out that India faces major shortages of schools, classrooms and teachers particularly in rural areas where 90 percent of child labour problem is observed. About 1 in 5 primary schools have just one teacher to teach students across all grades.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=UNICEF )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=UNICEF )〕 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 castle 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).〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Constitution of india )〕 India has a federal form of government, and labour being a subject in the Concurrent List, both the central and state governments can and have legislated on child labour. The major national legislative developments include the following:〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Department of Law and Justice, Government of India )〕 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. 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 of 6 billion, targeted solely to eliminate child labour in India.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Ministry of Labour, Government of India )〕 Despite these efforts, child labour remains a major challenge for India. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Child labour in India」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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