Analysis Of Legal Provisions For Child Labour In Handloom Sector: A Case Study Of West Bengal

– Sumana Lahiri, Nausheen Nizami

This research reviews and analyses the existing labour legislations and their applicability to child labour in India. Employment of children not only deprives them of their time for primary education and enjoyment, but also it deprives them of capabilities to be a productive and skilled worker in later years of life as they lose their apprenticeship time in earning daily wages. Engagement of children in work leads to a weaker productive workforce for an economy as the skill acquisition time is compromised and in majority of the cases, child labour is not able to complete basic educational standards owing to the early experiences of work-life conflict. As child labour affects children socially as well as psychologically, there is a need to have stricter enforcement of laws that prohibit engagement of children at workplaces. However, as India is home to one of the largest informal sector workforce, employment of children is common in certain sectors such as handloom, construction, agriculture, etc. Children are employed for economic reasons and mainly to supplement household income. This research uses findings from empirical survey conducted on child labour in handloom households of West Bengal to analyse the gaps in legal provisions prohibiting this malpractice.

Keywords: Child labour, handloom sector, legal provision, labour code, policy

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