EDITORIAL
-Vikas kumar
The Constitution of India entitles every child in
this country the right to protection and develop-
ment. India has also ratified The United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
to recognise the equal and inalienable rights of all
children.
to join the unskilled workforce.
The cost of children’s engagement in informal
labour is paid by the rising rate of school drop-
outs and participation in the informal economy of
the garment industry. It is of extreme importance
to recognise the issue of home-based child labour.
Lack of information and data on state-specific child
In line with the constitutional entitlements, the labour, especially home-based labour has also acted
Government of India and the Ministry of Women as an obstacle in undertaking adequate measures to
and Child Development has taken legislative and control it.
policy initiatives to protect children from harmful
work with Child Labour (Protection and Regula- The Department of Women and Child Develop-
tion) Act 1986 (CLPRA) and its flagship scheme ment, GNCTD, congratulates Save the Children for
called Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) successfully undertaking this study and contribut-
that came into effect in 2009-10.
ing to the knowledge base on child labour in the
state of
The Department of Women and Child Develop- Delhi.
ment, Government of NCT of Delhi, upholding the
responsibility of care and protection to children in This report plays an instrumental role in high-
difficult circumstances in Delhi, has adopted a mul- lighting the needs of home-based child labourers
tifold approach to provide services and infrastruc- working in the garment industry to all stakeholders,
ture for vulnerable children including child labour- including the garment industry and society at large.
ers.
It also presents strong evidence on the challenging
working conditions of the children, despite being in
Despite these steps taken by the government, child the family set-up.
labour in India, especially in the capital city of
Delhi, continues to pose critical challenges for a The Government is committed to take the recom-
large number of children in Delhi in fully realising mendations from the study into consideration for
their right to protection and development. Owing to designing strong interventions on home-based child
economic constraints and lack of access to quality labour and to strengthen policies and legislation on
education, millions of children are still compelled child labour.
to drop-out from school at an early age and grow up
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