Status of Child Labour in India

Child labour is a major problem in India as well as in the world. The child labour is currently estimated to be 170-250 million by ILO. Estimates for India vary from 100 to 12.66 million. Some estimates put the number of child labour in Delhi to be between 0.5 to 1 million. The current study has collected information separately from the households, the street children and teachers. The Probit analysis was carried out among the‘child labour households'' and ‘non- child labour households'' to find out the differences in the characteristics of the two. The survey shows that child labour is a realty in Delhi. Many children who should be in school are either completely out of them or are combining work with school. The surveys show that the children are not out of school because of choice but due to their circumstances. Here, the government and other agencies can play an important role and provide for the education of such children. It is also necessary to adopt suitable policies and create conditions to reduce the dropout rates. The role of teachers is also emphasized. An awareness is also to be created without which Child labour cannot be stopped.