STOP CHILD LABOUR

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has estimated that 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen work in developing countries—at least 120 million on a full time basis. Sixty-one percent of these are in Asia, 32 percent in Africa, and 7 percent in Latin America.

The majority of 'main' workers are boys, whereas the majority of 'marginal' workers are girls; According to the 1991 census, about 90 per cent of working children live in rural areas; Children are engaged in various types of work, including those that are classified as 'hazardous', i.e. harmful to the physical, emotional, or moral well-being of children. An estimated 2 million children work in hazardous industries. Although there are inter-state and inter-regional variations in India, the factors that generate child labour, and hazardous child labour in particular, include parental poverty and illiteracy; social and economic circumstances; lack of awareness; lack of access to basic and meaningful quality education and skills; high rates of adult unemployment and underemployment, and cultural values of the family and society.