The Supreme Court of India, in this public interest litigation case, directed the State of Uttar Pradesh to eliminate the carpet industry’s use of child labor, issue welfare directives prohibiting child labor under the age of 14 and provide children access to education and health facilities in an effort to abolish child labor.
In its judgment, the Court required that periodic reports of progress regarding the implementation of the decision be submitted to the Registry of the Court. In addition, as regards enforcement, a supplemental, if not consequential outcome of this case, along with other relevant public interest litigation cases, was that that National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in 2006 framed the NCPCR rules constituting the National Child Rights Commission. This Commission was entrusted with assessing compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the child and thus by extension monitoring the provision of free primary education for all children in the country and the protection of children against economic exploitation.
This case along with other public interest litigation cases on the issue of child labor, and a range of child labor eradication campaigns have been successful in raising awareness about the issue of child labor and placing the issue prominently on the government’s agenda. Law and policy is moving in the direction of formal abolition of child labor and different initiatives especially in the area of education are being undertaken towards eradicating child labor. One effect has been that the use of child labor in the carpet industry has been reduced. However, millions of children still continue to be exploited in the labor market in India and there is an urgent need for stronger and more effective protections for the rights of children.
(Updated June 2015)
Bandhua Mukti Morcha