LAW: RTE vs Child Labour Act

It’s not only India’s lethargic approach which is under scanner but also the conflicts, contradictions and anomalies in the Indian laws which are creating a buzz over and over again. And one such instance is the Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009, which stands at the other extreme with the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (CLPRA), 1986.
The RTE act ensures every child the fundamental right to free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 years. On the contrary, the CLPRA prohibits employment of child labour only in hazardous occupations but allows their engagement in non-hazardous occupations like agriculture and household works. Thus, they are in a way in direct contradiction with each other.
With the RTE Act in place, the overall enrollment rate of students has increased manifold at primary and secondary level. Still, there are 8.1 million children out of school as per government data. And we have not even started talking about absenteeism of those enrolled students. In reality, CLPRA has massively damaged and limited RTE’s success. Sadly, India has the highest number of child labours with around 12.6 million in the world. Approximately 5.6 million children are estimated to work in agriculture. As per a survey by ‘Save the Children’ in 2009, there are more than 5,80,000 children who work in major cotton growing districts of Gujarat. Moreover, there are many others working in hazardous conditions as the penalty provisions are not strict enough. Additionally, the escalating number of child beggars is further worsening the situation. As per various media sources, there are about 3,00,000 child beggars with many organisations even claiming the figure to be beyond a million. In spite of improvement in enrollment scenario, tens of thousands of children are still out of school or attend school periodically due to these very reasons.
Such a rampant usage of child labour is prevalent in India due to its relative cost-vs-output benefits over adult labourers. According to a report by Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a Delhi-based NGO, employing child labourers directly reduces the overall cost by Rs1.2 lakh crores per annum. Such a practice not only robs millions of children of their basic rights but also poses a threat to the nation. Besides, there are several other rights including Right to Health, Right to participate in society and Right against Child Marriage cannot be observed and protected until children are located in schools instead of workplaces.
In fact, the Child Labour Act and Right to Education Act cannot go hand in hand with such anamolies. To make RTE more effective, India must amend the CLPRA and completely ban child labour in all forms possible and immediately implement strict penalty provisions against its violators.