Figure 8.2 Percentage of child labour in States and UTs - OHCHR

| |United Nations |CRC/C/IND/3-4 |
|[pic] |Convention on the |Distr.: General |
| |Rights of the Child |22 July 2013 |
| | | |
| | |Original: English |
Committee on the Rights of the Child Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article
44 of the Convention
Third and fourth periodic reports of States parties due in 2008
India* [26 August 2011] Foreword India: Third and Fourth Combined Periodic Report on the Convention on the
Rights of the Child presents the major initiatives that have been taken to
ensure the rights of children. It also highlights the current status of
children, efforts made to address their concerns and the challenges which
are yet to be overcome. India's approach to protection and promotion of child rights derives from
the Constitution of India. We have also in place legislation, policies and
programmes for safeguarding the rights of children and especially, of the
girl child. Our commitment to the children is reiterated continuously
through the efforts to strengthen the framework for protection of their
rights, which include establishment of a National Commission for Protection
of Child Rights in 2007, one of the few of its kind in Asia, to safeguard
and enforce the rights of all children in the country, and the launch of a
universal Integrated Child Protection Scheme in 2009-2010 based on the
principles of 'protection of child rights' and 'best interest of the
child'. These endeavours reflect our commitment to safeguard and enforce
the rights of children in our country. While dealing with the complex dimensions of child rights, both in terms of
numbers and in quality, there is a measure of satisfaction in addressing
the overall challenges of poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy and access to
primary health services. The expansion of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme; progress
of the Integrated Child Development Services into the third phase of
expansion; revamping of the rural public health infrastructure and rapidly-
expanding social protection net through insurance schemes and pensions are
some of the initiatives taken to ensure the survival, development, care and
protection of our children. Finally, with the adoption of the Right of
Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, we expect to move
closer to fulfilling the commitment of providing free and compulsory
education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years within the next
three years. The Report, no doubt, continues to remind us of the challenges for the
fulfilment of child rights in our country. We reiterate our solemn
commitment to this goal and reaffirm our determination to translate the
rights of all children into reality. Signed (Smt. Krishna Tirath) Acknowledgement The preparation of 'India: Third and Fourth Combined Periodic Report' on
the Convention on the Rights of the Child would not have been possible
without the valuable contribution of Ministry of Human Resource
Development; Ministry of External Affairs; Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare; Ministry of Home Affairs; Ministry of Defence; Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting; Ministry of Labour and Employment; Minis try
of Law and Justice; Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment; Ministry of
Tribal Affairs; Ministry of Rural Development; Ministry of Urban
Development; Ministry of Environment and Forests; Ministry of Tourism;
Ministry of Panchayati Raj; Ministry of Minority Affairs; Ministry of
Statistics and Programme Implementation; Ministry of Finance; all State
Governments and Union Territories; Registrar General of India; Central
Social Welfare Board; National Commission for Protection of Child Rights;
National AIDS Control Organisation; National Council for Educational
Research and Training; National Institute for Public Cooperation and Child
Development; National Institute for Educational Planning and
Administration; Central Adoption Resource Agency; National Commission for
Minorities; National Commission for Women; National Commission for
Scheduled Castes; National Commission for Scheduled Tribes; the UNICEF
Country and State Offices, and many committed NGOs and members of the
public. I would like to thank UNICEF and, particularly, Ms. Karin Hulshof, Country
Representative and Ms. Karuna Bishnoi, Child Rights Specialist. I would
like to place on record the hard work and contribution made by Ms. Anju
Bhalla, Director and Mr. C.K. Reejonia, Under Secretary of the Ministry for
completion of this exercise. The Ministry of Women and Child Development would also like to thank New
Concept Information Systems Private Limited, for assisting the Ministry in
the gigantic task of compiling and collating information from all over
India that is presented in this Report. Signed Vivek Joshi
Joint Secretary
Ministry of Women and Child Development
New Delhi-110001 Introduction India has the largest child population in the world. The number of children
under age 18, which was 428 million in 2001 and rose to 430 million in
2006, is projected to remain above 400 million in the coming decade. India's approach to protection and promotion of human rights and child
rights derives from the Constitution of India, which provides for
affirmative action in favour of children. It also directs the State to
ensure that children are not abused and are given opportunities and
facilities to develop in a healthy manner in conditions of freedom and
dignity. In 2002, Article 21 A was added through a Constitutional amendment
to make elementary education a Fundamental Right for every child in the age
group of 6 to 14 years. To provide focus on issues related to women & children, the erstwhile
Department of Women & Child Development under the Human Resource
Development Ministry was upgraded as an independent Ministry in 2006. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights was constituted in
2007 under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, which
also provides for setting up sub-national level Commissions and Children's
Courts to be set up in each state of the country. Eleven State Commissions
have already been set up and are at different stages of being operational.
These statutory bodies are meant to work for protection and promotion of
child rights in the country. It underscores the commitment to the
principles of universality, inviolability, indivisibility, interdependence
and mutually reinforcing character of child rights and ensures that the
work is directly informed by the views of children in order to reflect
their priorities and perspectives. Besides the institutional, legislative and administrative framework which
is in place to extend and protect human rights, India has a strong presence
of non-governmental and voluntary action, through a network of community-
based people's organisations. They, along with the independent media, act
as a watchdog for the protection of human and child rights. The Government is increasingly earmarking large resources for programmes of
health, education, employment, sanitation, drinking water, child
development and urban renewal with focus on system strengthening, increased
inter-sectoral convergence and collaboration for improved outcomes for
children. But, in the context of India which is both large and diverse, it
is important to understand that while children have equal rights, their
needs and entitlements are area-specific, group-specific, culture-specific,
setting-specific, and age-specific and demand a variety of interventions.
This, coupled with the problems of displaced and migrant children, children
in areas of civil unrest, children belonging to marginalized groups,
children who have suffered violence, abuse and exploitation, makes the task
really challenging to see that interventions for children do not exclude
anyone. India: Third and Fourth Combined Periodic Report on the Convention on the
Rights of the Child' is a product of extensive consultations with all
stakeholders. The Report has been prepared after consultations with and
based on inputs received from other key ministries and agencies, following
the general guidelines issued by the Committee on CRC. A High Powered
Committee, comprising representatives of different government ministries,
18 state governments and representatives of non-governmental organizations,
academic institutions and international agencies was constituted in
December, 2006, to guide the preparation of the CRC Report and Reports on
the two Optional Protocols (OPs). Guidelines were shared with the state
governments and Central ministries/departments for their inputs. Five
regional consultations were held across the country between July and
October, 2007 to engage with stakeholders to make the Report as broad based
and representative, as possible. In this background, this Report combines an analysis of the overall
implementation of the CRC in our country, a review of its progress, and
identification of continuing challenges that impede the realization of all
rights of all children. Significantly, the period under Report has seen
introduction of several laws, policies and programmes to implement India's
CRC commitments for the survival, development, protection and participation