India refuses to ratify ILO conventions on child labour

Govt says our unique socio-economic conditions impede ratification

GN Bureau | March 10, 2010



The government on Monday blamed the socio-economic conditions unique to India for its failure to ratify International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions to ban child labour.

"Compelling conditions force children to seek employment to supplement their family income," minister of State for labour Harish Rawat said in his reply to a question at Lok Sabha.

"As far as the ratification of the ILO conventions on child labour are concerned, this would only be possible after a legislative framework and mechanism for effective implementation are in place," the minister added.

India is yet to ratify conventions 182 banning and prohibiting the 'worst forms of child labour' and 138 banning employment of individuals under 18 in certain sectors.

The ILO defines the 'worst forms of child labour' as the employment of children in prostitution, pornography, forced recruitment for armed conflict and use of children in illicit or hazardous activities.

Rawat also informed the lower house that a working group under former laboour secretary S. K. Shrivastava had suggested in its report that the existing definition of a child as a person under 14 years of age should continue. The report also recommended the inclusion of education for child labour in the Child Labour Act, 1986. The Act currently provides only for health and safety of working children.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Maharashtra adopts hybrid model for Census 2026 data collection

The government has initiated preparations for Census 2026 in Maharashtra, introducing a hybrid approach that combines optional self-enumeration with comprehensive door-to-door data collection to ensure complete coverage across the state.   According to senior officials, the Self-

What the nine Indian Nobel winners have in common

A Touch Of Genius: The Wisdom of India’s Nobel Laureates Edited by Rudrangshu Mukherjee Aleph Books, Rs 1499, 848 pages  

Income Tax dept holds Ghatkopar Outreach on new IT Act

The Income Tax Department organised an outreach programme in Ghatkopar, Mumbai, to raise awareness about the key features of the Income Tax Act, 2025, effective April 1, 2026. The initiative is part of a nationwide effort to promote taxpayer awareness, simplify compliance, and strengthen a transparent, eff

Making AI work where governance is closest to people

India’s next governance leap may not solely come from digitisation. It will come from making public systems more intelligent, more adaptive, and more responsive to the dynamics at the grassroots. That opportunity is especially significant at the panchayat level, where governance is not an abstract po

Borrowing troubles: How small loans are quietly trapping youth

A silent crisis is playing out in the pocket of young India, not in stock markets or government treasuries, but in smartphones of college students and first-jobbers who clicked on the Apply Now button without reading the small print.  A decade ago, to take a loan, you had to do some paperwor

A 19th-century pilgrim’s progress

The Travels of a Sadhu in the Himalayas By Jaladhar Sen (Translated by Somdatta Mandal) Speaking Tiger Books, 259 pages, ₹499.00  


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter