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CHILD LABOUR IN INDIA
A study on legal issues arising out of employment of children
      Submitted in 1996 for award of Ph.d. degree with specific inputs  on ‘Residential School’   

The human development profile in India is stagnating with the massive employment of children in deplorable conditions. The daunting task of survival stares at the faces of the millions of children. They are alien to the spirit of manhood as the human rights and fundamental freedoms have turned hostile.  The state cannot look upon the spectacle silently as children constitute the foundation of the nation. Holistic rearing of children is inextricably linked to the destiny of the nation as that alone can turn children into its real assets. Otherwise liability will only be thriving as the deprived and disabled cannot be counted as citizens but only as subjects. If the numbers of the disabled soar, the state is not worth the name. For one of the basic duties of the king, as incorporated in Rajadharma of ancient India, was to protect every individual in every respect and ensure his happiness. Kautilya in the Arthashastra laid down thus:

“In the happiness of his subjects, lies the happiness of the Ruler; in their welfare, his welfare; whatever pleases him the ruler shall not consider as good but whatever pleases his subjects, the Ruler shall consider as good”.