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Article

19 Sep 2017

Author:
Geeta Sekhon, Asia Foundation

Forced labour and child trafficking in India’s garment sector

...The ILO estimates that in India, 5.8 million children from 5 to 17 years old work under poor conditions, representing the highest rate of child labor in South Asia... [I]ncreasingly...garment sector are attracting more child workers...The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act enacted in 1986 and amended in 2016...deals only with the organized sector, which accounts for only 10 percent of the child labor force, leaving...the unorganized urban and rural sectors and family units outside of the Act’s regulations...India’s government strengthened the Act last year, establishing that “no child... shall be employed or permitted to work in any occupation or process, with the exception if that child helps his family or family enterprise in non-hazardous occupations or processes, after school hours, or during school holidays.” Civil society groups and activists have made a number of recommended next steps.