CHILD LABOUR AND DEVELOPMENT

Child labour was utilized to varying extents through most of history, but entered public dispute with the beginning of universal schooling, with changes in working conditions during industrialization and with the emergence of the concepts of workers' and children's rights. During the Industrial Revolution, children as young as four were employed in production factories with dangerous and often fatal working conditions. The inhuman conditions under which child labourers work, the exploitation they face, the neglect they experience and the work that deprives them from developmental opportunities are matters of serious concern. It is in this perspective that an attempt has been made in this paper to look at this issue in line with development. More specifically in terms of meaning of child labour and measurement issues, global trends, sectors or areas where it is practiced, causes, consequences, government interventions, limits and way forward.