Underreporting of Child Labour Cases

The report, “The Possibilities of eCourts Data for Advancing Research on Law Implementation reveals that child labour cases in six states i.e Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh, are nearly eight times higher than what NCRB records show.

About Child Labour

As per International Labour Organization (ILO),  the term “child labour” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.

Constituional Provisions Relating To Child Labour

• Article 23: Prohibits trafficking in human beings, including trafficking for the purpose of forced labor, slavery, or exploitation.
• Article 24: Prohibits the employment of children below 14 years in hazardous occupations or processes.

Key Findings of the Report

• Child Labour Cases Underreported by NCRB: Nearly eight times more child labour cases were found in Maharashtra, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh than recorded by the NCRB.
  • NCRB reported 1,329 cases under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 (CALPRA) between 2015 and 2022, while eCourts data showed 9,193 trials in the same period.

• eCourts Data Provides a Broader Picture: The study analyzed a dataset of 10,800 child labour cases from the eCourts platform.
  • The eCourts Mission Mode Project is a pan-India project, monitored and funded by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, for district courts across the country. 
    • It is an online platform where case details, such as pendency, next date of hearing and stage, can be found.
• NCRB’s “Principal Offence Rule” Leads to Underreporting: NCRB follows the “Principal Offence Rule”.
  • As per this mechanism, only the most heinous crime (maximum punishment) is considered as a counting unit among multiple offences registered in a single FIR case
  • If child labour offences are clubbed with more severe crimes in an FIR, they do not appear in NCRB data, causing significant underreporting.
• Crimes Against Children Are Significantly Higher: The report revealed that crimes against children are three times higher than crimes committed by juveniles.
  • Accurate data collection is essential for understanding crime trends, shaping policies, and improving justice deliver

Implications of Underreporting Child Labour Cases

• Policy Blind Spots: Inaccurate data misguides policy and weakens intervention strategies.
• Weak Law Enforcement: The NCRB’s “Principal Offence Rule” excludes minor crimes if clubbed with serious offences, reducing visibility of child labour cases and weakening law enforcement efforts.
• Judicial Burden:With a massive backlog of cases, underreporting prevents a clear understanding of the scale of the problem, limiting judicial capacity-building efforts.
  • Underreporting creates a false perception of lower prevalence, delaying action.