Sometimes a silver lining can reveal a dark cloud. Nearly 45,000 Indian children were rescued between April 2024 and March 2025 in a nationwide crackdown involving over 27,000 operations by Just Rights for Children, a collective of voluntary organisations, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies. According to the report, Building the Case for Zero: How Prosecution Acts as Tipping Point to End Child Labour, published by the Centre for Legal Action and Behaviour Change in partnership with JRC, nearly 90% of the 44,902 children rescued were engaged in child labour in places such as spas, massage parlours, and orchestras where they were subjected to prostitution among other forms of sexual exploitation. Of the 5,809 employers and traffickers arrested, 85% were involved in child labour. The report also revealed state-wise data on rescued children. Telangana reported the highest number of child labour rescues, followed by Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. West Bengal topped the category of children rescued from sexual exploitation, accounting for 1,005 rescues among the total figure of 2,971. The raids also tracked down 8,749 minors from the 11,409 on the missing children list.
Despite promises of reform, children’s labour remains endemic in India. A 2020 Observer Research Foundation report stated that India, home to one-fifth of the world’s children, has the highest rates of child labour: around 33 million under the age of 18 are engaged in hazardous industries such as textiles, mining, and firework factories. A complex interplay of factors is responsible for this. Poverty, the need to supplement dwindling family incomes, cracks in the school education system make children vulnerable, as do legal loopholes. Under Indian law, particularly the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, a child is defined as a person who has not completed 14 years of age, leaving those between 15-18 years of age to be ‘legally’ employed. Moreover, the allowance of children to work in ‘family enterprises’ makes them vulnerable to exploitation. These lacunae must be addressed and a justice-oriented framework installed to protect children. The law enforcement edifice — the JRC raids led to the registration of first information reports in 35% cases — should be strengthened. But in a populous, poor and deeply iniquitous nation, child labour cannot be erased without resolving the structural challenges.