2007 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - India

Selected Statistics and Indicators on Child Labor1642
Working children, 5-14 years (%), 1999-2000:	4.1
Working boys, 5-14 years (%), 1999-2000:	4.1
Working girls, 5-14 years (%), 1999-2000:	4.0
Working children by sector, 5-14 years (%), 1999-2000:
– Agriculture	73.3
– Manufacturing	12.4
– Services	11.5
– Other	2.8
Minimum age for work:	14 for specified hazardous occupations and processes
Compulsory education age:	Not compulsory*
Free public education:	No*
Gross primary enrollment rate (%), 2005:	115
Net primary enrollment rate (%), 2005:	88
School attendance, children 5-14 years (%), 2000:	71.5
Survival rate to grade 5 (%), 2004:	73
ILO-IPEC participating country:	Yes
* The Constitution provides for free, compulsory education for children ages 6-14 years, but the Parliament has not enacted legislation to implement this Constitutional guarantee

Incidence and Nature of Child Labor

According to the Government of India, the largest number of working children can be found in the state of Uttar Pradesh, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar. The Government also found that most children working in rural areas are in agriculture and related activities such as livestock tending, forestry, and fishing.¹⁶⁴³ Children also work in service industries such as hotels, food service, and tourism.¹⁶⁴⁴ Working children are found in industries such as quarrying of sandstone and other materials; gemstone polishing; zari-production, consisting of embroidering or sewing beads and colored threads to fabric; sari-weaving; hybrid seed production; and in the manufacturing of matches, bricks, carpets, locks, glass bangles, fireworks, leather goods, bidis (cigarettes), footwear, garments, sporting goods, brassware, and other metal goods. The government has identified many of these industries as hazardous for children.¹⁶⁴⁵

Most working children can be found in the informal economy, and the ILO reports that children's work is increasingly occurring in home-based production rather than organized factory settings.¹⁶⁴⁶ Other activities in which children work in the informal economy include vending food and other goods; repairing vehicles and tires; construction; food preparation; scavenging and rag-picking; shoe-shining; car washing; begging; and domestic service. The majority of children working in domestic service are girls ages 12 to 17 years, though some are reportedly as young as 5 or 6 years, and many work very long hours and suffer abusive treatment.¹⁶⁴⁷ A large proportion of the working children engaged in waste-picking are from the scheduled castes and tribes, which are communities that have traditionally suffered from societal discrimination.¹⁶⁴⁸

Some reports indicate that large numbers of children work under forced labor conditions in India.¹⁶⁴⁹ Past reports have identified forced or indentured child labor in floriculture; quarrying; agricultural activities; fishing; circuses; shops; carpet weaving; salt production; gemstone cutting; and the manufacture of fireworks, glassware, silver goods, matches, bidis, leather goods, silk goods, and bricks.¹⁶⁵⁰ More recent reports suggest the existence of forced or indentured child labor in hybrid seed production and dhabas (small roadside food stalls).¹⁶⁵¹ High-profile police raids in and around New Delhi in late 2006 and 2007 found children working under forced labor conditions in the gold and silver jewelry industry,¹⁶⁵² the garment industry,¹⁶⁵³ and rice mills.¹⁶⁵⁴ The vast majority of bonded laborers are from scheduled castes and tribal groups.¹⁶⁵⁵

The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a problem in India; girls as young as 7 years are exploited in brothels in major urban centers.¹⁶⁵⁶ Some child sex tourism has been reported in the state of Goa and other popular tourist destinations.¹⁶⁵⁷ There is increasing awareness of boys being exploited in prostitution and sex tourism.¹⁶⁵⁸ Civil society and media allege that children are recruited to work as soldiers by armed opposition groups in zones where armed conflict is occurring.¹⁶⁵⁹

India is a source, transit, and destination country for minors trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, sweatshops, agricultural labor, and activities such as begging,¹⁶⁶⁰ driving auto rickshaws, and hotel services.¹⁶⁶¹ The majority of such children are Indians trafficked within the country and even within the same state.¹⁶⁶² Nepali and Indian girls from rural areas are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation in major urban centers such as Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta), and New Delhi.¹⁶⁶³ In 2007 there were reports of large numbers of children trafficked from rural areas to New Delhi to work in the zari industry.¹⁶⁶⁴ Children living in conflict areas, such as the northeastern states, are especially vulnerable to trafficking.¹⁶⁶⁵

Child Labor Laws and Enforcement

Indian law prohibits the employment of children under 14 years in any factory or mine, or in 15 hazardous occupations and 57 hazardous processes, including the following: the manufacture or handling of pesticides and insecticides, carpet weaving, trash picking, and work in slaughterhouses, roadside eateries (dhabas), restaurants, hotels, motels, tea shops, and other recreational establishments.¹⁶⁶⁶ Children 14 to 18 years may work limited hours in factories during the daytime if they have been granted a certificate of fitness by a certifying surgeon.¹⁶⁶⁷ Children of any age may be employed in all other activities, if employers adhere to restrictions including a maximum 6-hour workday with a 1-hour rest period, at least 1 day off per week, and no night work or overtime work. Penalties include fines or imprisonment of 3 months to 1 year, or up to 2 years for repeat offenses.¹⁶⁶⁸

Bonded child labor is illegal in India, and the law provides for district-level vigilance committees, headed by district collectors (the principal government officer of the district), to investigate allegations of bonded labor and to release anyone found in bondage. Persons found using bonded labor may be fined and imprisoned for up to 3 years.¹⁶⁶⁹ The state of Tamil Nadu reported that 13,051 of the 35,884 bonded laborers identified have been released from bondage and rehabilitated at a cost of USD 4 million. As of 2006, the most recent year for which such information is available, 803 of the 884 employers against whom cases were filed had been convicted.¹⁶⁷⁰ Commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of boys and girls is prohibited by law. Penalties include imprisonment of 7 to 14 years for procuring, inducing, or taking a minor 16 to 18 years from one place to another for prostitution; the penalty can increase to a life sentence if the victim is below 16 years old.¹⁶⁷¹ It is illegal to cause any person to produce or deal in narcotic or psychotropic substances; punishment consists of fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years.¹⁶⁷² There is no compulsory conscription into the Indian military, and the voluntary recruitment age is 16 years.¹⁶⁷³

Enforcement of child labor and forced labor laws is primarily the responsibility of state and local governments, with the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE) providing oversight and coordination.¹⁶⁷⁴ As of December 2006, the most recent date for which such information is available, state governments had conducted 23,166 inspections and identified 1,672 violations of laws prohibiting hazardous work for children.¹⁶⁷⁵ In 2007, children were rescued from hazardous work as part of raids in several states, including Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi.¹⁶⁷⁶ From April 2005 through March 2006, the most recent period for which such data is available, the Government prosecuted 7,969 child labor cases, resulting in 1,019 convictions.¹⁶⁷⁷ A Maharashtra state-level task force rescued and repatriated over 18,000 children through raids in 2006 and 2007, and Karnataka police rescued 12 child workers from dhabas.¹⁶⁷⁸ Despite these enforcement efforts, media, NGOs, and USDOS report that overall enforcement of child labor laws is inadequate due to insufficient resources, poorly trained inspectors, low inspector salaries, and social acceptance of child labor.¹⁶⁷⁹

In 2007, charges were brought against over 1,400 traffickers in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, 27 of whom were convicted. Police actions in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra resulted in 77 additional arrests for trafficking crimes.¹⁶⁸⁰ Despite these enforcement efforts, USDOS reports that the rates of investigation, prosecution, and conviction for forced labor crimes are extremely low, due in part to official corruption,¹⁶⁸¹ and that enforcement of trafficking laws is inadequate due to poorly trained prosecutors and judges,¹⁶⁸² lack of effective coordination among state authorities, and corruption.¹⁶⁸³

Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor

India's National Charter for Children (2003) lays out the country's commitments to protect children from hazardous child labor and to provide universal access to primary education with a focus on children with special needs.¹⁶⁸⁴ The National Policy on Child Labor lays out concrete actions for combating child labor, including legislative reforms and projects to provide direct assistance to children.¹⁶⁸⁵ These direct assistance projects are collectively known as the National Child Labor Projects (NCLP), which operate at the district level to identify working children; withdraw them from hazardous work; and provide education, vocational training, mainstreaming into formal education, stipends, meals, and health checkups. Through November 2007, NCLPs had been established in 250 districts, and 7,954 NCLP schools were in operation. UNICEF is supporting the MOLE in developing a system to track the progress of children in the NCLP schools,¹⁶⁸⁶ and the entire NCLP scheme is linked to the Ministry of Human Resource Development's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Education for All) program, to ensure children's smooth transition from NCLP schools into the formal education system.¹⁶⁸⁷ A prototype of the National Tracking System has already been developed and field trials are underway in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.¹⁶⁸⁸ The MOLE's Grants in Aid Scheme funds NGOs to provide working children with education and vocational training opportunities, health care, and nutrition supplements.¹⁶⁸⁹ From April 2006 to March 2007, the most recent period for which such information is available, the Scheme had provided USD 280,000 in funding to 54 NGOs.¹⁶⁹⁰ The MOLE also carries out large-scale awareness-raising activities on child labor and operates Childline, a toll-free helpline that provides counseling to children in need and referral to rehabilitation services.¹⁶⁹¹

The states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Punjab are implementing state-level action plans to eliminate child labor from hazardous industries.¹⁶⁹² In 2007, the government of Maharashtra committed over USD 1.2 million to begin implementation of its action plan.¹⁶⁹³ From February 2005 through October 2007, the UK Government provided USD 4.8 million to support the state government of Andhra Pradesh to pilot its action plan.¹⁶⁹⁴ The state government of Haryana launched 137 child development projects to support its official ban on child labor.¹⁶⁹⁵

The Government of India and USDOL jointly fund and collaborate on the USD 40 million INDUS project, which targets 80,000 children for withdrawal from work in 10 hazardous sectors: bidis, brassware, bricks, fireworks, footwear, glass bangles, locks, matches, quarrying, and silk. The project, implemented by ILO-IPEC, is designed to complement the NCLP program and Government primary education initiatives. Target areas are 21 districts in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh, as well as the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The project is scheduled to continue through September 2008.¹⁶⁹⁶ In 2007, USDOL also funded a 3-year USD 3.5 million research project to be carried out by Macro International on children working in the carpet industry in India, Nepal, and Pakistan.¹⁶⁹⁷ With support from the Government of Italy, the state government of Karnataka is participating in a USD 3.6 million ILO-IPEC project to combat exploitive child labor and economic exploitation of adolescents in the sericulture (silk farming) industry; the project is scheduled to end in August 2008.¹⁶⁹⁸

The Government of India and its state governments are collaborating on a program to rescue and rehabilitate child and adult bonded laborers. This includes administering surveys to identify bonded laborers, stipends of 20,000 rupees (USD 476), training and education for each person rescued, and awareness-raising activities.¹⁶⁹⁹ However, USDOS reports that this program is inadequately implemented; very few individuals are identified and actually receive these services.¹⁷⁰⁰ The MOLE is also partnering with the ILO on a project to identify and provide rehabilitative services to bonded laborers in selected states, as well as train local officials on bonded labor issues.¹⁷⁰¹

The Government's National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Women and Children aims to rehabilitate and reintegrate victims of trafficking into society.¹⁷⁰² The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) coordinates a wide range of anti-trafficking activities, in collaboration with NGOs and state governments, including awareness-raising programs; victim rescue; shelter homes; and the provision of counseling, legal aid, medical care, repatriation, and rehabilitative services.¹⁷⁰³ These efforts include the MWCD's new Ujjawala scheme, announced in December 2007, a grant-based program to provide services to trafficking victims.¹⁷⁰⁴ The MWCD also provides job training to girls who plan to migrate for work overseas, and educates them on their rights as Indian emigrants.¹⁷⁰⁵ The states of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Bihar opened new Anti-Human Trafficking Units in 2007;¹⁷⁰⁶ this has led to increases in both the rescues of sex trafficking victims and in arrests of traffickers.¹⁷⁰⁷ Also in 2007, USDOS, UNODC, and India's Central Bureau of Investigation partnered to provide anti-trafficking training to over 9,000 police officers and prosecutors in five states.¹⁷⁰⁸ The Government's Home Ministry also continued to train law enforcement officers on trafficking issues.¹⁷⁰⁹

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1642 For statistical data not cited here, see the Data Sources and Definitions section. For data on ratifications and ILO-IPEC membership, see the Executive Summary. For minimum age for admission to work, age to which education is compulsory, and free public education, see Government of India, Child Labor – Prohibition and Regulation Act (as amended), (1986 and July 10, 2006), articles 2, 3, Schedule; available from http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabour.htm. See also Government of India, The Factories Act, No. 63 of 1948, as amended by No. 20 of 1987, (1948), article 67; available from http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/WEBTEXT/32063/64873/E87IND01.htm. See also Ministry of Labour and Employment, Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour 2006-2007, New Delhi, September 26, 2007, para 12.4; available from http://labour.nic.in/annrep/annrep2006.htm. See also U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, November 29, 2007.

1643 Ministry of Labour and Employment, Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour 2006-2007, para 12.3.

1644 ILO-Subregional Office for South Asia, A Decade of ILO-India Partnerships, New Delhi, 2004, 71; available from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/newdelhi/download/misa_cl….

1645 U.S. Department of State, "India," in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2007, Washington, DC, March 11, 2008, section 6d; available from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100614.htm. See also Government of India, Child Labor – Prohibition and Regulation Act (as amended), Schedule. See also P. Madhavan and Dr. Sanjay Raj, Budhupura "Ground Zero" Sandstone Quarrying in India, India Committee of the Netherlands, Utrecht, December, 2005, 18-19; available from http://www.stonemarket.co.uk/images/ethics/budhpura.pdf.

1646 ILO-Subregional Office for South Asia, A Decade of ILO-India Partnerships, 70-71.

1647 Ibid. See also U.S Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, November 5, 2007.

1648 ILO-IPEC, Addressing the Exploitation of Children in Scavenging (Waste Picking): A Thematic Evaluation of Action on Child Labour, Geneva, October 2004, 18; available from http://www.ilo.org/iloroot/docstore/ipec/prod/eng/2004_eval_scavenging_….

1649 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 6c.

1650 Ravi Srivastava, Bonded Labour in India: Its Incidence and Pattern, ILO-Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, Geneva, April 2005, 5-9, 16, 24, 27-29, 31; available from http://www.ilo.org/dyn/declaris/DECLARATIONWEB.DOWNLOAD_BLOB?Var_Docume….

1651 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 6d. See also Davuluri Venkateswarlu, Child Bondage Continues in Indian Cotton Supply Chain, OECD Watch, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, India Committee of the Netherlands, Eine Welt Netz NRW, and International Labor Rights Forum, September, 2007, Cover, 5; available from http://www.indianet.nl/pdf/childbondagecotton.pdf. See also U.S Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, November 5, 2007.

1652 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, May 21, 2007.

1653 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, December 4, 2007. See also Dan MacDougall, "Indian 'slave' children found making low-cost clothes destined for Gap", The Observer Guardian Unlimited, [online], October 28, 2007; available from http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2200590,00.html. See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 6d.

1654 U.S. Department of State, "India (Tier 2 Watch List)," in Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007, Washington, DC, June 12, 2007; available from http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/82806.htm.

1655 Srivastava, Bonded Labour in India, 8-9. See also U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, December 4, 2007.

1656 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 5.

1657 ECPAT International and Aparna Bhat, Report on Laws and Legal Procedures Concerning the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in India, Bangkok, November 2004, 9; available from http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/promoting_law/india_repor… 4.pdf. See also Equations, A Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism in India (Kerala and Goa), Bangkok, December 2003, 5; available from http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/sex_tourism/India-Equatio…. See also U.S Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, March 20, 2008.

1658 Sree Lakshmi Akula and Anil Raghuvanshi, Situational Analysis Report on Prostitution of Boys in India (Hyderabad), Bangkok, June, 2006, 7; available from http://www.ecpat.net/eng/publications/Boy_Prostitution/PDF/India_Hydera…. See also Equations, Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism. See also Agniva Lahiri and Sarika Kar, Dancing Boys: Traditional Prostitution of Young Males in India, UNDP -Prevention of Trafficking, HIV and AIDS Program, New Delhi, March, 2007, 4, 7; available from http://www.giftasia.in/images/pdf/dancing_boys.pdf.

1659 U.S Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, March 20, 2008. See also Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Child Soldiers: Frequently Asked Questions, [online] [cited December 11, 2007]; available from http://www.child-soldiers.org/childsoldiers/questions-and-answers. See also Human Rights Watch, "India," in World Report 2006, New York, January 18, 2006; available from http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/01/18/india12272.htm. See also Human Rights Watch, Being Neutral is Our Biggest Crime: Government, Vigilante, and Naxalite Abuses in India's Chhattisgarh State, New York, July, 2008, 115, 116, 129, 130; available from http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/india0708/.

1660 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: India." See also Sankar Sen and P. M. Nair, A Report on Trafficking in Women and Children in India 2002-2003, National Human Rights Commission of India, Institute of Social Sciences, and UNIFEM, New Delhi, July 2004, 10, 165, 166. See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 5.

1661 U.S Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, November 5, 2007.

1662 Sankar Sen and P.M. Nair, A Report on Trafficking in Women and Children in India 2002-2003, National Human Rights Commission of India, Institute of Social Sciences, and UNIFEM, New Delhi, July, 2004, 353.

1663 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 5. See also U.S. Department of State, "Nepal," in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2007, Washington, DC, March 11, 2008, section 5; available from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100618.htm.

1664 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, November 29, 2007. See also Global March Against Child Labour, 75 Child Labourers Rescued from Zari Sweatshops, [online] November 1, 2007 [cited December 3, 2007]; available from http://www.globalmarch.org/gap/child_labour_in_zari_sweatshops.php.

1665 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 5.

1666 Government of India, Child Labor – Prohibition and Regulation Act (as amended), articles 2 and 3, Schedule. See also Government of India, The Factories Act, article 67. See also U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, November 29, 2007.

1667 Government of India, The Factories Act, articles 2, 67-71.

1668 Government of India, Child Labor – Prohibition and Regulation Act (as amended), articles 7, 8, 14.

1669 Government of India, Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, Act No. 19 of 1976, (February 9, 1976), articles 4, 13, 14, 18; available from http://indiacode.nic.in/fullact1.asp?tfnm=197619. See also Government of India, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, No. 56, (December 30, 2000), article 26; available from http://socialwelfare.delhigovt.nic.in/juvenilejustice1.htm. See also U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, E-mail communication to USDOL official, July 25, 2008.

1670 US Embassy – New Delhi official, E-mail communication to USDOL official, August 5, 2007.

1671 Government of India, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, (1956), articles 2 and 5.

1672 Government of India, The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, No. 61, (1985), articles 8, 22, 32; available from http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/THE-NARCOTIC-DRUGS-AND-PSYCHOTROPIC-SU….

1673 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, "India," in Child Soldiers Global Report 2004, London, 2004; available from http://www.child-soldiers.org/document_get.php?id=851.

1674 Ministry of Labour and Employment, Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour 2006-2007, paras 9.2, 9.3, 12.6, 12.7.

1675 US Embassy – New Delhi official, E-mail communication, August 5, 2007.

1676 U.S Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, March 20, 2008.

1677 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, November 29, 2007.

1678 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 6d.

1679 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, November 29, 2007.

1680 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 5.

1681 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: India."

1682 U.S. Department of State, "India," in Trafficking in Persons Interim Assessment, Washington, DC, January 19, 2007; available from http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/rpt/78948.htm. See also U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, August 21, 2007.

1683 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: India." See also U.S Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, March 20, 2008.

1684 Ministry of Women and Child Development, National Charter for Children, New Delhi, February 9, 2004, articles 7 and 8b; available from http://wcd.nic.in/nationalcharter2003.doc.

1685 Ministry of Labour and Employment, National Policy on Child Labour, [online] [cited March 19, 2008]; available from http://labour.nic.in/cwl/ClPolicy.htm.

1686 Ministry of Labour and Employment, Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour 2006-2007, paras 12.10, 12.11, 12.12, 12.13, 12.35, Table 12.1.

1687 Government of India, Written Communication, submitted in response to U.S. Department of Labor Federal Register Notice (November 8, 2007) "Request for Information on Efforts by Certain Countries to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor." Washington, December 7, 2007.

1688 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, E-mail communication, July 25, 2008.

1689 Ministry of Labour and Employment, Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour 2006-2007, para 12.24. See also Ministry of Labour and Employment, Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour 2005-2006, New Delhi, September 21, 2006, 6; available from http://www.labour.nic.in/annrep/annrep2005.htm.

1690 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, November 29, 2007.

1691 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, December 4, 2007. See also Childline India Foundation, FAQ, [online] [cited March 19, 2008]; available from http://www.childlineindia.org.in/aboutus08.htm.

1692 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, November 29, 2007. See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 6d.

1693 ILO-IPEC, Preventing and Eliminating Child Labor in Identified Hazardous Sectors, Technical Progress Report, Geneva, September 13, 2007, 9.

1694 ILO-IPEC Geneva official, E-mail communication to USDOL official, December 12, 2007.

1695 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 6d.

1696 ILO-IPEC, Preventing and Eliminating Child Labor in Identified Hazardous Sectors, Project Document, Geneva, September 2001, 3, 6-7, 18-19. See also Ministry of Labour and Employment, Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour 2006-2007, para 12.32. See also ILO-IPEC, Preventing and Eliminating Child Labor in Identified Hazardous Sectors, Technical Progress Report, Geneva, September 13, 2006.

1697 U.S. Department of Labor, Research on Children Working in the Carpet Industry of India, Nepal and Pakistan: Technical Cooperation Project Summary, 2007.

1698 ILO-IPEC Geneva official, E-mail communication, December 12, 2007.

1699 Ministry of Labour and Employment, Annual Report of the Ministry of Labour 2006-2007, para 9.3, 9.4. For currency conversion, see OANDA, FX Converter – Currency Converter for 164 Currencies, [online] [cited December 11, 2007]; available from http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic.

1700 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: India."

1701 U.S Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, March 20, 2008.

1702 Ministry of Women and Child Development, Initiatives Taken by Ministry of Women and Child Development to Combat Trafficking of Women and Children, New Delhi, October 11, 2006, para i; available from http://wcd.nic.in/INITITrafficking.doc.

1703 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 5. See also Ministry of Women and Child Development, Initiatives of the MWCD, para xxi.

1704 U.S Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, March 20, 2008.

1705 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, September 28, 2007.

1706 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, December 4, 2007.

1707 US Embassy – New Delhi official, E-mail communication, August 5, 2007.

1708 U.S. Embassy – New Delhi, reporting, December 4, 2007.

1709 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: India," section 5.