Child labour is widespread in construction, unorganised and small-scale industry, as also in a variety of cottage or non-power using sectors like carpet-weaving and manufacture of sports goods. It would be glib for India to commit itself to a ban. Measurable unemployment in this country is about eight per cent of the labour force. Butdisguised unemployment is immensely higher -- among those holding small parcels of land (income from which barely sustains their families for three months in a year) and the vast number of landless. Low parental income forces children to fend for themselves. A ban on child labour would require a rise in parental incomes and earning opportunities. But even at low wages, there is a massive labour surplus. For the record, minimum wages are prescribed by states but are hardly enforced. A ban on child labour would only add to the misery of poor. But turning a blind eye to child labour would be cruel. The child's place is in school and the playing field. Some states have a mid-day meal programme for school children. But this is confined to a few states. Grand schemes of employment guarantee for 100 days a year for adult labour have just not taken off. The child and his poor parents are victims of a hardhearted socio-political arrangement.

The ILO ban, nor for that matter President Clinton's impassioned plea forit, is not concerned with the political economy of child labour. The US President, like his counterparts in the western world, is pandering to the domestic lobby which wants to shut out exports of carpets, sports goods, etc from India and other poor countries. This is clear from his advise to WTO to work closely with ILO. The western world is not interested in child labour in construction or goods which are not exported. India is thus not unjustified in seeking to ensure that labour standards including the ban on child labour are not used against developing country exports. Such linkage will only hurt those working in select industries, throw them out of work, and add to the pool of unemployed.