ABSTRACT
The Government of India emphasizes that children are not inducted into the armed forces and hence do not take a direct part in hostilities. The present rate of school dropouts in Jammu and Kashmir for example, is 48 per cent among boys and nearly 60 per cent among girls. India is considered a significant exception to the global trend towards the removal of children from the labour force and the establishment of a compulsory primary school education. Child labour depresses adult wages and keeps adults unemployed. Poverty has underlying determinants, one such determinant in India being caste. The tasks given to child labourers, such as labeling, filling and rolling are simple and repetitive. By performing these tasks, children are not developing a skill so much as being subjected to exhausting, monotonous work. Children of all economic classes are clear that their priority is learning and leisure. Both recognized as essential only by their parents and guardians.
