ABSTRACT
The developing country of India has had a long history of children working to make ends meet. Working from an early age instead of going to school to get an education leaves them with no bankable skill for employment except manual labour. This results in an entire generation of youth stuck in the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation. This chapter studies the condition of Maharashtra according to the Census of India in terms of working children and migrant child workers. Maharashtra is the financial capital of India and attracts large numbers of migrants for employment. Children are no exception to this trend and as a result provide us with a unique phenomenon where children migrate to second-tier industrial cities solely for the purpose of employment. This results in children working in hazardous and prohibited economic sectors, accelerated by the absence of labour unions working for their rights or parental support. This chapter suggests steps to curb their exploitation and risk by the initiation of halfway homes near work sites and evaluates previously failed initiatives with similar frameworks.
