Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday, 12 June 2026, used the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour to call on all sections of society to collectively pledge the elimination of child labour and to secure every child's right to education, safety, and a bright future.

Context

In his post, CM Saini described child labour as 'samaj ki ek gambhir chunauti' (a serious challenge for society) that adversely affects children's dreams, education, and childhood. He noted that it deprives children of their rights and burdens them with responsibilities at a tender age. Calling for collective action, he urged everyone to work together to build a child-labour-free society and ensure that every child receives education, protection, and the opportunity for a bright future.

Policy Backdrop

India's legislative framework against child labour rests on the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, which was substantially amended in 2016 to ban the employment of children under the age of 14 in all occupations. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 reinforced this by guaranteeing free schooling up to age 14, creating a complementary legal architecture designed to keep children in classrooms rather than workplaces.

At the international level, India ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour in 2017, signalling a commitment to global standards. The National Child Labour Project, a central scheme launched in 1988, continues to identify, withdraw, and rehabilitate working children through special schools and vocational training programmes. State-level action plans under this scheme remain operational in Haryana and other states with notable incidence of working children.

Stakeholders and Impact

The World Day Against Child Labour, observed every year on 12 June, was established by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2002 to spotlight the scale of child labour and galvanise governments, civil society, and communities into action. For Haryana, the message from the Chief Minister aligns with the state's obligations under India's national action plan and the broader UN Sustainable Development Goal target 8.7, which calls for an end to all forms of child labour by 2025.

The children most directly affected are those from economically vulnerable households, where poverty pushes families to depend on supplementary income from young members. Advocacy groups and child welfare bodies have long argued that sustained investment in universal elementary education and poverty alleviation — through programmes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan — is the most durable route to eliminating exploitative child labour.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to whether the Haryana government follows the Chief Minister's public appeal with concrete administrative steps, including a revised state action plan under the National Child Labour Project and enhanced enforcement of the 2016 amendment to the child labour law. The release of fresh data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey or a state-specific child labour survey would provide a clearer picture of ground-level progress. Until then, CM Saini's statement sets a public benchmark against which the administration's performance on child welfare can be measured in the months ahead.