NCPCR to Act on Criminals Behind Child Labour | The Probe Impact

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has said it will act against those employing children in graveyards, after an investigation by The Probe exposed child labour in burial grounds across several parts of the country.

Priyank Kanoongo, then chairperson of the NCPCR, told The Probe that the commission would treat anyone employing children in graveyards as a criminal. "This is a crime. When you give us more information on the criminals who are employing these children, we will act. NCPCR will consider people who employ children as criminals. NCPCR's request to you is to immediately provide us with information, as soon as you provide information, we will ensure that FIR is lodged against the perpetrators and the children are sent under a rehabilitation plan," Kanoongo said.

The Probe has since formally shared details of the graveyards shown in its investigation with the NCPCR and the Child Helpline, so that the children can be traced and those responsible held to account.

The NCPCR is a statutory body set up under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, and is tasked with ensuring that laws and policies protecting children are enforced. Its commitment to seek FIRs and rehabilitate the children marks a significant response to The Probe's findings.

What The Probe's Investigation Found

The Probe's investigation into child labour in India's graveyards found children digging graves, sweeping burial grounds, and plastering and cementing graves in many parts of the country during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a Bengaluru graveyard set aside for Covid-19 victims, a boy of about seven was filmed shovelling mud out of a grave. When he noticed the camera, he ducked inside it within a second.

Arjun Samar Mahendran, founder of Newshound India Foundation, witnessed the scene. "Around a 100 meters from where the Covid-19 positive graves were being dug, in the same graveyard, which was specifically allocated for Covid-19 fatalities by the government, I saw a 7-year-old kid taking out mud from a grave. As a journalist and as a person, I could see the future of our country digging its own grave," he said.

He said the speed with which the boy hid showed that he understood his situation. "They know what is going on. He might be a child but he does not have an option and he knows that it's not right to be doing what he is doing," Mahendran said.

Children at Work Across India's Graveyards

The Bengaluru case was far from isolated. The Probe found similar scenes in the north of the country. In Delhi, a boy was seen playing with the shovel he would later use to dig graves. Other children were filmed loading shovels onto a cycle cart as they set off for the graveyards.

In several burial grounds, young boys dug graves under the watch of adults, who stood by with their hands in their pockets. Some children carried heavy tombstones to mark the graves of the dead. Others sprinkled water on graves, swept the grounds, cemented and plastered graves, and in some cases helped bury the dead. At times, children were seen playing in the mud among the graves.

Many of the children came from poor families and were working to earn money for their households as well as themselves. For them, the pandemic brought work into places few would imagine a child should be.

One of the Worst Forms of Child Labour

Child rights activists say work in graveyards ranks among the gravest forms of child labour, because of the physical strain involved and the psychological toll of spending long hours among the dead.

"I think it's perhaps one of the gravest forms of child labour and in fact we prefer to call it worst form of child labour because a graveyard is a situation where even ordinary people will be very scared to go and they will feel very uncomfortable about it," said Amod Kanth, founder of Prayas, a non-governmental organisation working for child rights.

What the NHRC Said

The Probe also approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Jyotika Kalra, then a member of the NHRC, said the commission's response would depend on the age of the children involved and whether a human rights violation was established.

"It depends upon the age of the child because children are also statutorily or legally entitled to work beyond the age of 14 years. There has to be a violation of human rights and as per the Protection of Human Rights Act. So, that has to be ensured first. If the Commission finds that it is a case of violation of human rights, it will certainly take cognizance of the same," Kalra said.

What the Law Says About Child Labour

Under India's Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, employing children below the age of 14 is a criminal offence. Amendments to the law in 2016 also bar adolescents aged between 14 and 18 from working in hazardous occupations and processes.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) classifies work that is likely to harm a child's health, safety or morals as hazardous child labour, and places it among the worst forms of child labour. Under the ILO's conventions, which India has ratified, countries are required to take immediate steps to eliminate such work.

A Pandemic That Pushed Children Into Work

The investigation came at a time when child rights groups were warning that the pandemic could reverse years of progress against child labour. A 2021 joint report by the ILO and UNICEF estimated that 160 million children worldwide were in child labour, the first rise in two decades, and warned that millions more were at risk because of the economic fallout of Covid-19.

In India, school closures and lost family incomes left many children from poor households with little choice but to work. The 2011 Census recorded more than 10 million working children aged between five and 14 in the country, and activists feared that the pandemic would add to that number.

What Happens Next

The NCPCR's assurance offers a path to justice for the children The Probe found in graveyards. With the details of the burial grounds now with the commission and the Child Helpline, the focus shifts to whether FIRs are filed, whether the children are rescued, and whether they receive the rehabilitation the commission has promised.

The Probe will continue to follow the case.

Watch The Probe's original investigation into child gravediggers here.