- (1.) "I am the child. All the world waits for my coming. All the earth watches with interest to see what I shall become. Civilization hangs in the balance. For what I am, the world of tomorrow will be. I am the child. You hold in your hand my destiny. You determine, largely, whether I shall succeed or fail. Give me, I pray you, these things that make for happiness. Train me, I beg you, that I may be a blessing to the world". - Mamie Gene Cole It may be that the aforesaid appeal lies at the back of the saying that "child is the father of man". To enable fathering of a valiant and vibrant man, the child must be groomed well in the formative years of his life. He must receive education, acquire knowledge of man and materials and blossom in such an atmosphere that on reaching age, he is found to be a man with a mission, a man who matters so far as the society is concerned.
(2.) Our Constitution makers, wise and sagacious as they were, had known that India of their vision would not be a reality if the children of the country are not nurtured and educated. For this, their exploitation by different profit makers for their personal gain had to be first indicted. It is this need, which has found manifestation in Art. 24, which is one of the two provisions in Part IV of our Constitution on the fundamental right against exploitation. The framers were aware that this prohibition alone would not permit the child to contribute its mite to the nation - building work unless it receives at least basic education. Art. 45, was, therefore, inserted in our paramount parchment casting a duty on the State to endeavour to provide free and compulsory education to children. (It is known that this provision in Part IV of our Constitution is, after the decision by a Constitution Bench of this Court in Unni Krishnan, J. P. v. State of A. P., 1993(1) SCC 645, has acquired the status of a fundamental right). Our Constitution contains some other provisions also to which Court shall advert later, desiring that a child must be given opportunity and facility to develop in a healthy marmer.
(3.) Despite the above, the stark reality is that in our country like many others, children are exploited lot. Child labour is a big problem and has remained intractable, even after about 50 years of our having become independent, despite various legislative enactments, to which Court shall refer in detail subsequently, prohibiting employment of a child in a number of occupations and avocations. 3A. In our country, Sivakasi was one taken as the worst offender in the matter of violating prohibition of employing child labour. As the situation there had became intolerable, the public spirited lawyer, Shri M. C. Mehta, thought it necessary to invoke this Court's power under Art. 32, as after all the fundamental right of the children guaranteed by Art. 24 was being grossly violated. He, therefore, filed this petition. It once came to be disposed of by an order of October 31,1990 by noting that in Sivakasi, as on December 31, 1985, there were 221 registered match factories employing 27,338 workmen of whom 2,941 were children. The Court then noted that the manufacturing process of matches and fireworks (for the manufacture of which also Sivakasi is a traditional centre) is hazardous, giving rise to accidents including fatal cases. So, keeping in view the provisions contained in Arts. 39(f) and 45 of the Constitution, it gave certain directions as to how the quality of life of children employed in the factories could be improved. The Court also feit the need of constituting a Committee to oversee the directions given.;