The rights of the child in India

The practice of child protection has undergone a significant change when seen from a historical perspective in India. The Indian Constitution accords the rights to children as citizens of the country. The Constitution encompasses most of the rights of the children included in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child under the headings of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy. India has made significant commitments towards ensuring the basic rights of the children. India is home to the highest number of child laborers in the world. The children are made to work by compulsion and not by choice. The parents also sell their children for employment in hotels, workshops, brothels and domestic work. There is more number of children who are not protected from various forms of exploitation. The children working under exploitative and inhuman conditions are not loved and protected. The children are neglected by the parents, relatives and other members of the society. The unfavorable and inhuman living conditions of under privileged children are responsible for the deprivation of the right of the children to development. A majority of the poor and needy children in India do not enjoy the right to recreational pursuits like sports, entertainment and hobbies in India. A vast majority of underprivileged children in India are treated like commodities and exported to other countries as labor or prostitutes. They are deprived of their right to name and nationality. The children die in good number between the age of 1-5 due to poverty, ill health, malnutrition, gender discrimination and other problems. They are not in a position to enjoy the right to survival due to several social and economic constraints