According to the 2001 census, the total number of working children in India is 1,25,91,667. Despite `concerted efforts` by the government, the number of working children in India has increased over the decade. This points to the ineffectiveness of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (CLPRA), 1986, which prohibits only the hazardous forms of labour and condones all other forms.

While many NGOs all over the country have been engaged in advocacy and campaigns to amend the existing CLPRA towards a complete elimination of child labour, the ILO has been encouraging all its constituents to initiate dialogues and create alliances to eliminate child labour. In 1992, the ILO launched the International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). India has been participating in IPEC since its inception in 1992. Building on the IPEC experience, the ILO launched another large-scale project on child labour - INDUS - in May 2005 in 20 districts in four states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

As part of the ILO-INDUS project, in February 2006, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) and the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) initiated campaigns to create awareness on issues related to child labour.

From 6 to 26 February 2006, the HMS organised a 20-day workshop in Aligarh district, Uttar Pradesh, which gave insights to the participants on various child-labour issues. The main focus of the workshop was on the policies of the ILO regarding the eradication of child labour and the role of trade unions. Aligarh being the centre of the lock-manufacturing industry, 700 child labourers from the industry participated in the workshop. R.A. Mittal, National Secretary of the HMS and the National Coordinator of the INDUS Project, inaugurated the workshop. A large number of senior government officials attended the meeting. Through various cultural programmes, such as skits and plays, the participating children highlighted the issues of child labour as well as the prevailing gender bias in the society.

As part of the same project, INTUC organised a 5-day workshop from 14 to 18 February 2006, in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Twenty-five representatives from the four INDUS States participated in the workshop. While addressing the participants of the workshop, INTUC President, G. Sanjeeva Reddy, called upon his union affiliates to contribute one rupee per member once in six months, to constitute a separate fund for the elimination of child labour. The workshop also presented a case study conducted by INTUC on the working children in the construction industry.

From 4 to 8 February 2006, AITUC organised a four-day workshop in Wardha, Gujarat, in which 60 participants were given training to conduct child-labour elimination and awareness campaigns. The meeting was presided over by Sukumar Damle, State secretary of AITUC. Approximately 15 trade unions, affiliated to the AITUC, from the districts of Amravati, Aurangabad and suburban Mumbai participated in it. The leaders who addressed the workshop highlighted the dimension of the problem of child labour and the reasons for the rise of this wrong social practice. A majority of the participants, who underwent training in the workshop, were the anganwadi workers.