Law & Social Justice

• Why laws are needed to ensure social justice in the economy.
• Workers' rights — minimum wage, safe conditions, no child labour.
• Child labour in India — laws and reality.
• Bhopal Gas Tragedy — what happened; who was responsible; justice denied.
• Right to safe environment as part of right to life.

Why laws for social justice?

• In a market economy, employers may exploit workers — pay less, create unsafe conditions.
• Laws set minimum standards to protect the weak from the powerful.
• Without laws: children work in dangerous factories; workers earn below survival wages; companies dump toxic waste freely.
• Government's role: create and enforce laws; ensure justice is accessible to all, not just those who can afford lawyers.

Workers' rights in India

Reality: most laws apply to the formal sector (registered businesses). The informal sector (70%+ of Indian workers — construction, domestic work, street vending) has little legal protection.

Child labour

Child labour = work by children under 14 that harms their health, development, or education.

Law

• Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 (amended 2016):
  • Children under 14: cannot work in any hazardous or non-hazardous occupation.
  • Children 14–18: cannot work in hazardous occupations (mines, explosives, chemicals).
  • Family businesses and farms: some exemptions.

Reality in India

• India has one of the world's largest child labour populations — estimated 10–30 million (estimates vary widely).
• Found in: brick kilns, carpet weaving, bidi rolling, domestic work, agriculture, construction.
• Causes: poverty (parents need income); lack of schools; cultural attitudes; demand from employers (children paid less, don't organise).
• Consequences: children miss education → trapped in poverty → cycle continues.

Tackling child labour

• Mid-Day Meal Scheme: free school meals attract children to school.
• Right to Education Act (2009): free and compulsory education for 6–14 years.
• PENCIL portal: government tracks child labour cases.
• NGOs: Kailash Satyarthi's Bachpan Bachao Andolan rescued thousands of children from bonded labour → Nobel Peace Prize 2014.

The Bhopal Gas Tragedy, 1984

What happened

• Night of 2–3 December 1984: Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, MP.
• MIC is extremely toxic — causes immediate blindness, lung damage, death.
• Immediate deaths: 3,787 officially; activists say 8,000–16,000.
• Long-term: 500,000+ people exposed; still suffering respiratory, reproductive, neurological disorders decades later.

Why it happened

• Inadequate safety systems; poorly trained workers.
• Safety equipment (refrigeration, scrubber) not functioning.
• Company had reduced safety staff to cut costs.
• Plant built in a densely populated area.

Justice — denied and delayed

• Warren Anderson (CEO of Union Carbide, USA) — flew to India; arrested; released on bail; fled to USA; never extradited; died 2014.
• Settlement (1989): Union Carbide paid $470 million to Indian government (far less than victims needed).
• 2010 conviction: 8 former Indian managers convicted — sentenced to 2 years each; widely seen as too lenient.
• Site still not cleaned up — toxic waste remains; groundwater contaminated.
• Lesson: corporations must be held fully accountable; government must enforce safety strictly; victims of industrial disasters need proper compensation and healthcare.

Right to safe environment

• Article 21 (right to life) interpreted by Supreme Court to include:
  • Right to clean air.
  • Right to clean water.
  • Right to live in a non-toxic environment.
• Environment Protection Act, 1986: passed directly in response to Bhopal; gave government power to close polluting industries.
• National Green Tribunal (NGT): specialised court for environmental cases; fast-tracks decisions.

Workers in the informal sector

• Informal workers have no written contract, no EPF, no Factories Act protection.
• Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979: some protections for migrant construction workers — rarely enforced.
• Covid-19 exposed the vulnerability: millions of informal workers lost jobs overnight with no safety net (2020).
• PM Shram Yogi Maandhan: pension scheme for informal workers.
• e-Shram portal: register informal workers → enable benefits delivery.

• Why do we need laws to protect workers? Can't the market handle it?
• Name two laws that protect Indian workers and explain what they do.
• What is child labour? Name two industries in India where it is common.
• What happened in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy? Why was justice delayed?
• How has the Supreme Court interpreted Article 21 in relation to the environment?

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Law & Social Justice.