TRAPPED IN DOWNWARD SPIRAL: A 13-year old, Jairam, is a mechanic at a roadside makeshift garage in New Delhi. Despite laws and campaigns, there are an estimated 11 million child workers across the country. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma
CARRYING THE ADULT'S BURDEN: Children as domestic help is one of the downsides of rapid urbanisation. A study by the UNDP says that girls aged under 15 constitute 40 per cent of domestic help in Mumbai. Photo: Velankanni Raj
POWERING INDIA: An eight-year-old boy operates a bullock-cart service at the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee yard in Banglaore. Photo: G. R. N. Somashekar
FOR A FEW RUPEES: A schoolboy barters away his evenings for some additional income at a hardware unit near Pudupet, Chennai. Photo: R. Ragu
MISSING THE SUNSHINE DAYS: Working children are part of the millions left out from the country's economic growth magic. Photo: Paul Norohna
TENDER SHOULDERS: Child labour is banned but this boy's reality is different as he carries a sack of water sachets for a group of demonstrators in front of the Orissa Legislative Assembly in Bhubaneswar. Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty
SWEPT TO THE MARGINS: Despite action plans by various State governments, child labour is part of India's public sphere. Photo: K Gopinathan
AGAINST THE ODDS: Numerous laws fail to check exploitation of the child. A young girl walks the tightrope for a living on a busy road in Hyderabad. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar
FUN AT WORK? A child waters the Parade Grounds in Hyderabad. Several children like her continue to work despite laws to rein in child labour . Photo: P.V. Sivakumar
CHILDHOOD IN THE DUMPS: Children are also a part of a city's waste disposal system. Child rag pickers at work at Nalgonda, in Andhra Pradesh. Photo: Singam Venkataramana
HOOKED BY MISFORTUNE: Child labour is predominent in the fish trade in Cuddalore. Photo: C . Venkatachalapathy
NO SUMMER DREAMS: A child worker sells refreshments on the Marina Beach in Chennai. Photo: R. Ragu