--- title: "Article 24: Prohibition of Child Labour | Model Diplomat" description: "Article 24 bars employing children under 14 in factories, mines and hazardous work. Unlike Articles 39(e)/45 it is directly enforceable as a fundamental right." url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/article-24-prohibition-of-child-labour" --- [New](https://modeldiplomat.com/) # Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026 TL;DR - Article 24 of the Constitution of India prohibits the employment of any child below the age of fourteen years in any factory, mine, or other hazardous occupation. - Is Article 24 enforceable against private employers, or only against the State? - How does Article 24 differ from Article 39(e) and Article 45? - What did the 2016 amendment change about the child-labour framework? - What age threshold does Article 24 set, and does it cover all work? [Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026 Go beyond the definition ## Research Article 24 — Prohibition of Employment of Children in Factories like a delegate Model Diplomat's AI drafts position papers, speeches, and country research with real sources — built for MUN and politics students. ## Positions at a glance ### Supporters The article operates as an absolute prohibition rather than a regulatory licence. The constitutional bar has three named domains: factories, mines, and "any other hazardous employment." For a child under fourteen, no permission, parental consent, or economic necessity can render employment in these domains lawful; the prohibition admits no exception within its terms. Enforcement proceeds through the supporting statutory architecture: the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 (renamed by the 2016 amendment), the Factories Act, 1948 (Section 67 of which independently prohibits employing children under fourteen in any factory), and the Mines Act, 1952. A violation can be raised before a magistrate through prosecution under these statutes, before constitutional courts through public-interest litigation, and through inspectorate machinery of the labour ministries. Compensation and rehabilitation obligations on offending employers were grafted onto the constitutional scheme by judicial direction. ### Opponents Article 24 of the Constitution of India falls within Part III, the chapter on Fundamental Rights, and forms one of the two clauses constituting the Right against Exploitation alongside Article 23. Its text is categorical: "No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment." The provision was adopted by the Constituent Assembly and came into force with the Constitution on 26 January 1950, reflecting the framers' awareness of the conditions documented by colonial-era labour commissions and pre-independence statutes such as the Factories Act of 1881 and the Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933. Because it sits in Part III rather than in the Directive Principles, Article 24 is justiciable—directly enforceable against the State and, in its operation against private employers of children in hazardous work, against private parties—through writ jurisdiction under Articles 32 and 226. ## Research it like a delegate Research on modeldiplomat.com ## Ask a follow-up about Article 24 — Prohibition of Employment of Children in Factories Open a cited briefing in Model Diplomat search — timelines, positions, and sources you can use in committee or exam answers. [Start research on Article 24 — Prohibition of Employment of Children in Factories](https://modeldiplomat.com/search?q=Explain%20Article%2024%20%E2%80%94%20Prohibition%20of%20Employment%20of%20Children%20in%20Factories%20%E2%80%94%20key%20dates%2C%20actors%2C%20positions%2C%20and%20sources) Example In M.C. Mehta v. State of Tamil Nadu (1996), the Supreme Court invoked Article 24 to order Sivakasi firecracker-factory employers to pay ₹20,000 per child into a rehabilitation fund. Keep learning ## Go deeper than the definition [Explore all Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams lessons](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services)[Test yourself with a quiz](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/quiz/civil-services) ## Take Article 24 — Prohibition of Employment of Children in Factories beyond the glossary Ask the AI research engine built for diplomacy — get briefings, position papers, and speeches with sources you can cite in committee.