Revision summary
Ethical issues are child labour, fake parental consent, trafficking-like movement, failed welfare and captured NGOs. Do not go slow because NGOs are compromised. Enforce CLPRA, joint rescue, CWC, school and prosecution of contractors. Use MGNREGA, FRA, health and residential school so parents are not forced to send girls. Treat adult migration as a livelihood to civilise, and child cotton work as a crime to stop.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
A child’s hand is not a farm tool. Compromised NGOs are a fact to work around, not a reason to go slow. The Collector’s ethic is the Child and Adolescent Labour law, rescue, school, prosecution of contractors, and livelihoods so that hunger cannot sell a daughter.
Body
Stakeholders
- Minor girls already in the cotton fields, and those being packed this season.
- Parents under debt and persuasion, and the boys who migrate.
- Labour contractors, farm owners in the nearby State, and the receiving district’s officers.
- Tribal community, gram sabhas, honest teachers and ASHA workers.
- Compromised NGOs, and any remaining honest civil-society workers.
- The receiving State, police, labour department, and courts.
Ethical issues
- Child labour as a rights violation, not a cultural footnote: soft fingers are an economic argument for a crime under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 as amended in 2016.
- Best interests of the girl: health damage, missed school, sexual risk on the farm, and a childhood converted into a contractor’s margin.
- Consent of parents is not free consent when it is hunger plus a tout. Poverty explains; it does not authorise.
- Inter-State trafficking pattern: movement of minors for exploitation engages the Immoral Traffic and trafficking provisions where facts fit, not only a “labour dispute.”
- Failure of targeted welfare: schemes that do not reach tribals are an ethical failure of the State that then blames the parent.
- Compromised NGOs: a conflict of interest and a possible cover for contractors. The State must not outsource its duty to a captured “civil society,” and must not use their failure as an alibi for inaction.
- Tribal dignity: enforcement that treats every parent as a criminal, without FRA, MGNREGA and school, will look like a raid on a people rather than a rescue of children.
- Gender: it is girls who are sold as dexterity. That is patriarchy plus poverty.
Steps for the minor girls — do not go slow
- Map, with school registers, ASHA lists and night meetings in hamlets, every missing girl of school age this season. Do not wait for an NGO press note.
- Coordinate with the Collector and labour/police of the cotton district: joint raids, Child Welfare Committees, medical examination, and return with dignity, not a photo of chained parents.
- Enforce CLPRA: prosecute contractors and, where knowledge is proved, farm principals. Use the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976 if debt bondage is present.
- Immediate rehab: bridge schools, stipend, nutrition, counselling, and a tracked enrolment that a tout cannot erase.
- POSCO where sexual offence facts exist; do not fold those into a compoundable “labour settlement.”
- Warn and record parents; prosecute the adult who knowingly repeats the sending. The first response to a hungry first-time parent is restoration and livelihood, not only jail — but the contractor is not a hungry parent.
- If NGOs are compromised: stop granting them a gatekeeper role on rescue lists; file for FCRA/inspection where the law fits; still use honest local teachers, women’s SHGs and gram sabhas. Do not freeze action because the usual interlocutor is dirty.
Steps for the district economy
- MGNREGA as a real, timely wage in the lean season so the contractor’s advance is not the only cash.
- Forest Rights Act, 2006 titles, MSP for minor forest produce, and procurement that actually pays.
- Agriculture: irrigation where the rocky plot allows, a crop that is not only subsistence, and no romantic ban on all migration — only a ban on child migration for cotton.
- Skill and ITI for youth above 18, and a migration-support cell for adults (identity, wage, helpline) so the family does not need a girl’s fingers.
- Health and residential schooling (Eklavya, KGBV) so the girl is physically in a safe school when the contractor arrives.
- Convergence: District Mineral Foundation if any, SCA to TSS / tribal sub-plan, and a public dashboard of missing children that the compromised NGO cannot edit.
Stance
- The law is already there. The ethical failure would be a slow file because “NGOs have not espoused” the issue. Espousal is the Collector’s job.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD GIRL[Minor girls to cotton] --> RES[Rescue with receiving district] RES --> LAW[CLPRA prosecute contractors] RES --> SCH[School health CWC] POV[Poverty] --> MGN[MGNREGA FRA skills] NGO[Compromised NGOs] --> BYP[Bypass do not freeze] BYP[BYP] --> RES[RES]
Conclusion
Minor girls in Bt cotton are a crime against childhood, explained by hunger and a captured civil society. Rescue, CLPRA prosecution, school and health first; MGNREGA, FRA and adult livelihoods so the tout has nothing to sell. Do not wait on compromised NGOs.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Case study. You are a municipal commissioner of a large city, having the reputation of a very honest and upright officer. A huge multipurpose mall is under construction in your city in which a large number of daily wage earners are employed. One night, during monsoons, a big chunk of the roof collapsed causing instant death of four labourers including two minors. Many more were seriously injured requiring immediate medical attention. The mishap resulted in a big hue and cry, forcing the government to institute an enquiry. Your preliminary enquiry has revealed a series of anomalies. The material used for the construction was of poor quality. Despite the approved building plans permitting only one basement, an additional basement has been constructed. This was overlooked during the periodic inspections by the building inspector of the municipal corporation. In your enquiry, you noticed that the construction of the mall was given the green signal despite encroaching on areas earmarked for a green belt and a slip road in the Zonal Master Plan of the city. The permission to construct the mall was accorded by the previous Municipal Commissioner who is not only your senior and well known to you professionally, but also a good friend. Prima facie, the case appears to be of a widespread nexus between officials of the Municipal Corporation and the builders. Your colleagues are putting pressure on you to go slow in the enquiry. The builder, who is rich and influential, happens to be a close relative of a powerful minister in the state cabinet. The builder is persuading you to hush up the matter, promising you a fortune to do so. He also hinted that if this matter is not resolved at the earliest in his favour there is somebody in his office who is waiting to file a case against you under the POSH Act. Discuss the ethical issues involved in the case. What are the options available to you in this situation? Explain your selected course of action.
Next question on this syllabus topic (2020 · Q10). View answer →
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If parents beg you not to raid because they need the cotton money, should you wait?
Replace the money with lawful wage and ration the same week. Do not leave the girl in the field as a social-safety net.
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Can a Collector act in another State’s farms?
Through written requisition, police-to-police and Collector-to-Collector coordination, and, if needed, the State government and NCPCR. Jurisdiction is a procedure, not a wall.
Same topic · past papers
UPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2020 · Q11 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. Parmal is a small but underdeveloped district. It has rocky terrain that is not suitable for agriculture, though some subsistence agriculture is being done on small plots of land. The area receives adequate rainfall and has an irrigation canal flowing through it. Amria, its administrative centre, is a medium sized town. It houses a large district hospital, an Industrial Training Institute and some privately owned skill training centres. It has all the facilities of a district headquarters. A trunk railway line passes approximately 50 kilometres from Amria. Its poor connectivity is a major reason for the absence of any major industry therein. The state government offers a 10 years tax holiday as an incentive to new industry. In 2010 Anil, an industrialist, decided to take benefits to set up Amria Plastic Works (APW) in Noora village, about 20 km from Amria. While the factory was being built, Anil hired the required key labour and got them trained at the skill training centres at Amria. This act of his made the key personnel very loyal to APW. APW started production in 2011 with the labour drawn fully from Noora village. The villagers were very happy to get employment near their homes and were motivated by the key personnel to meet the production targets with high quality. APW started making large profits, a sizeable portion of which was used to improve the quality of life in Noora. By 2016, Noora could boast of a greener village and a renovated village temple. Anil liaised with the local MLA to increase the frequency of the bus services to Amria. The government also opened a primary health care centre and primary school at Noora in buildings constructed by APW. APW used its CSR funds to set up women's self-help groups, subsidize primary education to the village children and procure an ambulance for use by its employees and the needy. In 2019, there was a minor fire in APW. It was quickly extinguished as fire safety protocols were in place in the factory. Investigations revealed that the factory had been using electricity in excess of its authorized capacity. This was soon rectified. The next year, due to a nationwide lockdown, the requirement of production fell for four months. Anil decided that all employees would be paid regularly. He employed them to plant trees and improve the village habitat. APW had developed a reputation of high-quality production and a motivated workforce. Critically analyse the story of APW and state the ethical issues involved. Do you consider APW as a role model for development of backward areas? Give reasons. -
2025 · Q7 · GS IV · 20 marks
Case study. Vijay was Deputy Commissioner of remote district of Hilly Northern State of the country for the last two years. In the month of August heavy rains lashed the complete state followed by cloud burst in the upper reaches of the said district. The damage was very heavy in the complete state especially in the affected district. The complete road network and telecommunication were disrupted and the buildings were damaged extensively. People's houses have been destroyed and they were forced to stay in open. More than 200 people have been killed and about 5000 were badly injured. The Civil Administration under Vijay got activated and started conducting rescue and relief operations. Temporary shelter camps and hospitals were established to provide shelter and medical facilities to the homeless and injured people. Helicopter services were pressed in, for evacuating sick and old people from remote areas. Vijay got a message from his hometown in Kerala that his mother was seriously sick. After two days Vijay received the unfortunate message that his mother has expired. Vijay has no close relative except one elder sister who was US citizen and staying there for last several years. In the meantime, the situation in the affected district deteriorated further due to resumption of heavy rains after a gap of five days. At the same time, continuous messages were coming on his mobile from his hometown to reach at the earliest for performing last rites of his mother. (a) What are the options available with Vijay?(b) What are the ethical dilemma being faced by Vijay?(c) Critically evaluate and examine each of these options identified by Vijay.(d) Which of the options, do you think, would be most appropriate for Vijay to adopt and why?
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