In The Child and the States, Myron Weiner argues that it is not India’s poverty which prevents the introduction of universal primary education and the banning of child labour, rather it is the lack of political will and the ‘belief systems’ prevalent in Indian society.

With contribution from policy-makers, academics and activists working in the field of child labour, and practitioners involved in delivering education to children who are outside the formal schooling system, this valuable book brings together a range of perspectives concerning the causes of and solutions to the problem of child labour in South Asia. It will be of interest to development organizations, NGOs and human rights activists, as also to students of law, sociology, economics, public administration and development studies.

On November 29th, 1999, one day before the WTO meeting at Seattle, the US Government announced the imposition of trade sanctions on the Indian Beedi industry under the pretext of protecting the welfare of children and workers’ rights.