Child labour thrives in India despite a whole plethora of punitive as well as prohibitive laws. In the absence of a political will, all efforts in the past to eliminate the curse of child labour have failed and the situation has been aggravated with the succeeding years. It would be unrealistic to expect a complete abolition of all forms of child labour. However, ensuring against their employment in hazardous industries and occupations needs to be accorded the top priority.