India’s 2001 national census estimates the number of working children at 12.6 million. Children working in the agriculture sector constitute two-thirds of the total child labor force and the percentage in the rural child labor force is more than 75%.

Most recently the IKEA Social Initiative has invested in UNICEF's work to prevent child labor in India’s cotton and cotton-seed growing areas to reach millions of children belonging to disadvantaged communities, in several Indian states. The aim of these efforts is prevention and elimination of child labor and investing in addressing the root causes to achieve substantial and long-lasting change.

Shroffs Foundation trust undertook the ‘Protecting Children’s Rights in Cotton Growing Areas’ project in collaboration with UNICEF to be implemented in 60 villages of 3 blocks, Padra, Chhota Udepur and Pavi Jetpur in Vadodara district. The project would fulfill the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Millennium Development Goals.

Micro planning of all the 60 villages was done and relevant information was collected. This included information on number of school children below the age of 14 yrs, number of out of school children and those engaged in child labor. Information was also gathered on number of vulnerable families needing support and those that were linked to various schemes run by governments’ family and welfare dept.

It was found that 532 out of school children were identified. 260 of them were brought back to the school. 8937 people from 60 villages of 3 blocks were linked with various welfare or development schemes. There were 1714 vulnerable families. In the second phase, actions will be initiated, based on the findings, to achieve the goal of the program.