AN EIGHT-YEAR OLD WORKER CARRIES STEEL PLATES IN NEW DELHI, 1997-08-29 (photo)

Nafeez, 8, carries steel plates at a factory in the Indian capital of New Delhi. Severe poverty has thrust millions of children into India's workforce, many in hazardous industries using heavy or dangerous machinery. Many have never attended school or have been forced to work long hours in often deplorable conditions. Although most forms of child labour are now illegal in India, children are allowed to work in family-run farms and businesses. Industries prey on this loop hole by replacing factories with cottage industries where they can cash in on the cheap labour children provide. Although poverty drives children to find work, child labour activists claim working children exacerbate the problem by raising adult unemployment levels and insuring a future generation of unskilled, uneducated kids. Picture taken 24AUG97. INDIA CHILD LABOUR