The 2001 Census shows that 252,000 children are engaged in 'bidi' manufacturing and 208,833 in the construction sector.
An estimated 185,595 children are engaged as domestic help and in dhabas and 49,893 children work in auto-repair workshops. Many also remain employed in hazardous occupations.
Selling flowers at traffic signals, as these children do, is a relatively cushy job.
Photograph: Manpreet Romana/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Of Carpets, Slaves and India's Stolen Children