Expressing concern over child labour prevalent in the State, Haryana labour and Employment Minister Capt. Abhimanyu on Saturday said the Government is following a multi-pronged strategy to eradicate the problem. The Government has the Right to Education Act under which a child below 14 must be provided education, implying thereby that a child would not be allowed to work, he said.
Therefore, other legal provisions in this regard were decided to be implemented more aggressively, like section 67 of the Factories Act, 1948 and section 29 of the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, which prohibits employment of children.
Asserting that child labour would not to be tolerated whether it is prohibited under the Child labour(Prohibition and Regulation), Act 1986 or not, the Minister said the State Government is extremely sensitive to this and is working towards eradicating it. He said the district administration has to check the problem, especially so in the case of employment of children as domestic help.
"The strategy is focused through the district administration including the administration of the national child labour projects as envisaged by the Central Government," he said.
The Haryana Government has never fixed separate minimum wages for children under section 3 (3)(a)(iii) of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and at the time of inspection when the child labour is identified or released, the full and final dues are got paid at the rate fixed for adults, the minister said.