New child labour law falls dangerously short
The new Child labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016, passed by Parliament on Tuesday has raised an alarm among the child rights activists, UN agencies working for the protection of children and even among many of the MPs of the ruling BJP. The two significant exemptions provided in the new Bill — permitting children to work for their families and reducing the number of banned professions for adolescents may help perpetuate the cases of child labour employment across the country. It is expected that these kinds of legal exemptions may once again deprive children, particularly those hailing from the below poverty line families, from pursuing their basic minimum education. However, the Government is arguing that the exemptions made in the Bill may help the poor families earned a living and gives children a chance for acquiring basic skills right at a tender age. This may be justifiable for millions of poor families who are primarily looking for a square meal and a bare minimum living in life. Under this new law, these families will be encouraged to send their children for work instead of honing their skills for a better career through formal education. On one hand, when the Government is offering ample opportunities in the field of education and skill development right from the primary to the university level and on the other, it is bringing a law to encourage its children to join family and family owned enterprises, this all may seem contradictory and highly confusing.
It is good that the Union Government has looked into the archaic child labour prohibition law, which is almost three decades old and made a raft of changes for matching with global labour standards and requirements at home. Unlike the old one, the new legislation extends a ban on child labour under the age of 14 years in all industries. Previously, only 18 hazardous occupations and 65 processes such as mining, gem cutting and cement manufacturing were listed as outlawed. Also the new law has raised the penalties for employing children from earlier Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 and a jail term of two years now. These changes were much awaited and the advocates of child rights are applauding the Government for introducing the same. But in 2015, the report published by the International labour Organisation records that out of 88 million child labourers globally, the number of child workers in India alone are 5.7 million, between the age group of five to 17 years. It seems the definition of family and family owned business is flawed which may open avenues for exploitation of child workers. It was ironical that the new Bill is using Indian family values deeply ingrained in our socio-cultural roots, for justifying economic exploitation of children. It may send a wrong signal to international observers and global trade giants who are entering the country, thinking of strict regulation of child labourers. Despite having provisions for unleashing a new work environment, the labour law may blur the distinction between learning in a family and working for livelihood in a family business. Has the Government once again failed millions of children or is it rightly opening new vistas for them will be worth watching in the days to come.