The Centre on Wednesday cleared amendments to the Child labour Act and banned employment of children below 14 years in all commercial enterprises, with the exception that they can work in entertainment industry and family enterprises after school hours and during vacations. The existing Child labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, banned the employment of children below 14 in only 18 hazardous industries. However, the amendments to the ClPR Act further bans their employment in any occupation.
The proposed amendments also seek to bar children between the ages of 14 and 18 years, who will be termed as “adolescent” from working in hazardous sectors such as mining. It will also bring the law in consistency with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009. The Bill also provides for constitution of Child and Adolescent labour Rehabilitation Fund for one or more districts for the rehabilitation of the child or adolescent rescued.
While there is no penalty provision for parents for their first offence, the employers would now be liable for punishment even for the first violation. In case of parents, the repeat offenders may be penalised with a monetary fine up to Rs10,000. Whereas for employers, the penalty for first-time offenders has been increased up to two-and-a-half times — from Rs20,000 to up to Rs50,000.
For second or subsequent offence of employing any child or adolescent, in contravention of the law, the minimum imprisonment would be one year which may extend to three years. Earlier, the penalty for second or subsequent offence of employing any child in contravention of the law was imprisonment for a minimum term of six months which may extend to two years.
After the Cabinet nod, the Government will move official amendments to the ClPR Amendment Bill, 2012 in Parliament. While child rights activists were opposed to the dilution saying it will promote child labour, those involved in business maintained that children need to be trained in traditional arts at an early stage or they will not be able to acquire the required skills like weaving and stitching. Nobel laureate and child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking complete ban on child labour. He had been pushing for banning employment of children in any occupation, bringing the law in tune with the Right To Education Act, 2009.