Child Labour

Child Labor – Bane on the Future of Children

Things to Know

• As mentioned in Child Labor Act (Prohibition and Regulation), 1986 any child below the age pf 14 cannot work in any kind of job that have been mentioned in this Act.
• Employing the children in any kind of job that is not considered appropriate for them as mentioned in the Act becomes a punishable act. Any person or organization who hire the children below age of 14 can be sent to jail for a period of at least three months and a maximum up to one year and can either be given monetary punishment that can range from Rs. 10000 to Rs. 20000. This amount is in turn utilized for the development of the child. The other particulars related to this can be seen from Section 14 that is listed in Child Labor Act, 1986.
• The list of occupation that have not been prohibited in the Act still have some rules mentioned that must be followed and these rules are like the duration of working hours, at least one holiday in a week, safety and wellbeing of the child. The children who are allowed to work under the Child Labor Act, 1986 can only work for a maximum of three hours at continuation; the child must not be made to work from 7 PM to 8 AM. Part III of Child Labor Act, 1986 lists the guidelines to be followed while the child is employed.
• A drafted plan for elimination of Child Labor from Delhi has been acquiesced by National Commission for Protection of child Rights. As per listings in this plan there are two kinds of profiles listed for child workers in Delhi where the first plan names the list of children who stay with their parents and are out of school whereas the second profile is for the children who have moved to the city of Delhi and don’t stay with their parents. This plan has been prepared in conjunction of Delhi Police, Women and Child Welfare Department, Department of Labor, Delhi Police, Education and Health Department to pinpoint, salvage, banish and assimilate the child laborers.
• A youth in the age group of 14 to 18 can only be hired after submission of fitness certificate as mentioned in Factories Act and these youth are not permitted to work on nights and cannot work for more than 4 and ½ hours.
• City of Delhi has a total of 4 Child welfare committees that has people from different spheres who work towards the wellbeing of these children.
• Child labors have also to face few other problems like physical exploitation, sexual harassment, psychological manipulation.
• Definition of a child labor or the bonded child labor is different since the later has to work in lieu of the advance or the interests taken by him or his elders.

What can I do when I see a child laborer?

• If someone sees any individual or organization violating the Child Labor Act then they can report this to any near Child or Juvenile welfare officer who is located in nearby Police station. The Police have all the rights to register a FIR for the listed offence.
• A toll free number 1098 can be contacted 24*7 and be informed about the child, or the employer who have hired someone under 14 years of age or even such a case can be registered online by selecting the following listed link: http://www.childlineindia.org.in/b1gReportaChild.aspx
• There are NGOs who have been working for the protection of Child Labor and the complete details of such NGOs can be noted down from the website.
• As per the circumstantial evidences the employer who keep the child under the age of 14 as the domestic child labor can be registered for the offence under the following section 14 and 3 listed in Child Labor Act 1986 or Section 23, 26 listed in Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 and as per section 16, 17, 18 and 19 mentioned in Bonded Labor Abolition Act, 1976.
• The child who has been molested physically or mentally must be brought to the Child Welfare Committee by any of the special Juvenile Police officer, any registered member of NGO, society or group or even the child can come themselves for their complaints.
• MLC report of the child can be submitted after the police get the child medically tested.
• Police must obtain all the substantiations like photographs, papers etc. that can be later used as the proofs.
• The details about the employer who have been registered for child labor must not be made public.

Useful Links

• Department of Social Welfare:  http://wcddel.in/
• International LaborOrganization:  www.ilo.org.
• Ministry of Labor:  http://labor.nic.in/cwl/ChildLabor.htm

Relevant Legislations

• The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, 1976.
• The Child Labor Act (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
• The Factories Act, 1948.
• The Mines Act, 1952.
• The Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
• The Juvenile Justice Act, 2000