Union Cabinet green signals Child Labour law amendments; Employment allowed in “family enterprises”

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to make certain changes to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012, according to a PIB news release..The Amendment Bill, read with the proposed changes, does not completely prohibit child labour, creating certain exceptions where child labour can be used..As per the proposed amendments, the exceptions to the prohibition of employing those under the age of 14 years include “family enterprises”, provided the work is done after school hours or during vacations. Another exception carved out is work within the entertainment industry, such as in television serials or advertisements. This exception comes with several riders to ensure that the health and education of the child is not affected..Justifying the need to carve out these exceptions, the government’s press release states that,.“…while considering a total prohibition on the employment of child, it would be prudent to also keep in mind the country’s social fabric and socio-economic conditions. In a large number of families, children help their parents in their occupations…striking a balance between the need for education for a child and the reality of the socio-economic condition and social fabric in the country.”.The amendments also make a distinction between children and adolescents (14-18 years) and permits the employment of the latter in non-hazardous areas..Unsurprisingly, the ramifications of these amendments are far reaching, and may well affect the implementation of the Right to Education Act. In fact, child rights activists across the country are arguing that the government ought to have banned child labour altogether..Bharti Ali, Co-founder and Director of HAQ: Centre for Child Rights, believes that prohibition, and not regulation is the answer. She says,.“After so many years, we should be in a position to do away with this hazardous and non-hazardous distinction and make India child labour-free up to the age of 18 years.There’s no point in initiating the National Skill Development Council and a whole range of programmes to attract young people. They have to be free to be attracted by these..She also says that,.“Family enterprises” can mean a range of things, a lot of child labour actually happens within families. Another point is that they have reduced the present list of hazardous occupations to cover just factories and mines. At the very least, they shouldn’t tamper with that list. It’s taken many years to have 85 prohibited occupations on that list.”.Dr. VP Niranjanaradhya from the Centre for Child and the Law at NLSIU Bangalore laments the fact that child labour is considered a “necessary evil” in India. In a letter to Prime Minster Narendra Modi, he highlights the importance of abolishing all forms of child labour, irrespective of the form. He writes,.“About 70% of child workers work on the land or in the household. These children, too, are seriously damaged, although it is perhaps less visible…It is clear that focusing on the worst forms of child labour leads to ad hoc solutions, replaces one group of children with another group and simply perpetuates the problem. It is for this reason that there is a widespread calling for the elimination of all forms of child labour that prevent children from getting an education.”.Dr. Niranjanaradhya was also part of a committee that passed the ‘Bengaluru Resolution’, a unanimous resolution passed in an emergency meeting convened by the Centre for Child, in collaboration with other leading national and state level child rights networks and organisations..Sandhya Raju, a human rights litigation lawyer from Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), feels that the amendments will further dilute the enforcement machinery, which already stands on shaky ground..“They have removed statutory control. Now it will depend on the bureaucratic departments to make the rules regarding child labour. It will be the District Magistrate and Collector who will deal with these issues. So there is no binding force anymore. The Collector is already overburdened with other work and will not have the time to address these issues.Already, the Probation officers don’t do enough, but this will make it worse.”.Raju also believes that there should not be a distinction between children and adolescents. She feels that the government has not clearly understood the implications of child labour..“Permitting children to assist parents in home-based work during after school hours and vacations is dangerous as it leaves open the chance of misuse. There would likely be no remuneration and it would bring in exploitative child labour through the back door.”