A law which is in the process of being passed by Parliament has grabbed many eyeballs recently because of its controversial take on child labour which doesn’t qualify children working for family farms, firms as child labour. It also prohibits children under 14 getting involved in hazardous jobs. Research proves that children who work are 70% less likely to complete their education and are barred from better job opportunities.
Many have raised voice against this ironical law, among them are, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi and other child rights activists and advocates who think this might aggravate the child labour rather than stopping it. They argue that many family firms are also engaged in hazardous activities and it could threaten the child’s future.
The Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) passed the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation Bill), 2012, on July 19, 2016. The Bill must be cleared by the lower house, the Lok Sabha, to become a law.
Under current laws, children under 14 years of age cannot be employed in a list of 24 hazardous jobs that include working in high temperatures, or with flammable substances and dangerous machinery.
The new laws prohibit children under 14 years of age from working in any jobs; the provision is they can work in family business, farms and in forests. Children can work only after school.
The Bill does not seek to justify routine family work, but the work that millions of children render in home-based units of beedi rolling, bindi and bangle production, agarbatti and papad making, zari and embroidery work, packing and sticking labels, chappal making, handicrafts and the manufacturing of several other products, Shanta Sinha, former head of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, wrote in The Wire.
The Right to Education, a fundamental right, ensures free education for children less than 14 years of age. It also ensures that children should compulsorily go to school, as a right. This is why an amendment to the existing child labour laws was considered important.
Child labour is evidently prevalent in India and includes full time, part time child workers and children seeking work. Data shows around 11.7 million children are working in the age group of 5-14.
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