Experts welcome Govt's ban on child labour

Mumbai, Aug 20: The recent decision of the Union Government to prohibit employment of children under the age of 14 in households, roadside restaurants, spas and hotels in India from October 10, has led a fresh crackdown on the country's most severe social problem.

The Government notification has warned that anyone employing children below 14 years of age would be liable for prosecution and penal action under the Child Labour (Prohibition&Regulation) Act, 1986. Incidently, the Government had earlier banned its employees from hiring children as domestic servants. However, the latest restrictions cover every segment of the society.

In India, rights activists and civil society groups consider the 1996 Supreme Court judgement on child labour as a historical verdict further tightening up ''loose ends.'' The apex court, in its verdict, had laid down conditions and stringent norms such as fines, compensation by employers, alternative employment for parents or guardians, as well as State grants and rehabilitations for children working in hazardous industries.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-TAHA project coordinator for Mumbai Mr Nitin Thakore, welcoming the latest notification of the Government on child labour, ''as a relief for all those distressed children trapped in disguised employment against their wishes,'' said the new notification must be obeyed by all walks of society and people should be restrained from employing children. ''It is the fundamental right of children in any civil society to study and not to be forced into labour,'' he asserted.

The Child Labour (Prohibition&Regulation) Act, 1986 was brought into effect on the recommendations of the Gurupadswamy Committee (1979). At present, under the existing provisions of the Act, children are banned from working in a number of industries including mining, handloom, cigarette manufacture, glass-making and meat-processing.

The Ministry of Labour periodically expands list of hazardous occupations based on the recommendations of Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee. It has also argued that occupations in question in the latest notice are hazardous for children, as in these places they are subjected to physical violence, psychological trauma and at times, even sexual abuse.

However, households employing children as domestic help maintain that they are doing a favour for poor families. Now with no stigma attached to the existing practice of employing child workers as domestic help, civil society groups are crying for a strong change in perception and attitude towards child labour to eradicate it socially.

Mr Nishit Kumar, heading the awareness and advocacy section of 'ChildLine 1098', an organisation fighting to eradicate child abuse in India, is of the view that the Government's decision to clamp down on people employing children below 14 years is ''a half-hearted attempt.'' Noting that enforcement agencies, along with labour inspectors, will start a crackdown on placement agencies and households to check for violations, he said that only an effective and sustained check can guarantee a long-term effect and eradication of child labour.

Government figures of children employed in hazardous occupation reveals only 1.10 lakh, again contradicting with figures of independent agencies and social groups, which claim the figures to be between six and 10 crores anywhere.

''Right to Education is the fundamental right of every child in a free society and the best interest of any child is education, which should not be snatched away in the form of labour or favour to weed out poverty,'' said Ms Priti Patkar, the executive secretary for Prerna, an organisation confronting child trafficking and abuse in the city, since the last two decades.

Challenging the global perception of a poor India, she conteneded put forth that if the Government can spend crores in constructing flyovers, VIP security and announce the launch of new mega projects to uplift the urban class, then it also has the potential to create a fullproof system to confront the demons of poverty, trafficking and child abuse in the country.

UNI