The amendments proposed to be introduced in the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986, for which the Union Cabinet has accorded its approval recently, has been widely criticised by social activists.
The Vellore Institute of Development Studies (VIDS) has stated that the amendments to impose stricter punishment on those employing children below 14 years, but allowing minors to work in non-hazardous family enterprises and the audio-visual entertainment industry are “ill-conceived and ill-advised”.
It is also contrary to the central government’s declared policy of total elimination of the bonded child labour system.
These amendments will only tend to perpetuate the child labour system in the society, said P. Jegadish Gandhi, Director of VIDS.
Dr. Gandhi said that the bonded labour system should not be allowed in any form or sectoral activities.
The VIDS, he said, strongly advocates the total abolition of child labour by 2020 in India by adopting the hitherto best practices of pro-active NGOs.
“Against this scenario, by allowing the presence of child labour in many shades of family enterprises will facilitate child exploitation within walls under the cloak of learning family skills”, he said.
Era. Chandrasekharan, president of Udhavum Ullangal, a Vellore-based NGO said that the amendments will create loopholes.
This will embolden employers of child labour to perpetuate child labour under the garb of legal protection. He pointed out that only in the last few years, the government has created a semblance of awareness among the employers.
It has also thrown light on the need to eliminate child labour through its stringent measures against employment of children in work,
He was of the view that the proposed amendments will only help the traditional employers of child labour to engage children in work and escape from the clutches of law.
The amendments, Mr. Chandrasekharan said, will tend to reverse the good work done in the area of rescuing child workers and enrolling them in schools, and lead to a situation where school-going children are taken out of schools and engaged in labour.
Thanks to the measures taken by the district administration through the Child Labour Abolition Support Scheme (CLASS) in Vellore district, there was considerable reduction of child labour in the hotel industry.
The amendments will reverse the trend. The amendments are not in the interests of children who are supposed to enjoy the pleasures of childhood and the benefits of education, he said.
Ruby Nakka, founder of The Hope House, a home for special children in Gandhinagar, Vellore and a former president of the District Child Welfare Committee said that the proposed amendments would provide ample scope for abuse of the exemptions given to the engagement of child labour. While it is good to encourage the talent among child artistes in the entertainment industry, paying the children for their performance would constitute child labour, he said.
Amendments are contrary to central government’s declared policy of total elimination of bonded child labour
VDIS strongly advocates total abolition of child labour by 2020 in India adopting practices of pro-active NGOs
