child labour act

CHILD LABOUR ACT( Prohibition and Regulation) ACT, 1986 :

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 is one the most debated acts regarding children in India. It outlines where and how children can work and where they can not. The provisions of the act are meant to be acted upon immediately after the publication of the act, except for part III that discusses the conditions in which a child may work , can only come into effect as per a date appointed by the Central Government (which was decided as 26th of May, 1993).

The act defines a child as any person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age . This act prohibits children from working in any occupation

for example: Catering at railway establishments, construction work on the railway or anywhere near the tracks, plastics factories, automobile garages, etc. The act also prohibits children from working in places where certain processes are being undertaken ; for example: beedi making, tanning, soap manufacture, brick kilns and roof tiles units, etc. These provisions do not apply to a workshop where the occupier is working with the help of his family or in a government recognised or aided school.

If there is a dispute as to the age of the child, the inspector can submit the child for a medical exam to determine his/her age when a birth certificate is not available. Notices about prohibition of certain child labour and penalties should be posted in every railway station, port authority and workshop or establishment.

The health conditions of work being undertaken by children shall be set for each particular kind of establishment of class of establishments by the appropriate government. The rules may cover topics such as cleanliness, light, disposal of waste and effluents, drinking water, bathrooms, protection of eyes, maintenance and safety of buildings, etc.

Section IV of the act outlines various remaining aspects such as Penalties. The penalty of allowing a child to work in occupations/ processes outlined in the schedule which are prohibited is a minimum of 3 months prison time and/or a minimum of Rs. 10,000 in fines. Second time offenders are subject to jail time of minimum six months. Failure to notify an inspector, keep a register, post a sign or any other requirement is punishable by simple imprisonment and/or a fine up to Rs. 10,000. Offenders can only be tried in courts higher than a magistrate or metropolitan magistrate of the first class. Courts also have the authority to appoint people to be inspectors under this act.

Rules of this act must be passed by the respective parliaments (state or central). Any changes or added provisions must be passed by the parliament. The establishment of this act also calls for a change in a number of other acts. The Employment of Children Act of 1938 is repealed. The enactment of this act changes the definition of child to one who has not completed his fourteenth year of age. Hence under provisions of this act the age of a child is also changed in the Minimum Wages Age 1948, the Plantations Labour Act 1951, the Merchant Shipping Act 1958, and the Motor Transport Workers Act 1961.

DEFINITIONS :

ILO

The term 'child labour', suggests ILO, is best defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, or work whose schedule interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or work that affects in any manner their ability to focus during war and clubs and boutros, school or experience a healthy childhood.

UNICEF:

       A child, suggests UNICEF, is involved in child labour activities if between 5 and 11 years of age, he or she did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work in a week, and in case of children between 12 and 14 years of age, he or she did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work per week. UNICEF in another report suggests, "Children’s work needs to be seen as happening along a continuum, with destructive or exploitative work at one end and beneficial work – promoting or enhancing children’s development without interfering with their schooling, recreation and rest – at the other. And between these two poles are vast areas of work that need not negatively affect a child’s development."

The Factories Act of 1948:

    The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in any factory. The law also placed rules on who, when and how long can pre-adults aged 15–18 years be employed in any factory.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000:

     This law made it a crime, punishable with a prison term, for anyone to procure or employ a child in any hazardous employment or in bondage.

PROVISIONS UNDER CHILD LABOUR ACT 1986 :

HAZARDOUS OCCUPATIONS

Part III of ‘The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 provides for the ‘Prohibition of employment of children in certain occupations and processes’. The Schedule gives a list of hazardous occupations in two parts, A and B.

Part A provides that, No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the following occupations:

1.Transport of passengers, goods; or mails by railway

2.Cinder picking, clearing of an ash pit or building operation in the railway premise.

3.Work in a catering establishment at a railway station, involving the movement of vendor or any other employee of the establishment from one platform to another or into or out of a moving train.

4.Work relating to the construction of railway station or with any other work where such work is done in close proximity to or between the railway lines.

5.The port authority within the limits of any port.

6.Work relating to selling of crackers and fireworks in shops with temporary licenses

7.Abattoirs/slaughter Houses

Automobile workshops and garages.

Founderies

8.Handling of taxies or inflammable substance or explosives

9.Handlom and powerloom industry

Mines (Underground and under water) and collieries

10.Plastic units and Fiber glass workshop.

Part B provides that, No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the following workshop wherein any of the following processes is carried on.

1 Beedi making

2 Carpet Weaving

3 Cement manufacture including bagging of cement.

4 Cloth printing, deying and weaving.

5 Manufacture of matches, explosive and fireworks.

6 Mica cutting and splitting.

7 Shellac manufacture

8 Soap manufacture

9 Tanning.

10 Wool cleaning

11 Building and construction industry

12 Manufacture of slate pencils (including packing)

13 Manufacture of products of agate

14 Manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances such as lead, mercury, manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene, pesticides and asbestos

15 All Hazardous prossess an defined in section 2(cb) and dangerous operations

as notified in ruler made under section 87 of the factories Act 1948

16 Printing (as defined in section 2(k) of the factories Act 1948

17 Cashew and cashew nut descaling and processing

18 Soldering process in electronic industries

19 Agarbathi manufacturing

20 Automobile repairs and maintenance (namely welding lather work , dent beating and printing)

21 Brick kilns and Roof files units

22 Cotton ginning and processing and production of hosiery goods

23 Detergent manufacturing

24 Fabrication workshop (ferrous and non-ferrous)

25 Gem cutting and polishing

26 Handling of chromites and manganies ores

27 Jute textile manufacture and of coir making

28 Lime kilns and manufacture of lime

29 Lock making

30 Manufacturing process having exposure to lead such as primary and secondary smelting, welding etc. ( See item 30 of part B process)

31 Manufacture of glass, glass ware including bangles fluorescent tubes bulbs and other similar glass products

32 Manufacturing of cement pipes, cement products, and other related work.

33 Manufacture of dyes and dye stuff

34 Manufacturing or handling of pesticides and insecticides

35 Manufacturing or processing and handling of corrosive and toxic substances, metal cleaning and photo enlarging and soldering processes in electronic industry

36 Manufacturing of burning coal and coal briquette

37 Manufacturing of sports goods involving to synthetic materials, chemicals and leather

38 Moulding and processing of fiberglass and plastics

39 Oil expelling and refinery

40 Paper making

41 Potteries and ceramic industry

42 Polishing, moulding, cutting welding and manufacture of brass goods in all forms.

43 Process in agriculture where tractors, threshing and harvesting machines are used and chabt cutting

44 Saw mill all process

45 Sericulture processing

46 Skinning dyeing and process for manufacturing of leather and leather products

47 Stone breaking and stone crushing

48 Tobacco processing including manufacturing of tobacco, tobacco paste and handling of tobacco in any form

49 Tyre making repairing, re-trading and graphite beneficiation

50 Utensils making polishing and metal buffing

51 Zari Making (all process).

EFFORTS BY GOVERNMENT OF INDIA TO CONTROL CHILD LABOUR

The child labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in 16 occupation and 65 processes that are hazardous to the children’s lives and health. Many states including Haryana have constituted the child labour rehabilitation –cum-welfare funds at district level and separate labour cells are being formed to address the issue. National child labour projects have been implemented by the central government in states from 1988 to provide non-formal education and pre-vocational skills. From 2001, Sarve shiksha Abhiyan has been launched to educate poor and employed children in all states. Ministry of women and child development has been providing non-formal education and vocational training. Establishment of Anganwadies is also a big step by the government for the welfare of children and their physical, mental and educational development.

HOURS OF PERIOD AND WORK

No child shall be required or permitted to work in any establishment in excess of number of hours prescribed (Section-7)

The period of work on each day shall not exceed three hours and no child shall work for more than three hours before he has had an interval for rest for at least one hour. No child shall be permitted or required to work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.

No child shall be required or permitted to work overtime. (Section-7).

PENALTIES

Violations under Section-3 shall be punishable with imprisonment which shall not be less than three months which may extend to one year or with fine which shall not be less than ten thousand rupees but which may extend to twenty thousand rupees or with both. Continuing offence under section (3) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than six months but which may extend to two years.

Any other violations under the Act shall be punishable with simple imprisonment, which may extend to one month or with fine, which may extend to ten thousand rupees or with both.