Labour Ministry concerned over ‘misleading views’ on Child Bill

Labour Ministry on Thursday expressed serious concern over comments from some organisations on certain provisions of the Child Labour Bill that prohibits employment of children below 14 years, terming these as "ill-informed".

"Such comments were ill-informed and misleading, reflecting inadequate understanding of the provisions and implications of the original the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 and of the Amendment Bill, 2016," the Ministry said in a press statement. 

Earlier this week, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016, was passed by Parliament. The ministry asserted that the Amendment Bill clearly seeks to protect the Right to Education for those below 14 years by fixing defective provisions in the original Act, contrary to comments that it affects schooling and learning of poor children.

In addition, the Amendment Bill, 2016, provides for first-time protection for adolescents of 14 18 years.

"The comments by some organisations as reported in some sections of the media on some provisions of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 passed by Parliament this week were far from the truth and were based on inadequate understanding of the provisions and implications of the original Act of 1986 and the Amendment Bill, 2016," the ministry said. Such comments could "mislead people and need to be avoided".