Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Is govt really serious about ending Child Labour?' that was published in Newsband

Is govt really serious about ending Child Labour?

The amendments to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, passed by Parliament recently, makes one wonder whether Indian government is really serious about ending Child Labour. Parliament has allowed children up to the age of 14 to be employed in ‘family enterprises’ and ‘non-hazardous’ occupations. The only concession to their educational rights is that they are permitted to work in family enterprises only outside school hours and during vacations.

Banning of children up to the age of 14 in any occupation is to give an opportunity to these children to avail off the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education as per the Act, 2009. Even the International Labour Organisation Conventions 138 and 182 mandates compulsory schooling till the age of 15 and prohibits employment of children “in the worst forms of labour”. According to them allowing child labour will only deprive the children of both the joys of childhood and their constitutional right to education.

The bill in the present form intentionally benefits the business cadre and there is no favourable measures for the upliftment of the children and the rights of the children. And what about child artists upto the age of 18, in TV serials and commercials? Do we consider such engagements of children by the parents and producers of programs, whether it affects their education or not, as employment of child who cannot legally become a party to any commercial contract, or a child labour that needs to be abolished?

A child should not be forced to do any kind of work till 14 years in any enterprise whether it is family or another. A child's mind should be free enough to learn and explore on its own.

India is still a developing country and most of the children do not have food to eat, so they have no option other than work. Hunger is biggest problem. That is why you need midday meal schemes. You cannot expect the child to excel at school and determine his/her future if he/she is forced to work. This only serves the industry, not the citizens.

Some fear that a law completely banning child labour will only drive it underground or lead to terribly impoverished families or lead to the prosecution of the parents who are already poor. It's the duty of parents with the help of government to take care of their children. People need to think about their financial conditions before producing children and that can be done by proper education (knowledge) only.

Corporates might feel elated with the provisions of law. The children, who already have been employed in some form or other, will have no bar on working for their ' family' to augment their income. The family in India can be easily camouflaged in such a way that any work by children can be shown to work for ' family'. Thus, deprived children would remain deprived due to this law.