Govt says it will help kids learn skills early

NEW DELHI: Labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya said on Friday that the proposed legislation allowing children below 14 years to work in family enterprise will allow children to learn their traditional skill and also develop life values such as a sense of discipline, responsibility, and decisionmaking.

Under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) amendment Bill , 2016, children below 14 years have been prohibited to be employed in any occupation and process, but, as the minister said, the “child can help after school hours in his own family’s enterprise, if it is non-hazardous. This help in child’s own families’ non-hazardous family enterprise will lead to his learning of skills and values of life”.

“Since Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 passed by Parliament prohibits employment of children up to 14 years of age, the ILO conventions 138 and 182 will be ratified,” the minister told reporters. The new law is much better as compared to the original Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, he said.

International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Convention No 183 provides for 14 weeks of maternity benefit to women. Women on maternity leave are entitled to a cash benefit which ensures that they can maintain themselves and their children in proper health conditions.

Dattatreya said that there cannot be any employee and employer relationship in case the worker’s age is below 14 years. The new law only provides for help by children up to the age of 14 years in family enterprise after school hours without affecting their education, he explained.

The UN Children’s Fund had voiced concern on Thursday over the amended Child Labour Bill in India, saying it could legitimise family work and further disadvantage children from poor families.