RWAs warned over hiring minor domestic helps
The Child Welfare Committee, Gurugram, has warned the residents’ welfare associations in the city that if any minor is found working as a domestic help in any housing society, the residents’ body will be held accountable and may face action.
Shakuntala Dhull, chairperson, CWC, made the remark after a 16-year-old girl was rescued from Sector 66 condominium, where she had been working as a domestic help.
Dhull further said that having noted down the total number of RWAs, the committee will write to each association, asking it to verify the background of all domestic helps within three months of employment. “We have received a number of complaints from child welfare helplines in the last six months stating that some employers, despite knowing that minors were hired through placement agencies without their parent’s consent and without verification, did not take any action,” said Dhull.
The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 in hazardous occupations, which are identified in a list given by the law. Working adolescent individuals between the ages 14 and 18 can be employed in hazardous occupations, but with parents’ approval.
The CWC also decided to hold awareness campaigns across residential societies in the city. The awareness campaigns will make it compulsory for RWAs to conduct background checks of domestic helps and verify their age. These campaigns, starting Wednesday, will be conducted by the CWC in collaboration with the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA).
CWC officials said they have written to the district commissioner regarding the same and will meet the registrar of societies on Monday to take stock of the total number of the RWAs in the city. There are presently around 550 RWAs in the city, said officials of the registrar’s office.
In the Sector 66 case, it was found that the employers had hired the minor girl from a placement agency in Delhi and did not check her background and hired her, despite knowing her age.
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