The meeting of the Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Labour and Employment was held here last evening. The agenda for discussion was “Child Labour (including amendment to Child Labour Act and ratification of the ILO Conventions No. 138 & 182)”. Chairing the meeting, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya, the Minister of State (IC), Labour & Employment briefed members on the agenda. 

The Minister said that the government is committed to eradicate child labour from the country. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 has been passed by the Parliament on 26th July, 2016. Shri Bandaru Dattatreya said that under the act complete ban has been imposed on employment of children below 14 years in any occupation or process. However, children are allowed to help in their family enterprises only in non-hazardous occupations and that too only after school hours or during vacations. Further, no adolescent (14-18 years) shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the scheduled hazardous occupations or processes. More stringent punishment is proposed for violations and separate fund has been created for the rehabilitation. 

Shri Rajeev Arora, Joint Secretary made a detailed presentation on “Child Labour (including amendment to Child Labour Act and ratification of the ILO Conventions No. 138 & 182)”. 

The meeting confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting and discussed the agenda in detail. The members appreciated the initiatives taken by the Ministry to eradicate child labour and suggested new ways for the eradication of child labour. The suggestions included separate initiative for the education of children belonging to Minorities and ST/SC. 

Shri Heera Lal Samariya Additional Secretary thanked members for their valuable suggestions and assured due consideration The Members of Parliament who attended the Committee’s meeting include Shri Ladu Kishore Swain, Shri M.K. Raghavan, Shri Manohar Untwal, Shri N.K. Premachandran, Shri Sankar Prasad Datta and. Shri K K Ragesh. 

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BCK/AK 

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