Parliament panel recommends amendments in Child Labour Amendment Bill

NEW DELHI: Urging for taking a lenient view of poor parents who permit their children to work, a parliamentary panel has recommended amendment in the Child Labour (prohibition and regulation) Amendment Bill, which presently seeks to punishment for them.

The committee, however, said repeated offenders may be punished for allowing their children to work and fine may be collected from errant employers for a fund, which it named ' The Child Welfare Fund', used for rehabilitation of the rescued children.

The standing committee in its reports on the Bill, which was tabled in Lok Sabha, also recommended for striking out a provision in it that allows for children helping their parents in domestic chores as it is "very obvious in Indian context".

"The amended section be reframed to prohibit employment in all occupations where there is subordinate relationship of work and labour," it said.

The committee felt that Ministry of Labour and Employment does not have any effective mechanism to supervise the implementation of the provisions of the Act and the proposal to confer power on the district magistrate might not yield desired results.

It recommended that vigilance and monitoring committees headed by local MPs may be constituted to review not only this law, once it is passed, but all the labours act in the area every three months.

The committee has also recommended making appropriate rules to prohibit and regulate employment of children and adolescent in audio-visual entertain industry.