UN Questions India Child Labour Bill Amendments: Is It Leniency Or Lunacy?

BENGALURU: 19^th June 2016, another day in Rajya Sabha; only an important decision was to be taken, to pass a bill that would amend the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986. The bill was finally passed and was presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday for a clause-by-clause vote following a five-hour-long discussion.

Lok Sabha passed child labour Bill despite strong opposition, with Varun Gandhi, BJP MP voicing strong reservation against many of its clauses. The question of whether it is leniency or lunacy was raised by the MP. (Good to see an MP raising questions against his own party’s decision).

Recent development has seen India come under criticism after its parliament approved several controversial amendments to the country's child labour bill as reported by BBC.

According to the Central government, the law will help poor families earn a living and will offer a chance to acquire skills for children, but the UN children's agency UNICEF have criticized the bill. With child labour rates highest among tribal and lower caste communities at almost 7 percent and 4 percent respectively, UNICEF said the changes could have an adverse impact on these especially marginalized and impoverished communities. "Under the new Child Labour Act, some forms of child labour may become invisible and the most vulnerable and marginalized children may end up with irregular school attendance, lower levels of learning and could be forced to drop out of school," said UNICEF India's Chief of Education Euphrates Gobina.

Other intellects criticizing the amendment includes Indian Nobel peace prize winner Kailash Satyarti who said that the bill was a "missed opportunity" for India. "The definition of family and family enterprises is flawed. This Bill uses Indian family values to justify economic exploitation of children. It is misleading the society by blurring the lines between learning in a family and working in a family enterprise," explained Satyarti.

According to the new bill, children under the age of 14 will be prohibited from working in the industries but can work if asked to work in the family businesses. The act has also reduced the number of industries falling under ‘hazardous for children’ category from 83 to 3.

The question still lingers that if government is so sure that the act will only help the poor, why oppositions are coming from different sects? May be they are all pseudo-intellects, and pro-Pakistan dove! After all that’s the latest trend set! Isn’t it?

Read Also: TCS, Infy in Forbes Super 50 list; Tata Motors, HUL dropped
Apple Expands its Reach in India, leases 40,000 Square Feet in Bengaluru