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ShareNEW DELHI: In a determined bid to curb the exploitation of children, the government has prohibited their employment as servants at home or in businesses.
The business classification includes factories, shops, dhabas, restaurants, hotels, and teashops. Resorts and spas also feature in the list.
According to a notification issued on Tuesday, the ban comes into effect from October 10, 2006.
The Union labour ministry has warned that anyone employing children below 14 years of age would be liable for prosecution and penal action under the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986.
"The government had already prohibited its employees from hiring children as domestic servants. The new notice will impose restrictions on everyone," said a senior official.
After October 10, enforcement agencies will begin a crackdown on placement agencies.
Labour inspectors have been told to check households for violations.
The decision has been taken on the recommendation of the Technical Advisory Committee on Child Labour headed by the director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research. The committee said the occupations in question are hazardous for children because, in these places, they are subjected to physical violence, psychological trauma, and, at times, even sexual abuse.
There has been no official survey on child labour in India. But NGOs such as Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) and Haq for Child Right estimate the figure at as high as one crore in households, and an equal number in restaurants and dhabas.
"Though the government's official figure for child labour employed in hazardous occupation is just 1.10 lakh, our estimate is between 6 and 10 crores," said Kailash Satyarthi of the BBA.
Satyarthi said India was under international pressure to enact the law but doubted its implementation.
Inakshi Ganguly of Haq for Child Rights welcomed the initiative but said untrained enforcement staff and corruption might hinder its implementation. "Since there is no proper rehabilitation for rescued children, they land up again in the same places," Ganguly said.
For its part, the labour ministry is planning to expand its rehabilitation scheme under the National Child Labour Project, which already covers 250 districts.
