All Papers/Social Justice, Human Rights and Social Welfare in India (2025-26)/Q11
Q11
15 Marks

Part C (Q11): Write a detailed note on the Child Labour (Regulation and Prohibition) Act, 1986.

Expert Answer

The Child Labour (Regulation and Prohibition) Act, 1986 was enacted to tackle the pervasive issue of child labor in India. However, its original philosophy was controversial: it did not aim for a blanket ban on all child labor. Instead, it distinguished between "hazardous" and "non-hazardous" work, attempting to prohibit the former and merely regulate the latter.

(Note: This act was significantly amended in 2016 to impose a complete ban on employing children below 14 in all occupations, with a few exceptions. However, analyzing the original 1986 provisions is crucial for historical context).

Key Provisions of the Original 1986 Act:

1. Definition of a Child: The Act defined a "child" as a person who has not completed their 14th year of age.

2. The Core Philosophy (Prohibition vs. Regulation):

  • Prohibition: The Act strictly prohibited the employment of children below 14 years of age in specific hazardous occupations and processes. These were listed in two parts (Part A and Part B of the Schedule) and included jobs like railway transport, bidi-making, carpet-weaving, cement manufacturing, matchboxes/explosives, and mining.
  • Regulation: For all other "non-hazardous" occupations (e.g., working in a non-hazardous shop, a restaurant, or domestic work), the Act did not ban child labor. Instead, it tried to regulate the working conditions to prevent severe exploitation.

3. Regulations on Working Conditions (For non-hazardous jobs): For children legally allowed to work under the Act, it mandated:

  • Working Hours: A child could not work for more than 3 hours continuously without a mandatory rest interval of at least 1 hour. Total working hours (including rest time) could not exceed 6 hours a day.
  • Night Shifts: Total prohibition on children working between 7:00 PM and 8:00 AM.
  • Overtime: Complete ban on overtime work.
  • Weekly Holiday: Every child worker was legally entitled to one whole day of rest every week.

4. Penalties: Any employer caught violating the prohibition clause (employing a child in a hazardous industry) faced imprisonment of not less than 3 months, extendable to 1 year, or a fine ranging from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000, or both. Repeat offenders faced mandatory imprisonment.

5. The Technical Advisory Committee: The Act established a Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee to advise the Central Government on which new occupations or processes should be added to the prohibited "hazardous" list over time.

Critique of the 1986 Act: The fundamental flaw of the 1986 Act was that by legally permitting children to work in "non-hazardous" industries, it directly contradicted the Constitutional mandate (Article 45 and later Article 21A) which requires the state to provide free and compulsory education to all children until the age of 14. A child cannot be in a workplace and a school at the same time. This massive loophole allowed millions of children to be legally exploited in dhabas, domestic work, and agriculture until the 2016 amendments were enacted.