• The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on December 4, 2012 by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mallikarjun Kharge.  

• The Bill seeks to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, which prohibits the engagement of children in certain types of occupations and regulates the condition of work of children in other occupations. 

• The Act prohibits employment of children below 14 years in certain occupations such as automobile workshops, bidi-making, carpet weaving, handloom and power loom industry, mines and domestic work.  In light of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, the Bill seeks to prohibit employment of children below 14 years in all occupations except where the child helps his family after school hours.

• The Bill adds a new category of persons called “adolescent”.  An adolescent means a person between 14 and 18 years of age.  The Bill prohibits employment of adolescents in hazardous occupations as specified (mines, inflammable substance and hazardous processes).

• The central government may add or omit any hazardous occupation from the list included in the Bill.

• The Bill enhances the punishment for employing any child in an occupation.  It also includes penalty for employing an adolescent in a hazardous occupation.

• The penalty for employing a child was increased to imprisonment between 6 months and two years (from 3 months-one year) or a fine of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 (from Rs 10,000-20,000) or both.

• The penalty for employing an adolescent in hazardous occupation is imprisonment between 6 months and two years or a fine of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 or both.  

• The government may confer powers on a District Magistrate to ensure that the provisions of the law are properly carried out.

• The Bill empowers the government to make periodic inspection of places at which employment of children and adolescents are prohibited.

DISCLAIMER: This document is being furnished to you for your information. You may choose to reproduce or redistribute this report for noncommercial purposes in part or in full to any other person with due acknowledgement of PRS Legislative Research (“PRS”). The opinions expressed herein are entirely those of the author(s). PRS makes every effort to use reliable and comprehensive information, but PRS does not represent that the contents of the report are accurate or complete. PRS is an independent, not-for-profit group. This document has been prepared without regard to the objectives or opinions of those who may receive it.