Delhi High court orders crackdown on child labour

The familiar sight of children slogging at roadside eateries, vehicle workshops, scrap industries and power looms in Delhi will hopefully be a thing of the past. Harish V Nair reports.

The familiar sight of children slogging at roadside eateries, vehicle workshops, scrap industries and power looms in Delhi will hopefully be a thing of the past.

HT Image

The Delhi high court has ordered a crackdown against deployment of child labourers in the capital and directed the Centre to coordinate with all authorities in this regard.

The court wanted strict implementation of its July 2009 order, under which anybody could be fined R20,000 on the spot on a simple complaint and get three years' in jail if found guilty of engaging child labour.

Till then, the labour department had to wait for a conviction to recover the fine.

"Put an end to child labour in factories, small-scale industries, local units and establishments. Young children can never be exploited for such purpose. Action shall be taken as per the scheme which is accordance with the law laid down", ruled chief justice Dipak Misra and justice Sanjiv Khanna.

The court, for the first time, affixed accountability in the matter on one of central government's top law officers, additional solicitor general AS Chandhiok, who has been asked to coordinate with all agencies concerned.