"Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act forbids children below 14 years to be employed in any industrial or domestic work"

The Department of Labour is all set to conduct raids to free child labourers from industries and houses. Children have been working in industries and the department has decided to free them, said director general at the department Krishna Hari Puskar.

“We have identified the need to rescue children from risky jobs,” he said, adding that hundreds of children are working in major industrial corridors — Hetauda, Birgunj, Biratnagar and Butwal. The department’s job is to free them and provide alternatives for their livelihood, he added.

According to the Nepal Child Labour Report 2010, about 1.6 million children are working in Nepal. Of them, 621,000 children are in jobs with high risks. Similarly, about 165,422 children are working as domestic helps. The children do not have basic rights like health, education, development and care.

The department has also kept top officials who have employed children as domestic helps under surveillance. “About five dozen top officers are under our strict observation,” said Puskar, adding that the department will free the domestic workers soon.

The department is coordinating with non-governmental organisations to provide alternative residence to them. International agencies including the International Labour Organisation have shown interest in supporting them, he added.

The government recently passed a policy — National Master Plan to Abolish Child Labour — to abolish child labour by 2020. According to the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, children below 14 years cannot be employed in any industrial or domestic work. However, about 3.2 million children are working in the formal and informal sectors in the country.

Nepali trade unions do not have access to the informal sector where a majority of children are working. Similarly, their access to children who work as domestic helps is also limited. But, we are motivating them to reach out to the informal and domestic sectors too, said Puskar.

Published on: 13 June 2013 | The Himalayan Times