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Child rights activists are agitated over the Maharashtra government’s order re-defining a child as someone under 14 years of age, instead of 18 years as stipulated by international law
In an affidavit filed before the Bombay High Court in 2008, the Maharashtra government pledged to eradicate child labour in the state by 2010. But its strategy for doing so includes defining a child as someone below the age of 14 years, not 18 years -- a sleight of hand that has been strongly criticised. According to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000, children are defined as being those under the age of 18. A Maharashtra government order issued in 2006 permitted the rescue of children under 18 from child labour and prosecution of those who employed such children under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986. But a new government rule issued in 2009 by the state government brings this age down to 14, thus excluding a large number of children from its purview. This, child rights activists say, will help the government meet its commitment to the high court affidavit though not, obviously, to children. “This move is a deliberate attempt by the Maharashtra government to meet its targeted commitment of making the state child labour free by 2010 or at least decrease the present percentage of children employed in the state,” says Manish Shroff, State Convenor, Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL). Civil society organisations like CACL and Action for the Rights of the Child are calling for the order to be revoked. They are also demanding that the name of the legislation be changed from Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act to Child Labour (Prohibition and Abolition) Act. Worldwide, the age up to which labour is prohibited is 18 years. India ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992; the convention defines a child as being a person under 18 years of age. Despite various legislations banning it, child labour is still employed in many industries, in hotels, and in the domestic work sector. Although Maharashtra has constituted a State Commission of Child Rights, better monitoring of the legislation is clearly required. Source: DNA, June 23, 2009
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