The Child Labour (Prohibition And Regulation) Act, 1986

Main features of the directions of Supreme Court in their Judgment dated 10.12.96 -On 10th December 1996 in Writ Petition (Civil) No.465/1986 M.C.Mehta Vs State of Tamilnadu the Supreme Court of India, gave certain directions on the issue of elimination of child labour. The main features of judgment are as under: *  Survey for identification of working children; * Withdrawal of children working in hazardous industry and ensuring their education in appropriate institutions; * Contribution @ Rs.20,000/- per child to be paid by the offending employers of children to a welfare fund to be established for this purpose; * Employment to one adult member of the family of the child so withdrawn from work and it that is not possible a contribution of Rs.5,000/- to the welfare fund to be made by the State Government; * Financial assistance to the families of the children so withdrawn to be paid -out of the interest earnings on the corpus of Rs.20,000/25,000 deposited in the welfare fund as l

The National Policy on Child Labour, August 1987 contains the action plan for tackling the problem of child labour. It envisages: 1. A legislative action plan 2. Focussing and convergence of general development programmes for benefiting children wherever possible, and 3. Project-based action plan of action for launching of projects for the welfare of working children in areas of high concentration of child labour. In pursuance of National Child Labour Policy,the NCLP Scheme was started in 1988 to rehabilitate child labour. The Scheme seeks to adopt a sequential approach with focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations & processes in the first instance. Under the Scheme, after a survey of child labour engaged in hazardous occupations & processes has been conducted, children are to be withdrawn from these occupations & processes and then put into special schools in order to enable them to be mainstreamed into formal schooling system.  

Article21 A Right to Education The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years in such manner as the State, by law, may determine. Article 24 Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc. No child below the age fourteen years shall be employed in work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. Article 39 The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength.