The Government having given consideration to various aspects of the problems of child labour enacted the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 which was amended in 2016. The amended Act is now called the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 which inter-alia provides for complete prohibition of work or employment of children below 14 years in any occupation and process and adolescents in the age group of 14 to 18 years in hazardous occupations and processes.
Ministry of Labour & Employment has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee under the chairpersonship of Secretary (Labour & Employment) comprising the representatives of Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Micro Small & Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Department of Rural Development, Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Women and Child Development. The Committee coordinates efforts across ministries and sectors for prevention of child labour.
In addition, Ministry of Labour & Employment has framed model State Action Plan enumerating action points to be taken by respective State Governments for eradication of child labour including migrant, girl and SC/ST children.
Under the Samagra Shiksha scheme of Ministry of Education implemented by its Department of School Education & Literacy, annual plans are prepared by the States and Union Territories (UTs) based on their requirements and priority and this is reflected in their respective Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) proposals. During the appraisal of AWP&B proposals, all States and UTs are requested to conduct house hold survey annually for the purpose of identification of the Out of School Children (OoSC). This includes drop out and never enrolled children.
