The Government of Telangana has issued draft Telangana Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) (Amendment) Rules, 2021 vide notification dated September 1, 2021. The Draft Rules further amend the Telangana Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Rules, 1995 in the following manner:
- Rule 2A has been inserted which deals with Awareness on prohibition of employment of child & adolescent in convention of Act and states the following:
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- Public awareness campaigns should be arranged by State Government to make public aware about the provisions of the Act, hence discouraging employers or other persons from engaging children and adolescents in any occupation or process in contravention of the provisions of the Act;
- Aware the public about the provisions of the Ac by displaying to the possible extent the provisions of the Act, these Rules and any other information relating thereto in railway coaches, at railway stations, major bus stations, toll plazas, ports and port authorities, airports and other public places etc.
- State Government shall also promote inclusion of training and sensitisation material on the provisions of the Act and the responsibilities of various stakeholders thereto, in State Labour Service, police, judicial and civil service academies, teachers training and refresher courses and arrange sensitisation programmes for other relevant stakeholders including, panchayath members, doctors and concerned officials of the Government.
- Rule 2B has been inserted which relates to child to help his family without affecting education shall be inserted which states that a child may work without affecting his school education subject to following conditions-
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- Shall not work in hazardous occupation or process
- Shall not work at any stage of manufacturing, production, supply or retail chain that is remunerative to the child or his family.
- Shall not perform any task during school hours & between 7pm to 8am.
- Shall not be engaged in any task continuously without rest which may make him tired.
- Rule 2C has been inserted which states that a child may be allowed to work as an artist subject to following conditions-
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- No child shall be allowed to work more than 5 hours in a day & not more than 30 hours without rest.
- Any producer of any audio-visual media production involving child shall obtain prior permission from District magistrate where the activity is to be performed. The consent of parents & guardians shall also be obtained prior to the participation of child in an event.
- Appropriate facilities for education of the child shall be arranged so to ensure no discontinuity from his lessons in school.
- No child shall be allowed to work consecutively for more than 27 days.
- Atleast 1 responsible person to be appointed for a maximum of 5 children for the production or event to ensure the protection, care & best interest of the child.
- Atleast 20% of income earned by the child from production or event shall be directly deposited in fixed deposit in Nationalized Bank in the name of the child.
- The medical authority while examining an adolescent for issuing the certificate of age shall take into account-
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- The Aadhar card of the adolescent
- the date of birth certificate from school or the matriculation or equivalent certificate from the concerned examination Board of the adolescent, if available, and in the absence thereof;
- The birth certificate of the adolescent given by a corporation or a Local Authority.
- Form E has been inserted, ‘Undertaking under Rule 2C (1)(b) of the Telangana Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Rules, 1995’.
The Draft Rules are open for objections and suggestions, if any, should be addressed to the Special Chief Secretary to Government, Labour, Employment, Training and Factories Department, Telangana Secretariat, Hyderabad through the Commissioner of Labour, T.Anjaiah Bhavan, RTC ‘X’ Roads, Hyderabad, Telangana within 45 days from September 02, 2021.
*Tanvi Singh, Editorial Assistant has reported this brief.