Indian gov't clears amendments to allow children under 14 to work in family businesses
Xinhua, May 13, 2015 Adjust font size:
Indian government cleared amendments to the child labor law on Wednesday to allow children below 14 to work in "non-hazardous" family enterprises, said local media. The government said it would encourage children to learn at home as it led to entrepreneurship, said local daily The Hindustan Times. It also said the children would be allowed to work only if their education wasn't being hampered.
A draft provision in the Child Labor Prohibition Act said the prohibition on child labor would not apply if they were helping the family in fields, forests and home-based work after school hours or during vacations, or while attending technical institutions, said the report.
The new norm would also apply to the entertainment industry and sports except the circus.
Children between 14 and 18 years would not be allowed to work in hazardous industries but in a wider fields of labor than for children under 14.
Most of India's economy is centered around small-and-medium- sized family businesses. Endi