New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday
asked the city government to explore the possibility of
starting a round-the-clock helpline services for child labour
in the national capital.
A bench headed by the Chief Justice A P Shah also
asked the government to launch a website specifically
dedicated to the problem of child labour.
The Bench, also comprising Justice S Muralidhar, was
hearing a PIL filed by NGOs seeking its direction to
formulate guidelines for regulating and eradicating child
labour in the capital.
Earlier, the court had allowed the police to initiate
criminal proceedings against those employing children as
labourers and to recover Rs 20,000 from them as penalty
without waiting for their conviction.
"We direct that the responsibility of lodging a police
complaint against an employer, employing child labour, would
lie with the Delhi Police and not the Labour Department," the
court had said in July.
The Court had said that for eradicating the problem,
the police should be given power to take action against the
erring employer and it should not be left to the labour
department.
The Court had on September 24 last year directed the
Commission to formulate a detailed Action Plan for strict
enforcement and implementation of Child Labour (Prohibition &
Regulation) Act, 1986 and other related legislations.
Bureau Report
