Correct Answer - Option 2 : October 2006
Prohibition of Employment of Children:
- Article 24 prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in any factory, mine or other hazardous activities like construction work or railway.
- It is an absolute prohibition.
- But it does not prohibit their employment in any harmless or innocent work.
- The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, is the most important law in this direction.
- In addition, the Employment of Children Act, 1938; the Factories Act, 1948; the Mines Act, 1952; the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958; the Plantation Labour Act, 1951; the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1951; Apprentices Act, 1961; the Bidi and Cigar Workers Act, 1966; and other similar acts prohibit the employment of children below a certain age.
- In October 2006, the government passed the Child Labour (Abolition And Rehabilitation) Bill, 2006 as an amendment to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
- In 2006, the government banned the employment of children as domestic servants or workers in business establishments like hotels, dhabas, restaurants, shops, factories, resorts, spas, tea shops and so on. It warned that anyone employing children below 14 years of age would be liable for prosecution and penal action.
- The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, amended the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
- It has renamed the Principal Act as the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986.
Thus, the child labour prevention act was amended by the government in October 2006.
