28 May :With a view to curbing child labour in Maharashtra, the state labour department is planning to rehabilitate parents of those children by providing them with employment opportunities."Child labour is a social problem and we are chalking out a plan to rehabilitate parents along with the children," Labour Minister Nawab Malik told reporters in Mumbai today.
Children are forced to move out from their homes for work due to poor living conditions of the family.
The issue needs to be addressed in order to stop child labour, Malik said.
On reports that the State Government has come up with a resolution defining 14 years as the upper age limit of child labour, Malik said, "it is as per the Child Labour (Prevention and Regulation) Act of the Central Government which was passed in 1986".
"The Act states that a child below 14 years indulging in hazardous work should be prevented," the Minister said.
The State Government had earlier issued a resolution stipulating the upper age limit to be 18 years.
However, after the directives from the High Court and considering the Act, the resolution has become void, he said.