India Intelligence Report
 

Maharashtra Bill to Curb Child Labor

 

A high-power Committee in Maharashtra recommended that the state make child labor a non-bailable (NB) crime. It found that in many instances where employers of child labor were arrested, the loopholes in the law saw them walking away with small bail bonds. The Committee said that the worst offenders were the gold and jewelry industry, zari units, garages, and leather and tannery workshops. Children are forces into labor due to poverty but are exploited by employers who force them to work for several hours with rest, education, and inhuman conditions. They suffer physical, psychological, and sexual abuse and the perpetrators often operate with impunity. Maharashtra will become the first state in India to have such legislation that will curb the enthusiasm to employ children.

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