Delhi HC directs formation of district panels to check child labour | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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Delhi HC directs formation of district panels to check child labour

Feb 02, 2023 11:51 PM IST

A bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad said that despite the authorities being aware of these factories being run, no steps are being taken by them to curb this menace.

The Delhi high court has directed that a committee be constituted in each district for inspection of the premises where units are employing child labourers, and called for a status report regarding the action taken, while observing that such illegal units are running right under the nose of the city government and the Delhi Police.

Hearing a plea by an NGO Bachpan Bachao Anodolan, the court said the committees will be created under the supervision of Chief Secretary of Delhi, the Deputy Commissioner of Police of each district. (HT Photo)
Hearing a plea by an NGO Bachpan Bachao Anodolan, the court said the committees will be created under the supervision of Chief Secretary of Delhi, the Deputy Commissioner of Police of each district. (HT Photo)

A bench of chief justice Satish Chandra Sharma and justice Subramonium Prasad said that despite the authorities being aware of these factories being run, no steps are being taken by them to curb this menace.

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“Children who ought to have been studying in schools are forced to work in these places which are unhygienic, inhabitable and accidents which are waiting to happen. For their greed for money and profit, unscrupulous factory owners employ children as they have to be paid less than minimum wages and, driven out of extreme poverty, these children are forced to work at these places instead of seeking education in order to earn bread for their families. The laudable object of Article 21A of the Constitution of India has been completely thrown to the winds,” the court said in its order made available on Thursday.

While hearing a plea by an NGO Bachpan Bachao Anodolan, the court said the committees will be created under the supervision of Chief Secretary of Delhi, the Deputy Commissioner of Police of each District in coordination with the Department of Labour Women and Child Welfare Department, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

The petitioner-NGO had filed the petition following the Anaj Mandi fire on December 8, 2019 resulting in the death of 43 persons, including 12 children between the age group of 12 to 18 years. The plea highlights the plight of children working in factories that are illegally housed in extremely small units stuffed with inflammable materials.

On January 11, while hearing the petition, the counsel for the NGO told the court that these factories are functioning right under the nose of the State authorities who have turned a blind eye to these units which are no less than death traps waiting for their victims.

It sought a direction to the State to conduct an inquiry into the illegal factories at Anaz Mandi, Sadar Bazar, so that persons who are running these factories can be booked under the concerned legislations, while also seeking protection and rehabilitation of the children who are working in these units.

A status report filed by the city government stated that the activities being carried out in the building were “completely illegal” and the accused persons had “failed to follow the regulations in maintaining the premises” which resulted in huge fatalities.

The government also told the court that these units were not properly ventilated and did not have any fire safety arrangements.

Expressing concerns on the submissions, the court termed it “extremely disturbing” that the government is actually taking a lackadaisical approach and is showing extreme insensitivity in this case which has resulted in the death of 45 persons, including 12 children aged between 12- 18 years.

The bench said that periodic judgments have been passed by this high court and the Supreme Court, but these orders are merely pieces of paper which have been ignored by the state authorities.

The court also said that nothing concrete has been done by the Delhi government in providing ex-gratia to the victims’ kind and directed them to immediately release 5 lakhs for each of the victims who have lost their life as ex-gratia interim payment.

“It is expected that in the last three years, the Government has already identified the relatives of the victims who have lost their lives in the incident. If the exercise has not been concluded yet, then the Government is directed to conclude this exercise within four weeks from today,” the court said in a 13-page order.

It also directed the city government to search the 183 locations where the children are allegedly working, conduct an investigation, while also asking it to file a status report on the action taken by them before the next date of hearing.

The matter would be heard on March 27.

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