 bill no vi of 2008 the working children (welfare and rehabilitation) bill, 2008 a billto provide for certain welfare measures to be undertaken by the state and the employer of working children and for their rehabilitation through education, training and specialisation in some trade or vocation and for matters connected therewithbe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-ninth year of the republic of india as  follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the working children (welfare and rehabilitation)act, 2008short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india5(3) it shall come into force with immediate effectdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "accident" includes an accident which occurs in the course of an employment of a child or the occupational disease which is contracted by a working child within or outside the working hours;(b) "child" means a person who is under the age of fifteen years; (c) "competent authority" means any authority authorised by the government, by notification in the official gazette, to perform all or any of the functions of the competent authority under this act and for such areas as may be specified therein;5(d) "contractor" means a person who, in relation to a manufacturing process, undertakes to produce a given result by executing the work through contract child labour or who engages child labour for any manufacturing process in a private dwelling house, shop, factory or such establishment and includes a sub-contractor, agent, munshi, thekedar or sattadar or the like, by whatever name called;10(e) "employer" means,—(i) in relation to an establishment the person who or the authority which has the ultimate control over the affairs of the establishment and where the said affairs are entrusted to any other person whether called a manager, managing director, managing agent or by any other name, such person;15(ii) in relation to a dwelling house the head or karta of such family; and(iii) in relation to shop, stall or kiosk the owner of such   shop, stall or kiosk doing business therein; (f) "establishment" means,—(i) a factory; (ii) a mine;20(iii) a plantation; (iv) a shop, stall, kiosk, dhaba, tea stall, hotel or restaurant;(v) an establishment where children are employed for the exhibition of equitation, acrobatic and other performances;25(vi) any place or premises including the precincts thereof or any part in which any manufacturing process connected with the making of goods is being or is ordinarily carried on with the help of  child labour; (g) "fund" means the  working children benefit and rehabilitation fund established under section 8;(h)  "government" means the central government;30(i) "inspector" means an inspector appointed under section 12;4 of 1936(j) "wages" shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in the payment of wages act, 1936353  it shall be the duty of every contractor and employer to send every working child employed by him to a school for getting education as per his calibre during such time, as may be prescribedcompulsory education of working children 4 (1) the government shall open schools and technical education institutions for free education of working children at appropriate places in the country40government to open schools and training institutes for working children(2) the working children attending the school and technical education institutions referred to in sub-section (1) shall be provided with books, writing materials, dress and other relevant articles free of cost by the government5 every employer of a working child shall, at his cost, insure the working child against accidentinsurance against accident of working children6 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the government shall fix the working hours for the working children in any establishment or other place, their other conditions of service and minimum wages to be paid to them by the employersgovernment to fix working hours, conditions of service and minimum wages5punishment for noncompliance7 any employer or any establishment or contractor violating the provisions containedin section 3 or section 5 shall be liable for imprisonment which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees or with both10establishment of working children benefit andrehabilitationfund8 with effect from such date as the government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint, in this behalf, there shall be established a working children benefit and rehabilitation fund, moneys into which shall be given by the government after due appropriation made by parliament, from time to time, and the said fund shall be managed by a board of trustees appointed under section 9| board     ||-----------|| trustees |159 the board of trustees shall have one chairman, who shall be nominated by thegovernment, and as many other members as are required in the opinion of the government, to manage the fund but at least one half of the members shall be elected from the representatives of organisations devoted to safeguarding the interests of working children in the countryapplication of fund2010 the fund shall be spent on the upbringing of the working children through theirfree education at convenient time of the working child and vocational training in some trade or technical apprenticeship through a time bound scheme framed by a competent authorityregional committees11 the provisions of section 10 shall be carried out under the guidance and supervision of the board of trustees who shall constitute regional committees for the effective implementation of the said provisions2512 the government shall appoint as many inspectors, welfare officers and suchother officers and staff as it considers necessary for carrying out the purposes of this actappointment of inspectors etc13 the provisions of this act shall have effect notwithstanding anything contrarycontained in any other law for the time being in forceoverriding effects of the act power to make rules14 the government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act30 statement of objects and reasonsworking children constitute a considerable work force in our country despite various laws prohibiting their employment the constitution of india also prohibits employment of children in hazardous occupations despite all this, millions of children are working in carpet factories, beedi factories, bangles industry, circus, hotels, tea stalls, dhabas, workshops of motor vehicles and cycles, in the agricultural fields and as domestic workers either for their own subsistence or to support their poor families they work under pathetic and unhygenic conditions though they are talented they remain illiterate because they cannot attend schools in some cases they work as bonded labour they are paid meagre wages and in some cases only two time meals and clothes in case of accident or dangerous disease affecting them they are left to fend for themselves they are left to their fate not only by their employers but also by their parents due to their sheer poverty child labour is such a shameful and depressing phenomenon that nobody views it analytically in the same process we overlook the skill, productivity and ingenuity so consistently displayed by the major part of our child population but instead of encouraging them they are forced to work under pathetic conditionsit is true that children must enjoy their childhood, they must get nutritious diet, good education and good atmosphere to grow as responsible citizens of the country but at the same time we have to accept the reality now the time has come to accept the bare truth that we cannot abolish child labour by laws which will certainly enlarge the statute book but certainly cannot discourage child employment so instead of wasting our energy in futile activities of abolition of child labour we must see that it should be made mandatory for the employer of a working child to send him to school at convenient time preferably in the evenings to enable the child to get proper education the child also must be insured against accidents and diseases they must get minimum wages and other benefits prescribed by government on the other hand the government should open schools and training institutes for working children it is proposed for the establishment of a benefit and rehabilitation fund for the benefit of working children which may help the working children to lead a better life and they are settled for a respectable living and avail good working conditionshence this billss ahluwalia financial memorandumclause 4 of the bill provides that government shall open schools and training institutions for working children clause 8 provides for the establishment of a fund clause 9 provides for the constitution of board of trustees clause 11 provide for constitution of regional committees clause 12 provides for appointment of inspectors, etc the bill, if enacted, would involve a recurring expenditure from the consolidated fund of india to the extent of about rupees ten crores per annuma non-recurring expenditure of about rupees two crores is also likely to be incurred from the consolidated fund of india memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 14 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill as the matter will relate to details only, the delegation of legislative power is of normal character________ a billto provide for certain welfare measures to be undertaken by the state and employerof working children and for their rehabilitation through education, training andspecialisation in some trade or vocation and for matters connected therewith________(shri ss ahluwalia, mp)gmgipmrnd—4741rs—(s5)—29-12-2008