Lahore DCO, CCPO to enforce child labour ban

Employers asked to report on tasks assigned to children by Aug 12

LAHORE: The provincial government has nominated the Lahore DCO and the CCPO as inspectors to implement the Punjab Restriction on Employment of Children Ordinance of 2016 in Lahore from August 14.

The law bans employment of children below the age of 15 and restricts employment of children between 15 and 18 years of age for non-hazardous tasks only.

Assistant commissioners and ASPs and DSPs have been authorised to enforce the law at the tehsil and circle levels, respectively.



The decisions were announced at a meeting held on Friday. Lahore DCO Capt (r) Muhammad Usman said strict enforcement of the law would be ensured from August 14.

He said a comprehensive crackdown would be launched against those employing children under the age of 15. He said all manufacturing units, industries, workshops, businesses and charities or welfare organisations would be inspected for the purpose.

The meeting reviewed provisions of the new law and powers delegated to the authorities and devised a strategy to ensure effective implementation of the law.

In a directive issued in connection with the law, DCO Usman has asked all industries and businesses to refrain from hiring children under the age of 15 years. He said violators of the ban could be imprisoned from seven days to six months, fined between Rs10,000 and Rs50,000 and their businesses sealed for up to a week.

The DCO gave the businesses till August 12 to submit a report to the assistant commissioners concerned on tasks assigned to children between the ages of 15 and 18 years employed at their premises. He said those who failed to maintain this record and submit a report in this regard could face one-month prison term or Rs10,000 fine or both. The prison term could extend up to five years for repeat offenders.



Jobs categorised as hazardous under the new law and banned for children in 15-18 age group include those related to transport of passengers, goods or mail; catering at a railway station, movement of the vendor or any employee from one platform to another or into or out of a moving train; construction work at a railway station or any other work done in close proximity to or between the railway lines, at a port authority, underground mines and on ground quarries including blasting tasks; power-driven cutting machinery like saws, shears, guillotines, agricultural machines, thrashers, fodder cutting machines, live electrical wires over 50 volts; all operations related to leather tanning processes such as soaking, dehairing, liming, chrome tanning, deliming, pickling, defleshing, ink application; mixing and manufacture of pesticides and insecticides and fumigation; sandblasting and other such work involving exposure to free silica; exposure to toxic, explosive and carcinogenic chemicals eg asbestos, benzene, ammonia, chlorine, manganese, cadmium, sulphur dioxide, phosphorus, benzidenedyes, isocyanates, carbon tetrachloride, carbon disulphide, epoxy resins, formaldehyde, metal fumes, heavy metals like nickel, mercury chromium, lead arsenic, beryllium, fiber glass; exposure to cement dust in cement industry; exposure to coal dust; manufacturing and sale of fireworks and explosives; sites where liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG) is filled in cylinders; glass and metal furnaces and glass bangles manufacturing; weaving, printing, dyeing and fishing sections; sewer pipelines, pits and storage tanks; stone crushing; lifting and carrying of heavy weight (15kg and above) specially in transport industry; carpet weaving; scavenging including that of hospital waste; tobacco processing and manufacturing including niswar and biri making; deep-sea fishing, commercial fishing and processing of fish and seafood; sheep casing and wool industry; ship breaking; surgical instruments’ manufacturing; spice grinding; boiler house; cinemas, mini cinemas and cyber clubs; mica-cutting and splitting; shells manufacturing; soap manufacturing; wool cleaning; building and construction industry; manufacturing of slate pencils including packing; and manufacture of products from agate.



The law specifies that children employed for non-hazardous tasks should to work in three-hour shifts. It says children could work for no more than six hours in a day. It adds that work hours should not overlap school timings, there should be a day off from work every week and weekly days off should not be changed more than once a month.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2016.