Employment of Children Act, 1991

The Employment of Children Act, 1991 prohibits employing children in certain dangerous jobs and industries, and separately regulates the working conditions of children who are legally employed elsewhere. It defines a "child" as someone under fourteen years of age, and an "adolescent" as someone between fourteen and eighteen (Section 2).

Section 3 is the core prohibition: no child may be employed in any occupation listed in Part I of the Schedule (which covers work connected to transport of passengers/goods/mail, catering work on moving trains, work near railway lines, and work within a port) or in any workshop carrying out a process listed in Part II of the Schedule -- a long list that includes mining, work with dangerous machinery or live electrical wires, leather tanning, pesticide manufacturing, exposure to toxic or carcinogenic chemicals, glass and metal furnace work, sewer work, carpet weaving, ship breaking, and dozens of other hazardous activities. This prohibition does not apply to family businesses employing their own children, or to government-recognised schools. The Federal Government can add new occupations or processes to the Schedule (Section 4), advised by a National Committee on the Rights of the Child (Section 5).

For children legally employed outside the prohibited list, Part III regulates their working conditions: no more than seven hours of work per day including rest breaks, no single work period longer than three hours without an hour's rest, no work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m., no overtime, and a mandatory weekly holiday (Sections 7-8). Employers must notify the local Inspector within thirty days of employing a child (Section 9), maintain a register of child workers (Section 11), display a notice summarising Sections 3 and 14 (Section 12), and comply with health and safety rules covering things like ventilation, machine guarding, and protection from hazardous substances (Section 13).

Section 14 sets out the penalties: employing a child in a prohibited occupation or process can lead to imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to twenty thousand rupees, or both; a repeat offence carries imprisonment of six months to two years. Lesser violations -- like failing to give notice, keep a register, or display the required notice -- carry imprisonment of up to one month or a fine of up to ten thousand rupees, or both. Only a Magistrate of the first class or higher can try these offences (Section 16). The Act repealed the earlier Employment of Children Act, 1938 (Section 21).