India should ratify Child Labour Convention soon: ILO

A bill to amend Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act is currently before Parliament

ILO is hopeful India will be able to ratify the Child Labour Convention soon, a top official of the UN body has said.

"If India aspire to be a leading country then what they should be aspiring for is to implement the international standards actually. We are hopeful, for example, Child Labour Convention... Would be ratified soon," Tomoko Nishimoto, Assistant DG and Regional Director for Asia and Pacific, ILO told PTI during her recent visit to India.

Nishimoto said a bill to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act is currently before Parliament and India should be able to ratify the ILO's Child Labour Convention once this bill is passed.

The amendment bill proposes a total ban on all forms of child labour up to the age of 14 and a ban on worst forms of child labour involving hazardous work up to the age of 18.

There are a total of eight core or fundamental conventions of the ILO, also called fundamental or human rights conventions.

Of these, India has been able to ratify only Forced Labour Convention, Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, Equal Remuneration Convention and the Discrimination (Employment Occupation) Convention.

However, Freedom of Association and Protection of Right to Organised Convention, Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, Minimum Age Convention, and Worst forms of Child Labour Convention have not been ratified.

Nishimoto said these are very important conventions that allows government or countries to have enough space for good social dialogue.

"There are many examples that freedom of association, democracy, inclusiveness have a very positive co-relations with the economic growth and a sustainable growth," Nishimoto said.