Kathmandu, January 24

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has directed all the local levels to study the draft of ‘Procedure for Declaration of Local Levels as Child Labour Free Zone-2019’ and send their suggestions and feedback to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security within 15 days.

“The MoFAGA followed up with the local levels seeking their suggestions and feedback on the procedure after most of the municipalities and rural municipalities did not respond to a circular dated November 14,” said Janakraj Sharma, section officer at Local Level Coordination Section of MoFAGA.

The procedure aims to free each local level from the worst form of child labour in a sustainable manner, and make Nepal a child labour-free country. It focuses on child labourers employed at residences, motels, hotels, casinos, restaurants, bars, pubs, resorts, skiing, rafting, cable car, mountaineering, hot air ballooning, golf courses, polo, horse riding, workshop, laboratories, slaughterhouse,s public transport, brick kilns, construction and manufacturing sites.

According to the procedure, a local level may be declared a child labour-free zone on the basis of identification of all children born within the municipality or rural municipality concerned and socioeconomic condition of the family. “Each local level shall conduct various programmes for elimination of child labour. Such programmes include public awareness raising, psycho-social counselling, arrangement of alternative income sources for families of child labourers, skill training for school dropouts of age group between 15 and 18 and signing of an agreement with informal sector for commitment not to force any child into labour,” proposes the draft procedure.