The newly promulgated Child Labour (Prohibition and Management) Regulation has permitted child labour in non-hazardous sector while the Child Labour Act 2000 prohibits child labour in both hazardous and non-hazardous jobs. According to the 2000 Act, children under 14 years of age are strictly prohibited from undertaking hazardous work like underground work, work related to electricity and sex or working in extreme heights, and it stipulates imprisonment and heavy fine for employing child labour. Though the new regulation has not changed this aspect of the Act, it includes a provision for permission to companies or factories to employ children. But the regulation also states that the children should be provided reasonable salary and facilities as per the government requirement. Besides, there is a provision for various kinds of leaves for child workers including education leave so that their studies are not affected.

Child labour has always existed in Nepal since it has its base in the feudalistic economic system and the socio-economic compulsions facing many poor people in the country leave no other alternative. The guardians, who send their wards to generate extra income for the household, seldom realise the effects of hazardous labour on the health of their wards. Certainly, child labour is not a desirable practice, but in Nepal’s case it is difficult to stop it. By allowing child labour in non-hazardous sector, the regulation has addressed the economic hardship of the low-income families. Social injustice or economic deprivation can hardly be brought to an end by snatching away the means of income from the unfortunate lot. However, while allowing child labour, the state also has to ensure that the child rights enshrined in various laws of the country are protected as well. Right to education, for instance, forms a fundamental right of a child and it has to be upheld first and foremost for the poor children to come out of the vicious circle of poverty.