Child Labour (Prohibition and Management) Regulation allows child labour only for those in the 14-16 age group, and that too, only in the non-hazardous sector. The Child Labour Act 2000 prohibits children below 14 years from working under both hazardous and non-hazardous conditions. But if we go by the Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre’s (CWIN) report on ‘Child labour in transportation sector in Nepal’ one finds that 43.69 per cent of the total workforce of Kathmandu Valley’s transport sector — generally considered to be hazardous — are children out of which 28 per cent are below 14 years. The new regulation permits child labour with certain conditions, such as non-hazardous environment. However, unscrupulous employers continue to exploit the underprivileged children for personal gains. According to CWIN, children are working in more than 5,000 public vehicles in the Kathmandu Valley alone, that too, for 12 hours a day on an average. Moreover, the working conditions are poor and children are prone to accidents. As most of these children are illiterate they lack the bargaining power with their employers and hence agree to work for less than Rs. 1,000 per month on an average. Sixty-six per cent of them have to support their families while 80 per cent are from outside the Valley, meaning the additional burden of paying house rent.

The CWIN study is ample proof that merely formulating constitutional provisions, making policies and allocating budget for a certain cause are of no use unless the policy is translated into real action. As the government cannot provide alternative arrangements for such children, employing children is not a bad idea provided that they are given suitable work, adequate compensation and a favourable work and education environment. To discourage exploitation of children the guilty must immediately be brought to book, otherwise the government’s target of eliminating worst forms of child labour by 2009 will remain a dream unfulfilled.