The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986

1[1. Short title, extent and commencement.--(1) This Act may be called 2[the Child and AdolescentLabour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986]. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) The provisions of this Act, other than Part III, shall come into force at once, and Part III shallcome into force on such date3as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different States and for different classes ofestablishments.]

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- 1[(i) "adolescent" means a person who has completed his fourteenth year of age but has notcompleted his eighteenth year;] 2[(ia)] "appropriate Government" means, in relation to an establishment under the control of theCentral Government or a railway administration or a major port or a mine or oilfield, the CentralGovernment, and in all other cases, the State Government; 3[(ii) "child" means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age or such age as maybe specified in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (35 of 2009),whichever is more;] (iii) "day" means a period of twenty-four hours beginning at mid-night; (iv) "establishment" includes a shop, commercial establishment, workshop, farm, residentialhotel, restaurant, eating house, theatre or other place of public amusement or entertainment; (v) "family", in relation to an occupier, means the individual, the wife or husband, as the casemay be, of such individual, and their children, brother or sister of such individual; (vi) "occupier", in relation to an establishment or a workshop, means the person who has theultimate control over the affairs of the establishment or workshop; (vii) "port authority" means any authority administering a port; (viii) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under section 18; (ix) "week" means a period of seven days beginning at midnight on Saturday night or such othernight as may be approved in writing for a particular area by the Inspector; (x) "workshop" means any premises (including the precincts thereof) wherein any industrialprocess is carried on, but does not include any premises to which the provisions of section 67 of theFactories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948), for the time being, apply.

1[3. Prohibition of employment of children in any occupations and processes.--(1) No child shallbe employed or permitted to work in any occupation or process. (2) Nothing in sub-section (1) shall apply where the child,-- (a) helps his family or family enterprise, which is other than any hazardous occupations orprocesses set forth in the Schedule, after his school hours or during vacations; (b) works as an artist in an audio-visual entertainment industry, including advertisement, films,television serials or any such other entertainment or sports activities except the circus, subject to suchconditions and safely measures, as may be prescribed: Provided that no such work under this clause shall effect the school education of the Child. Explanation.--For the purposes of this section, the expression, (a) "family" in relation to a child, means his mother, father, brother, sister and fathers sisterand brother and mothers sister and brother; (b) "family enterprises" means any work, profession, manufacture or business which isperformed by the members of the family with the engagement of other persons; (c) "artist" means a child who performs or practices any work as a hobby or professiondirectly involving him as an actor, singer, sports person or in such other activity as may beprescribed relating to the entertainment or sports activities falling under clause (b) ofsub-section (2).]

1[(3A). Prohibition of employment of adolescents in certain hazardous occupations andprocess.No adolescent shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the hazardous occupations orprocesses set forth in the Schedule: Provided that the Central Government may, by notification, specify the nature of the non-hazardouswork to which an adolescent may be permitted to work under this Act.]

The Central Government, after giving by notification in theOfficial Gazette, not less than three months notice of its intention so to do, may, by like notification,1[add to, or, omit from, the Schedule any hazardous occupation or process] and thereupon the Scheduleshall be deemed to have been amended accordingly.