Three years after the employment of children as domestic workers and in eateries was banned, 128 children were rescued from these two sectors in Delhi. According to estimates by NGOs, there are more than 50,000 children employed in the two sectors in the capital.

Pratidhi, a Delhi-based NGO working for child rights, obtained this data last month from the department of women and child welfare in response to RTI applications. 

According to the information obtained, 23 challans were filed in the domestic sector and 113 in the eating sector under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986.
Currently, 16 occupations and 65 processes are prohibited under the Act.

Employment of children as domestic workers and in eating joints was added in the Act through a notification in October 2006. It attracts imprisonment for three months or a fine of Rs 10,000.
Penalties were imposed only in five cases where the children were found working as domestic help.
“To put a ban on child labour is one thing and implementing the ban is another,” said Raajmangal Prasad, chairman, Pratidhi.