PENCiL Portal

• 03 Dec 2024

Source: PIB

The PENCiL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour) portal was launched in 2017 by the Ministry of Labour and Employment to ensure effective enforcement of the provisions of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. 

• Five key components of the portal include: 
  • Central Government 
  • State Government 
  • District Project Societies 
  • Child Tracking System 
  • Complaint Corner 
• Other Initiatives to Curb Child Labour: 
  • Child Labour: Constitutional And Legal Provsions: 
    • Article 24 states that a child under 14 years cannot be employed to perform any hazardous work. 
    • Article 39 states that “the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused”. 
  • Right to Education Act (2009) 
  • Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986) 
  • The Factories Act (1948) 
  • National Policy on Child Labour (1987) 
• International Conventions that India has Ratified: 
  • Minimum Age Convention, 1973 
  • UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) of 1989 
  • The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999.

Read More: Children and Domestic Labour