DHAKA, 5 February, 2021 (TON): The government has declared the six sectors, including tannery, ceramic, glass, ship re-cycling and export-oriented leather, silk and footwear free from child labor, in an announcement made during a press conference held at the Shrama Bhaban in Dhaka on Thursday.

Bangladesh State Minister for Labor, Monnujan Sufian made the announcement.

.She said, a large number of children, however, are still working at undervest factories in Keraniganj.

The ministry will ask the district administration to take initiative to stop child labor there, the state minister said.

“Child labor must be stopped in Keraniganj,” she said.

In October last year, the government gave tasks to ten ministries and departments identifying nine key strategic fields to end the child labor. 

A National Monitoring Core Committee was formed to declare some sectors free from child labor in order to get rid of the menace gradually, following the decisions taken at the seventh meeting of the National Council for Child Labour Welfare on 29 January, 2019 and considering the recommendation of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, The owners of six sectors then claimed they do not use child labor.

The National Monitoring Core Committee while visiting the factories of these sectors in November and December last year found the owners’ claim to be true, said Monnujan.

The Labor Act states that no one below the age of 14 can be employed as a factory worker, but children aged between 14 and 18 can do light work that is not risky.

Around 1.28 million children are engaged in risky labor, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Committees were also formed at national, divisional, district and Upazila levels, and also the Child Labor Policy made by the government in 2010 ensured their proper growth by bringing them under educational programs and social safety net.

Two years later, it took a national work-plan to eradicate child labor and after another year, it published a list of jobs risky for children.

Considering the ongoing efforts of the team, it is likely to say that the country may be able to be free from child labor by 2025 in line with the sustainable developmental goals.