4 min readNew DelhiJan 12, 2024 05:26 PM IST
First published on: Jan 12, 2024 at 05:26 PM IST
The Delhi High Court recently issued a slew of directions to be followed by the authorities to recover back wages and provide financial assistance in the post-rescue protocol of child labourers in the National Capital.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, in its January 8 order, said that when a rescued child is placed in a childcare/juvenile home under the care of the Delhi Government, a savings bank account shall be jointly opened immediately in the child’s name, along with the superintendent/in-charge of the respective Child Care Institution as the temporary guardian of the child.
“If the parents/guardian of the rescued child are located at any point in time (in future), then subject to due verification and the provision of their bank particulars, the amount of financial assistance shall be transferred by the government electronically within one week from the verification of this information,” the bench said.
In case the rescued child is repatriated to his native place immediately upon rescue, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) will share this information with the Delhi government’s Department of Labour so that information with respect to the bank account opened for the child can be ascertained and recovered back wages shall be transferred to such account within one week of receipt of such information.
Regarding recovery of back wages, the bench said that the labour department shall issue recovery notices to employers within two working days of the child’s rescue.
The inspector, under the Minimum Wages Act or the Payment of Wages Act, shall grant the accused employer/owner two weeks’ time to deposit back wages, the court said. In those cases, where these amounts are not deposited within such a time-frame, the inspector thereafter is to request the CWC to recover the same as fine, the court said.
“It is directed in case back wages are not deposited by the accused employer/owner within the stipulated period of two (2) weeks, recovery certificates shall be issued by the concerned authority and the back wages shall be recovered as arrears of land revenue by the concerned SDM,” the bench further directed.
In cases where the back wages for a particular bonded child labour is recovered, it shall be disbursed to the child or his/her parents/legal guardians in identical procedures as outlined for the Immediate Financial Assistance, the bench said. This disbursal shall be made within one week from such a recovery, it added.
“The concerned authority shall ensure that the actual recovery from the accused employer/owner is completed within three months from the date of issue of recovery certificate. The concerned departments of GNCTD shall ensure strict time-bound compliance of the directions,” the bench ordered.
The high court passed the directions while disposing of two pleas moved by the fathers of two children who have been victims of bonded labour. The petitions sought relief for the minor children of the petitioners as well as similarly placed children who have not received the benefit of financial assistance under the statutory schemes.
The court directed the Delhi government to recover the pending back wages of the 115 children listed in one of the petitions in a time-bound manner in line with these directions.
It also asked the Delhi government to place these directions on its website along with the ‘Standard Operating Procedure For Identification of Bonded Labourers and Release of Immediate Financial Assistance’ approved by the high court in 2018 with regard to a 2017 matter. This 2017 plea related to the omissions of the authorities in preventing bonded labour as well as their failure to rescue bonded labourers from unscrupulous employers.
Regarding recovery of back wages, the bench said that the labour department shall issue recovery notices to employers within two working days of the child’s rescue. (Express file photo) 
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