Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Minimum Age (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1937 (No. 59) - Bangladesh (Ratification: 1972)

Application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the information provided by the Government on the various measures taken for the effective abolition of child labour, as well as the adoption of a list of 38 types of hazardous work prohibited to children under 18 years of age. In addition, free school books and financial assistance in the form of stipends or tuition fees were provided by the Government which benefitted a total of 3,250,563 children. The Committee further noted the Government’s information on the impact of these measures, such as an increase in the net enrolment rate at the primary level and a decrease in the primary school drop-out rate. The Committee, however, noted that according to the Child Labour Survey of 2013, of the 3.45 million children between 5 and 17 years who were working, 1.7 million children were involved in child labour with the manufacturing sector dominating (33.3 per cent in child labour). It urged the Government to strengthen its efforts to eliminate child labour in the sectors covered by the Convention.

The Committee notes with interest the Government’s information in its report that six sectors were declared child labour free in February 2021, such as the tannery, glass, ceramic, ship recycling, export oriented leather goods and footwear and silk sectors, in addition to the garment and shrimp sectors which was earlier declared as child labour free. The Committee also notes the Government’s information that in order to improve labour inspection, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) was restructured and upgraded by increasing the number of inspectors to 575 and establishing new offices in 23 districts and by increasing the budget by 452 per cent in the fiscal year 2020–21. The Government also indicates that in 2020-21, a total of 47 in-house training programmes for labour inspectors were organized with a participation of about 988 inspectors. During 2020-2021, a total of 47,361 inspection visits were carried out by the DIFE, and a total of 1421 cases were filed against the employer, of which 98 cases were related to the violation of section 34 (prohibition of employment of children and adolescent) of the Employment Act. Moreover, with the assistance of the ILO, a mobile and web-based application namely “Labour Inspection Management Application (LIMA)” has been developed and around 8367 inspections were carried out in 2020-2021 using this application.

The Committee also notes from the draft National Plan of Action (NPA) for the Elimination of Child Labour 2021-25 document that the Seventh Five year Plan (SFYP) 2016-20 under its inclusion strategy addresses child labour and calls for effective measures to reduce child labour. The Committee takes due note of the information that the Ministry of Labour and Employment has also identified actions beyond SFYP, which include the preparation for the ratification of the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138). The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to eliminate child labour in the sectors covered by the Convention, including through strengthening the capacities of the labour inspectors in identifying and monitoring child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the concrete measures taken within the framework of the NPA for the Elimination of Child Labour 2021-25 and the results achieved. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide updated statistical information on the extent of child labour in the sectors covered by this Convention, as well as on the practical application of the Convention, including reports of inspection services, number and nature of violations reported and penalties applied.