Eateries thrive on child labour

A MiD DAY sting finds famous restaurant chains such as Adigas and Nandhini Palace employing children for backbreaking labour

Eateries thrive on child labour

A MiD DAY sting finds famous restaurant chains such as Adigas and Nandhini Palace employing children for backbreaking labour

Children under 14 are toiling away at eateries run by the president of the Bangalore Hoteliers' Association, Vasudeva Adiga, and his family.

Other well-known restaurants, such as Nandhini and Indraprastha, also flout the law against child labour without a care.

But MiD DAY's reality check on June 10 showed his family-run group Adigas exploiting children. The family owns some 20 eateries across the city.

Cleaning chore

At Adiga Vijaya, a Darshini-type restaurant on R V Road, we found at least 10 children cleaning tables, sweeping floors, washing plates and doing other chores. The joint is run by Vasudeva Adiga's brother, Ganesh Adiga.

"I don't know my age," said a boy collecting coffee cups. "But my father has asked me to say 15 years."

No certificates

According to the Child Labour (Prevention and Regulation) Act 1986, a child above 14 can be employed.
However, the employer must get proof of age and a health certificate of the child before recruiting him. None of the restaurants we visited showed such certificates.

A manager of Indraprastha, a popular restaurant in Vijayanagar, said, "Yes, we know we have to have the certificates but we have not got them from the children. Next time you come here, I may be able to show them."

The rules say such employers must maintain attendance registers. Most restaurants didn't maintain them, and in some cases, names were missing. For instance, a boy working in Indraprastha said his name was Hanumantha but the manager could not show his name in the register.

"There are some loopholes in the law and hoteliers are taking advantage of it," said Vasudeva Sharma, chairman of Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

Loopholes

While the Child Labour (Prevention and Regulation) Act 1986 and Apprentice Act 1961 allow a child above 14 to work, the Contract Act bars a person below 18 to enter into any contract.

"In such cases, hoteliers employ children and deny them the labour rights they are entitled to under the Contract Act," Sharma added.

At Nandhini Palace near Minarva Circle, we found some 10 underage children in a corner near the kitchen.

Most were from Nepal and the manager said he didn't knowu00a0 their age. He didn't even know that the hotel had to keep certificates with proof of their age.

"You have to speak to the senior manager about this. Maybe he knows," he said.

Cheap labour

A senior employee in the hotel said the management preferred children as it was easy to get work from them cheap.u00a0

H S Uttappa, joint commissioner, minor wages and child labour, said: "We are taking measures to prevent this. But, we know it is rampant. I appeal to the public to bring it to our notice so that we can curb it."

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