The Andhra Pradesh High Court was deeply annoyed by the labour department's claim that there was no child labour in the city and affirmed that it was highly prevalent. A division bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice Ramesh Ranganathan pointed out on Thursday that hundreds of children were working in hotels and automo bile repair shops. The bench was dealing with a writ petition pertaining to implementation of Child Labour Prohibition Act. Justice Ranganathan also asked Advocate General, Mr C.V. Mohan Reddy, to accom pany him to see the small children who work in automobile mechanic shops in King Koti.
However, after claiming that there was no child labour in Greater Hyderabad, the labour department went on to say that it was difficult to curb it because of resistance from locals.
People sympathised with children and those who employed them since it provided a means of livelihood to poor familes, the department said in an affidavit.
The labour commis sioner openly admitted the department's inability in implementing the Child Labour Prohibition Act and said it was trying to curb child labour by booking cases under Minimum Wages Act, which