New Delhi: Taking serious note of the involvement of children under the age of 18 years in the Assembly election campaigns, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said strict action will be taken against the candidates and parties as per rules if any child was found campaigning.

The ECI stated that the Child Welfare Committee had brought to its notice that many candidates were using minors for the election campaigns. “It has been reported that children are often used in multifarious activities by various political parties during the election campaigns, which is in violation of the rights of children,” the ECI said.

According to Election Commission guidelines, the District Election Officers will be personally held responsible for employing children to carry electronic voting machines and other paraphernalia and will be liable to face severe disciplinary action apart from facing the consequences of the law.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights was serious about such activities and therefore no candidate or party should use children below 18 years of age for campaigning. The ECI said legal action would be taken against those who do not follow the instructions.

Child labourers cannot not be used during the election campaign. Instructing all the candidates and political parties to strictly abide by the rules in this regard, the ECI said that child labour was prohibited in campaigning, transportation of campaign materials and election-related activities.

Child Labour Act bans the employment of children in specified occupations such as transport of goods etc. which are considered unsafe to child workers and regulates the conditions of work of children in employment.