NEW DELHI: In a controversial labour reform, the government plans to push through an amendment to the Child Labour Prohibition Act in the current session of Parliament, which will allow children below the age of 14 to work in select family enterprises if it doesn't hamper their education.The bill will retain the proposal of a complete ban on child labour in any organisation, big or small, as proposed by the previous government, a senior labour ministry official told ET. "The cabinet will positively take up the amendment to the Child Labour Act this week," the official said. It will be tabled in Parliament soon after.A draft provision in the Child Labour Prohibition Act says the prohibition will not apply if children are helping the family in fields, forests and home-based work after school hours or during vacations, or while attending technical institutions. The new norm will also apply to the entertainment industry and sports except the circus , a proposal by the labour ministry says.Children between 14 and 18 years will not be allowed to work in hazardous industries. According to the labour ministry official, this provision is in conformity with the ILO convention and is therefore likely to sail through even in the Rajya Sabha where the government is in minority."While the provision will especially help poor families where children help in family subsistence, we have enough safeguards to ensure that these children are not forced by families to work in any industry," he said.India has seen a sharp drop in the number of child labourers in the last decade, down to 4.3 million from 12.6 million, according to census data. Industries such as fireworks, matchboxes, footwear and carpet making are the biggest employer of children below the permitted age.The original child labour law banned employment of children below 14 in only 18 hazardous industries, but the UPA government in 2012 proposed to extend the ban to all industries. It also introduced a new category of adolescents — 14 to 18 years — who were banned from hazardous industries, but allowed to work in other sectors.The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Bill, 2012, introduced in the Rajya Sabha, recommended a complete ban on child labour until they finish elementary education, guaranteed under the Right to Education Act.The labour ministry has also finalised the changes to two other archaic laws. "The effort is to push two more legislation in the current session, including the Small Factories Act and amendment to the Employees Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provision Act," the ministry official said.