Bt cotton fields may soon be made out of bounds for children. The Union Labour Ministry, which till date has listed 16 occupations and 65 processes as “hazardous”, is mulling over including Bt cotton fields in the list, following suggestions from various NGOs and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

“While agriculture as a whole cannot be put on the list, as there might be some children working in their own fields, it has now been decided to see if Bt cotton fields fall in the category as majority of children find it lucrative to work in these fields,” said an official.

Before including it in the hazardous list, the ministry has asked the Indian Agricultural Research Institute to carry out a study and suggest if Bt cotton fields are posing a threat to children.

Most of these cotton fields are in Gujarat and Maharashtra and children from adjoining states come there to earn a living. Every year, children from Rajasthan go to Bt cotton farms in Sherpur, Laloda, Ganeshpura, Hasanpura in Gujarat. The pollination time starts in June end and the children stay back till September.

Only after assessing all the parameters, the technical advisory committee, headed by the Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research, will include it in the list of hazardous occupations, prohibiting children below 14 years of age from working in these fields. And any person found engaging children in Bt cotton fields will be penalised.