NAZIM MOHAMMED does not know what he should do today. Neither, it seems, does the Indian Government. For the past two years the 12-year-old has worked at the Imran Khan Food Corner in Delhi, cleaning dishes and chopping meat to help to pay for the education of his five siblings back home in Bengal.

But under a new ban that came into force at midnight, children under 14 can no longer be employed in private households, hotels, restaurants, cafes and tea-shops.

“What can I do? I will just have to find another job somewhere illegally,” Nazim said. “Things are not so good at home, so I have to work to support myself and my family.”

The Government hopes that Nazim will return to school and that the widespread exploitation of child workers in India will be curtailed. Some 12 million children are employed in this country of 1.1 billion people, according to the latest census figures, and activists say that the real number could be as much as five times that. The last census also showed that about 65 million Indian children aged between 6 and 14 did not attend school.

The Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act 1986 forbids employing children under 14 in “hazardous” jobs such as making fireworks or working in mines and slaughterhouses. Employers face a prison term of up to two years and/or a fine of up to 20,000 rupees (£235) if found guilty.

In August the Government announced that it was broadening the definition of “hazardous” to include most places employing children. Most controversially, the ban covers private homes, millions of which have child servants known simply as chothu (little boy) or chothi (little girl).

Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, urged the country yesterday to comply with the amendment to the law. “Let us create a moral force to build our country free of child labour, paving the way for children enjoying the right to education,” he said.

Critics say that the original 1986 law is poorly enforced and that the new ban will be equally ineffective unless it is accompanied by strict policing and a government programme to rehabilitate child workers.

The Government insists that it will use existing infrastructure to accommodate child workers and has ordered its 29 states to prepare to house them. It has also launched a nationwide multi-media campaign to raise awareness of the ban and the potential penalties. “Don’t deny them their childhood!” national newspaper advertisements warn.

Unicef and most labour activists have welcomed the ban, which they hope will curb the widespread violent, and often sexual, abuse of child labourers. Many activists doubt, however, that it will take effect for years because of the widely held belief that child labourers would starve without work.

“These children don’t work for pleasure, but because they have to,” said Imran Khan, the owner of the café where Nazim works for about 1,500 rupees a month — half of what an adult would earn. “If the Government is going to clamp down on child labour, it must offer them an alternative.” And Nazim, who loses his only source of shelter and income today, seems to agree.

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