The survey, the second stand-alone national child labour study after the first in 1995-1996, included the 5-17 age group as the child population.

Saifur accused BBS officials of not considering the country's socio-economic condition in preparing the survey, conducted by the BBS and the International Labour Organisation.

"In my view, people at age 17 are not children," he said, addressing the launch of a seminar on findings of the survey.

With the inclusion of people of the 5-17 age bracket as children, Bangladesh's number of children now stands at 42 percent of the total population.

He said the survey would send a misleading signal and create setbacks in the basic economic management that depends on survey data.

He said any departure from the practical situation might earn the country a bad name on the international front, especially among development partners.

"Who has prepared this survey and what modalities have they followed?" the minister snapped, adding the survey would portray Bangladesh as a country of child labour.

"It (the survey) should be modified taking into consideration the real life scenario," he felt.

The inaugural session of the seminar, organised at the Parishankhayan Bhaban, was also addressed by, among others, Planning Division Secretary M Fazlur Rahman and BBS Director General AKM Musa.