CHILD LABOUR
Table One Census Year
(as reported by Census) 1971
1981 1991 2001 2011
The National Child Labour Project (NCLP)
The National Child Labour Project (NCLP), which started its operation in 1988, was an integral part of the National Policy on Child Labour as adopted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment Government of India in 1987.
The policy was multi-dimensional and addressed the complex issues relating to child labour in a comprehensive, holistic and integrated manner. It aimed at eliminating child labour from the country in a phased manner. The action plan under this Policy consisted of:
• A Legal Action Plan, which stressed upon enforcement of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regu- lation) Act 1986 and other labour Acts like Factories Act, 1948, Mines Act, 1952, etc; • Development Programmes to benefit the families of child labourers by inducting them into the existing income generation or employment assistance schemes; and • National Child Labour Projects for areas with a high concentration of child labour.
The National Child Labour Project addressed the issues through the following activities:
• A survey to identify children engaged in hazardous occupations and processes; • Withdrawal of the children from hazardous employment and processes; and • Rehabilitation of children with- drawn from work through special
Child Labour
10.7 million 13.6 million 11.3 million 12.6 million
12.62 million (provisional)
Source: Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India
schools established by the project society.
The NCLP operated through Project Societies formed at the district level with the District Magistrate/ District Collector as the Chairman and an officer to work as Project Director for its implementation.
The Special Schools under NCLP are run by NGOs, local self- government bodies, or directly by the Project Society. The Schools enroll working children from 9 to 14 and are given education for a maximum of three years or until they reach 14. Each Special School, with two educational instructors and one vocational instructor, has provision for 50 children, and are given basic education and vocational training. The teaching volunteers are mainly from the local community and are paid a consolidated wage of Rs. 4000 per month. Until August 2009, the children of NCLP Schools were provided with cooked lunchtime meals, which have now been merged with the midday meal under Sarva Siksha Mission. Every child is paid a stipend of Rs. 150 per month, whereby the amount is deposited in a savings account in the name of the child on a monthly basis, which can be withdrawn only at the time of mainstreaming.
Initially, the NCLP Scheme was introduced in the industry-specific nine child labour-endemic districts, and at present 271 districts are covered under the project.
In West Bengal, under the ministry of the leader Ms Mamata Banerjee, all the 19 districts are covered under the NCLP. Out of 985 sanctioned Special Schools, 963 are functioning with a
120 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Two
total of 47,200 children. It is important that there is no increase in child labour in India as shown in the 2011 Census when compared to the 2001 Census in Table One.
Factors maintaining the child labour force
In spite of the constitutional provisions and various Acts enacted by the Parliament, they have not been successful for various reasons. These include:
• Lack of educational facilities in rural areas. Compulsory education has not been implemented because of the failure to build infrastructure, employment of teachers, and attract- ing more rural children into education. • India carried over a large scale of child labour after independence. In fact, there was no account of the number of child labourers before the 1971 Census. The British regime in pre-independence India did not take any effective steps for promoting education in rural areas, and the avail- ability of educational facilities was so marginal that only few students could take advantage. • Religious conception and the caste system among others were responsible for the lack of interest in education before independence in India. Discouraging girls from an edu- cation in rural areas helped to create a huge female child labour force. • Since poverty and destitution are the main causes behind child labour, labour inspectors are sympathetic to the families. They find themselves in a moral dilemma because parents want their working children to bring some financial relief to them. • The Schools offer no relief. They do not supply food, and little sympathy exists for poor children The government’s policy to supply one meal to poor students was not properly implemented, and children of poor and socially outcast families are treated in discriminatory manners by the teachers and the school authorities.
In a nutshell, we are all responsible for not eliminating child labour from
While boys are more likely to be engaged in the agricultural and industrial sectors, girls can take on domestic service roles.
the soil of India. The International Labour Organization estimates that 215 million children engaged in child labour worldwide in 2008. An estimated 14 per cent of children in India between the ages of 5 and 14 years are involved in child labour activities.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development conducted a study on child abuse, covering 13 states, 12,447 children, 2,324 young adults and 2449 stakeholders. It looked at different forms of child abuse in different evidence groups including children at work. Key findings showed:
• 50.2 per cent of the children worked seven days a week;
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76