Lok Sabha Question No. 5182 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-04-03
Subject: Child Labour in Industries
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5182

TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.04.2023

## CHILD LABOUR IN INDUSTRIES

## 5182. SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU:

Will  the  Minister  of  LABOUR  AND  EMPLOYMENT  be  pleased  to state:

- (a)whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  as  per  Human  Rights Commission,  about  14  million  children  work  as  slaves  in  the country,  including  children  under  14,  which  is  a  clear  violation  of Article 24 of the Constitution that prohibits child labour;
- (b)if so, the steps taken by the Government to identify industries and enterprises that employed child labour;
- (c)whether it is true that most cases of child labour have been found to  be  in  brick  kilns  and  the  bangle  industry,  if  so,  whether  any stringent action has been taken against such employers;
- (d)the details of children found to be employed as child labour during
- the last three years, State-wise; and
- (e)whether the Government proposes to launch a policy to rehabilitate and provide quality education to children employed as child labour?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

- (a) to (c): The  Government  is  following  a  multi-pronged  strategy  for elimination  of  child  labour  comprising  of  statutory  and  legislative measures,  rehabilitation  and  universal  elementary  education  along with convergence with other schemes for socio economic development. The Government has enacted the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 which was amended in 2016.  The amended Act is now called the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition  and Regulation)  [CALPR] Act, 1986. The Act provides for complete  prohibition  of work  or  employment  of  children  below   14 years in any occupation and  process and adolescents in the age group

of  14  to  18  years  in  hazardous  occupations  and  processes.  The amendment  also  provides  for  stricter  punishment  of  employers  for violation of the Act and made the offence as cognizable.

Further,  brick  kilns  have  been  included  in  the  Schedule  Part A of the CALPR Act, 1986, wherein adolescents are prohibited to work  and  children  are  prohibited  to  help.  The  manufacture  of  glass including bangles have been included in the Schedule - Part B covering a list  of  occupations and processes where children are prohibited to help in family or family enterprises (in addition to Part A).

(d): As  per  'Crime  in  India'  a  publication  of  National  Crime Records Bureau, 772, 476 and 613 number of cases were registered during calendar years 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively under Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 in the country. State-wise details are at Annexure.

(e): Ministry  of  Labour  &  Employment  has  been  implementing National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme for rehabilitation of child labourers through District Project Societies under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate.  Under the NCLP scheme, the children in the age  group  of  9-14  years  are  rescued  /  withdrawn  from  work  and enrolled in the NCLP Special Training Centres (STCs), where they are provided  with  bridge  education,  vocational  training,  mid-day  meal, stipend,  health  care,  etc.  before  being  mainstreamed  into  formal education  system.    NCLP  scheme  has  now  been  subsumed  under Samagara Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Scheme with effect from 01.04.2021. Henceforth,  the  recused  child  labourers  will  be  mainstreamed  into formal education system through STC operational under SSA.

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5182 FOR 03.04.2023 BY  SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU REGARDING CHILD LABOUR IN INDUSTRIES

## Number of cases registered under Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, State / Union Territories -wise:

| Sl. No.   | State/UT          |   2019 |   2020 |   2021 |
|-----------|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    |      2 |     37 |     12 |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh |      0 |      1 |      0 |
| 3         | Assam             |     68 |     40 |     78 |
| 4         | Bihar             |     15 |      3 |     14 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      |      2 |      0 |      0 |
| 6         | Gujarat           |     64 |     39 |     40 |
| 7         | Haryana           |     11 |      1 |     12 |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh  |      0 |      1 |      0 |
| 9         | Jharkhand         |     18 |     27 |      5 |
| 10        | Karnataka         |     83 |     54 |     58 |
| 11        | Kerala            |      2 |      0 |      3 |
| 12        | Madhya Pradesh    |      4 |      1 |      5 |
| 13        | Maharashtra       |     53 |     29 |     57 |
| 14        | Meghalaya         |      2 |      0 |      0 |
| 15        | Odisha            |      0 |      0 |      6 |
| 16        | Punjab            |      8 |     11 |      8 |
| 17        | Rajasthan         |     48 |     30 |     19 |
| 18        | Tamil Nadu        |      3 |      2 |     26 |
| 19        | Telangana         |    314 |    147 |    224 |
| 20        | Tripura           |      0 |      1 |      0 |
| 21        | Uttar Pradesh     |      9 |      1 |      1 |
| 22        | Uttarakhand       |     27 |     41 |     25 |
| 23        | West Bengal       |      7 |      3 |      2 |
| 24        | Chandigarh        |      0 |      1 |      7 |
| 25        | Daman &Diu        |      2 |      0 |      0 |
| 26        | Delhi             |     30 |      6 |     11 |
|           | TOTAL             |    772 |    476 |    613 |

Source: Crime in India, National Crime Records Bureau

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