Lok Sabha Question No. 3026 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-06
Subject: Task Force to Examine Maternal Mortality Rate
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Mohanbhai Kalyanji Kundariya, Dipsinh Shankarsinh Rathod

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 3026

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.08.2021

## TASK FORCE TO EXAMINE MATERNAL MORTALITY RATE

## 3026.   SHRI MOHANBHAI KALYANJI KUNDARIYA: SHRI DIPSINH SHANKARSINH RATHOD

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has set up a task force to examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood imperative of lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio, improvement of nutrition levels and related issues;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the movement against child labour is required to be made a public movement; and
- (d) if so, the manner in which it is likely to be made public movement?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a)  &  (b):  A  Task  Force  was  constituted  by  the  Government  vide  notification  dated 4 th June, 2020 to examine the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood with (i) health,  medical  well-being  and  nutritional  status  of  mother  and  neonate/infant/child, during  pregnancy,  birth  and  thereafter,  (ii)  key  parameters  like  Infant  Mortality  Rate (IMR),  Maternal  Mortality  Rate  (MMR),  Total  Fertility  Rate  (TFR),  Sex  Ratio  at  Birth (SRB), Child Sex Ratio (CSR) etc. and (iii) any other relevant points pertaining to health and nutrition  in  this  context  and  to  suggest  measures for  promoting  higher  education among women.

(c)  &  (d):  Child  Labour  is  an  outcome  of  various  socio-economic  problems  such  as poverty,  economic  backwardness  and  illiteracy.  The  Government  has  taken  various steps  for  elimination  of  child  labour  comprising  legislative  measures,  project  based rehabilitation and emphasis on universal elementary education.

Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 has been amended in 2016. The  amended  Act  is  now  called  the  Child  and  Adolescent  Labour  (Prohibition  and Regulation)  Act,  1986  which  inter-alia  provides  for  complete  prohibition  of  work  or employment of children below 14 years of age in any occupation and processes and prohibition of adolescents in the age group of 14 to 18 years in hazardous occupations and processes. The Act also provides for stricter punishment for employers for violation of the Act and has made the offence as cognizable. The Rules framed under the Act, provide  for  District  Nodal  Officer  (DNO)  and  Task  Force  at  district  level  under chairpersonship  of  District  Magistrate  to  ensure  that  the  provisions  of  the  Act  are properly enforced.

In  addition,  Section  370  in  the  Indian  Penal  Code,  1860  defines  trafficking  in persons including children for the purposes of exploitation including physical exploitation, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude etc. as an offence. Further, as per Section 2(14)(ii) the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, children  who  are  found  working  in  contravention  of  labour  laws  for  the  time  being  in force,  have  been  defined  as  children  in  need  of  care  and  protection and  are  entitled to proper  care,  protection,  development  and  rehabilitation  through  the  processes  and institutional set ups provided under the Act.

The  Ministry  of  Labour  and  Employment  is  implementing  the  National  Child Labour Project  (NCLP) Scheme for rehabilitation of  child  labourers.  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  to  provide  bridge  education, vocational training, mid-day meal, stipend, health care, etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system. The children in the age group of 5-8 years are directly linked to the formal education system through a close coordination with the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. An online portal- 'PENCIL (Platform for Effective Enforcement of No Child Labour)' has also been developed for better monitoring.

The steps taken by the Government for abolition of child labour have resulted in reduction of child labour in the age group of 5-14 years in the country from 57.79 lakh in 2001 to 43.53 lakhs in 2011 (as per the figures of 2001 and 2011 census respectively).

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