Lok Sabha Question No. 3397 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-05
Subject: Child Abuse
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Chandra Prakash Joshi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3397 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2022

## CHILD ABUSE

## 3397.  SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

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

- (a) The steps taken by the Government in the direction of checking child abuse and child labour in the recent years;
- (b) The  number  of  children  across  the  country  have  been  freed  from  child  labour, State/UT-wise;
- (c) The complaints received of child labour in the roadside dhabas, hotels, institutions etc. in Rajasthan during the last three years; and
- (d) If  so,  the  details  of  action  taken  by  the  Ministry  and  National  Commission  for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) thereon?

## ANSWER

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

(a):  The  Government  has  enacted  the  Protection  of  Children  from  Sexual  Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 to safeguard children against sexual abuse and sexual harassment. The Act defines a child as any person below the age of 18 years. The Act was further amended in 2019 to introduce more stringent punishment including the death penalty for committing  sexual  crimes  on  children,  with  a  view  to  deter  the  perpetrators  &  prevent such crimes against children. The POCSO Rules, 2020 were also notified by the Ministry to protect the children from exploitation/violence and sexual exploitation.

Further,  as  per  information  received  from  the  Ministry  of  Labour,  the  Government  is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to eliminate child labour and has taken comprehensive measures which include legislative  measures,  rehabilitation  strategy,  providing  right  of free education and general socio-economic development so as to eliminate the incidence of child labour. The details of statutory and legislative measures, rehabilitation strategy and education are as under:

- i. Government has enacted the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 which came into force w.e.f. 1.9.2016.
- ii. Framing of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Central Rules
- iii. Framing of model State Action Plan enumerating action points to be taken by respective State Governments and circulation of the same to all Chief Secretaries.
- iv. The Government is implementing the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme for rehabilitation of child labour which has now been subsumed under Samagara Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Scheme.

As  informed  by  the  National  Commission  for  Protection  of  Child  Rights  (NCPCR),  the NCPCR  has  taken  following  steps  in  the  direction  of  checking  child  abuse  and  child labour in recent years:

- i.) Benches/Camps in  Aspirational  Districts  on  the  issues  of  Child  Rights: NCPCR  organized  55  Benches  /  Camps  in  aspirational  districts  of  various States/UTs during 2019-20. The Commission also heard a number of grievances during  its  camps  in  the  districts.  Visits,  Inspections  and  interaction  with  children were also done to understand their concerns.
- ii.) Inter-departmental Review Meeting with the States/UTs: NCPCR organized 35 online  meetings  with  all  States/UTs  during  October-November  2020  The  issue  of maximum implementation  of  the  provisions  of  the  POCSO  Act  and  awareness  on child marriage cases was also covered.
- iii.) Cognizance  on  the  issue  of  Mass  Marriages  on  Akshay  Tritiya :   The Commission has observed that Akshay Tritiya or Akha Teej has been celebrated in  various  parts  of  India  as  a  day  of  good  fortune  and  a  large  number  of  child marriages  are  solemnized  on  this  day  in  various  States  of  the  country.  In  this regard,  the  Commission  requested  Principal  Secretaries  of  Women  and  Child Development Department of twenty two States/UTs vide letter dated 07.04.2022, to  direct  District  Magistrates/Child  Marriage  Prohibition  Officers  of  all  districts  to conduct activities, such as  awareness programmes at village, panchayat, block, urban/ward, zila tehsil level; conduct meetings regarding awareness programmes on Child Marriage with Child Development Project Officer (CDPOs), Child Welfare Committees  (CWC),  Child  Welfare  Protection  Officers  (CWPO),  Anganwadi Workers, and religious priests.

Every year the Commission also issues fresh directives to the concerned Departments of States/UTs to remain vigilant during Akshay Tritiya

- iv.)  Further,  directions  were  also  issued  to District  Magistrates  of  these States and virtual meetings were held during 21st April to 24th May, 2022 to review the status of activities conducted by the authorities of each district of the State.
- v.) The NCPCR conducted Child Labour Rescue Operations for observing and collecting the evidences of incidences of child labour through structured visits on the occasion  of  World  Day  Against  Child  Labour  from  12th  to  20th  June,  2022  to commemorate  the  75  years  of  independence  of  India  under  the  'Azadi  ka  Amrit Mahotsav'. The rescue operations were undertaken at scrap and automobile markets across 41 districts. NCPCR officials along with the State Commission for Protection of  Child  Rights  officers,  local  authorities  from  the  Sub-Divisional  Magistrate  office, Labour  Department  officials,  Child  Welfare  Committees,  district  child  protection officer,  district  programme  officer,  Special  Juvenile  Police  Units,  Delhi  State  Legal Services  Authority,  Task  Force  Officers,  Volunteers  of  National  Service  Scheme/ National  Cadet  Corps,  Police  officers  and  Local  NGO  personnel  rescued  children from the scrap & automobile markets. The rescue operations were conducted in 75 locations spanning over 41 districts in 18 States.
- vi.)  Prepared  a  draft  Standard  Operating  Procedure  (SOP)  for  Rescue  and  Post Rescue of Child Labour.
- vii.)  Developed  Management  Information  System  (MIS)  Portal  to  call  for  quarterly reports  from  authorities  regarding  violation  of  child  rights  under  various  Acts. Information  regarding  child  labour  cases  is  also  reported  on  this  portal  by  all States/UTs.
- (b):  As  per  the  information  received  from  the  Ministry  of  labour,  the  number  of  child labourers/ beneficiaries rescued/ withdrawn from work, rehabilitated and mainstreamed under National Child Labour Project Scheme (NCLP) in the last three years, State-wise, is at Annexure-I

(c)  &  (d):  As  per  the  information  received  from  National  Commission  for  Protection  of Child Rights (NCPCR), NCPCR has received 19 complaints of child labour engaged in various  establishments  /  institutions  from  the  State  of  Rajasthan  during  the  last  three years.

NCPCR has taken cognizance under section 13(1)(j) of Commission for Protection of  Child  Rights  (CPCR)  Act,  2005  on  the  complaints  received  on  child  labour.  The Commission  is  also  taking  action  on  these  cases  to  ensure  that  the  children  get compensation that they are entitled to and are rehabilitated and repatriated to their native States.

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## ANNEXURE-I

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN PART (B) OF REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3397 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2022 ASKED BY SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI INDICATING NO. OF CHILDREN / BENEFICIARIES, RESCUED / WITHDRAWN FROM WORK, REHABILITATED AND MAINSTREAMED UNDER NCLP SCHEME DURING 2017-18 TO 2021-22.

| Sl. No.   | State          | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2019-2020   | 2020-2021   | 2021-22*   |
|-----------|----------------|-----------|-----------|-------------|-------------|------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh | 203       | 778       | 1049        | 622         | 885        |
| 2         | Assam          | 915       | 4562      | 6175        | 2800        | NA         |
| 3         | Bihar          | 2800      | --        | --          | --          | --         |
| 4         | Gujarat        | 187       | 101       | 341         | 531         | --         |
| 5         | Haryana        | NA        | 171       | NA          | NA          | NA         |
| 6         | Jharkhand      | 2014      | 1225      | 2940        | 3239        | NA         |
| 7         | Karnataka      | 679       | 763       | 363         | 275         | 263        |
| 8         | Madhya Pradesh | 11400     | 4910      | 4010        | 29179       | 2237       |
| 9         | Maharashtra    | 5250      | 8122      | 9337        | 2031        | 2110       |
| 10        | Odisha         | NA        | NA        | 6           | 495         | 15         |
| 11        | Punjab         | 994       | 915       | 483         | 1307        | 4867       |
| 12        | Rajasthan      | 105       | NA        | 1712        | NA          | 86         |
| 13        | Tamil Nadu     | 2855      | 2534      | 3928        | 1456        | 2586       |
| 14        | Telangana      | 2137      | 935       | 214         | 300         | 222        |
| 15        | Uttar Pradesh  | NA        | 8020      | 10371       | 9383        | NA         |
| 16        | West Bengal    | 17899     | 17137     | 13879       | 6671        | NA         |
| 17        | Uttarakhand    | NA        | NA        | 62          | --          | --         |
| 18        | Nagaland       | 197       | 111       | 24          | --          | --         |
|           | Total          | 47,635    | 50,284    | 54,894      | 58,289      | 13,271     |