Lok Sabha Question No. 2103 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-02
Subject: Impact of Covid-19 on Child Labour
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Geetha Viswanath Vanga, Manne Srinivas Reddy, Komati Reddy Venkat Reddy, Kotha Prabhakar  Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2103

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.08.2021

## IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON CHILD LABOUR

2103. SHRIMATI VANGA GEETHA VISWANATH:

SHRI MANNE SRINIVAS REDDY:

SHRI KOMATI REDDY VENKAT REDDY:

SHRI KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY:

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

- (a)whether the details of the true extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child labour are yet to be measured but all indications show that it would be significant as children are unable to attend school and parents are unable to find work;
- (b)if so, the details thereof;
- (c)whether  it  is  true  that  not  all  the  factors  that  contribute  to  child labour  were  created  by  the  pandemic,  most  of  them  were  preexisting and have been exposed or amplified by it; and
- (d)if so, the details thereof along with the corrective steps being taken by  the  Government  in  this  regard,  State/UT-wise  including  Andhra Pradesh and Telangana?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (d): COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all section of the society including  children.      Child  Labour  is  an  outcome  of  various  socioeconomic  problems  in  the  country.    The  Government  is  following  a multi-pronged  strategy  for  elimination  of  child  labour  comprising  of legislative  measures,  project-based  rehabilitation  and  emphasis  on universal elementary education.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 has been amended in 2016. The amended Act is now called the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986,   which interalia  provides    for  complete  prohibition  of    work  or  employment  of children  below  14  years  of  age  in  any  occupation  or  process  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.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment is also 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  its better monitoring.

Ministry  of  Labour  and  Employment  also  decided  to  relax the  norms  in  respect  of  functioning  of  the  Special  Training  Centres, and  the  financial  grants  under  National  Child  Labour  Project  from April'20  to  Sept'20  were  released  with  relaxed  norms  in  view  of  the

COVID-19 pandemic.

The  Number  of  children  rescued/withdrawn  from  work, rehabilitated  and  mainstreamed  under  National  Child  Labour  Project (NCLP)  Scheme  since  2017-18,  State-wise,  including  Andhra  Pradesh and Telangana, is placed at Annexure.

*                                                    ******

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.2103  FOR  02.08.2021  BY  SHRIMATI  VANGA  GEETHA VISWANATH, SHRI MANNE SRINIVAS REDDY, SHRI KOMATI REDDY VENKAT REDDY, SHRI KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY REGARDING 'IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON CHILD LABOUR'

No.  of  children  rescued/withdrawn  from  work,  rehabilitated  and  mainstreamed  under National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme since 2017-18, State-wise:

| Sl. No.   | State          | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2019-2020   | 2020-2021   |
|-----------|----------------|-----------|-----------|-------------|-------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh | 203       | 778       | 1049        | 622         |
| 2         | Assam          | 915       | 4562      | 6175        | 2800        |
| 3         | Bihar          | 2800      | 0         | 0           | 0           |
| 4         | Gujarat        | 187       | 101       | 341         | 531         |
| 5         | Haryana        | 0         | 171       | 0           | 0           |
| 6         | Jharkhand      | 2014      | 1225      | 2940        | 3239        |
| 7         | Karnataka      | 679       | 763       | 363         | 275         |
| 8         | Madhya Pradesh | 11400     | 4910      | 4010        | 29179       |
| 9         | Maharashtra    | 5250      | 8122      | 9337        | 2031        |
| 10        | Odisha         | 0         | 0         | 6           | 495         |
| 11        | Punjab         | 994       | 915       | 483         | 1307        |
| 12        | Rajasthan      | 105       | 0         | 1712        | 0           |
| 13        | Tamil Nadu     | 2855      | 2534      | 3928        | 1456        |
| 14        | Telangana      | 2137      | 935       | 214         | 300         |
| 15        | Uttar Pradesh  | 0         | 8020      | 10371       | 9383        |
| 16        | West Bengal    | 17899     | 17137     | 13879       | 6671        |
| 17        | Uttarakhand    | 0         | 0         | 62          | 0           |
| 18        | Nagaland       | 197       | 111       | 24          | 0           |
|           | Total          | 47,635    | 50,284    | 54,894      | 58,289      |

*****