Lok Sabha Question No. 3613 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-20
Subject: Eradication of Child Labour
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Prasun Banerjee, Manne Srinivas Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3613 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2021

## ERADICATION OF CHILD LABOUR

3613. SHRI PRASUN BANERJEE: SHRI MANNE SRINIVAS REDDY:

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

- (a)the details of the laws to stop child labour in the country;
- (b)whether any survey has been made by the Government to find out the  number of child labourers in the country, if so, the details for 2019-20 and 2020-2021;
- (c)whether the Government is aware of the increase of child labour in the Country; if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d)the steps taken/being taken to completely eradicate child labour in the Country with some action plan in coordination with States?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)  to  (c):    The  Government  amended  Child  Labour  (Prohibition  & Regulation)  Act,  1986  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.    Further,  the  Act  empowers  the District  Magistrate  to  implement  the  provisions  of  the  Act.  As  such, the  data  pertaining  to  Child  Labour  in  the  country  is  not  maintained centrally by this Ministry.

As  per  'Crime  in  India,  2020'  a  publication  of  National Crime Records Bureau,  770 and 476  number of cases were registered during  calendar  year  2019  and  2020  respectively  under  Child  and Adolescent  Labour  (Prohibition  and  Regulation)  Act,  1986,    in  the country. State -wise details are Annexed.

- (d): The Government  is pursuing multipronged 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  the  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 Child Labour (Prohibition and Amendment Central Rules
- Regulation)
- (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.

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ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3613 FOR 20.12.2021 SHRI PRASUN BANERJEE SHRI MANNE  SRINIVAS  REDDY  REGARDING  'ERADICATION  OF  CHILD LABOUR.'

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

| Sl.No.   | State/UT          |   2019 |   2020 |
|----------|-------------------|--------|--------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |      2 |     37 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |      0 |      1 |
| 3        | Assam             |     68 |     40 |
| 4        | Bihar             |     15 |      3 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |      2 |      0 |
| 6        | Gujarat           |     64 |     39 |
| 7        | Haryana           |     11 |      1 |
| 8        | Himachal Pradesh  |      0 |      1 |
| 9        | Jharkhand         |     18 |     27 |
| 10       | Karnataka         |     83 |     54 |
| 11       | Kerala            |      2 |      0 |
| 12       | Madhya Pradesh    |      4 |      1 |
| 13       | Maharashtra       |     53 |     29 |
| 14       | Meghalaya         |      2 |      0 |
| 15       | Punjab            |      8 |     11 |
| 16       | Rajasthan         |     48 |     30 |
| 17       | Tamil Nadu        |      3 |      2 |
| 18       | Telangana         |    314 |    147 |
| 19       | Tripura           |      0 |      1 |
| 20       | Uttar Pradesh     |      9 |      1 |
| 21       | Uttarakhand       |     27 |     41 |
| 22       | West Bengal       |      5 |      3 |
| 23       | Chandigarh        |      0 |      1 |
| 24       | Daman &Diu        |      2 |      0 |
| 25       | Delhi             |     30 |      6 |
|          | TOTAL             |    770 |    476 |

Source: National Crime Records Bureau

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