Lok Sabha Question No. 2227 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-02
Subject: Child Labour
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Prataprao Govindrao  Patil Chikhalikar, Ramesh Bidhuri

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2227

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.08.2021

## CHILD LABOUR

†2227. SHRI PRATAPRAO PATIL CHIKHLIKAR: SHRI RAMESH BIDHURI:

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

- (a)whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  review  in  regard  to child labour and if so, the details thereof and the number of cases of child  labour  brought  to  light  in  the  country  along  with  the  action taken thereon;
- (b)whether there is an increase in cases of child labour in the country due  to  Covid-19  pandemic  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the reasons therefor;
- (c)the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  stop  child labour?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c): Child  Labour  is  an  outcome  of  various  socio-economic problems such as poverty, economic backwardness and illiteracy. As per Census 2011, the number of main workers in the age group of 5-14 years in the country is 43.53 lakhs.

The Government has taken various steps for elimination of based child labour comprising legislative measures, project rehabilitation and emphasis on universal elementary education.

Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 has been amended in the 2016.  The amended Act is now called the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 which interalia  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.

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 914 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.

Ministry  of  Labour  and  Employment    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.

As per the information received from National Crime Records  Bureau,  the  latest  published  data  pertains  to  2019,  and according to which 770 number of cases were registered under Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 during 2019, in the country.

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