Programmes for Eradication of Child Labour
The Government is contemplating certain amendments to Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 which includes making penalties more stringent for those who employ child labourers. Accordingly the Ministry of Labour and Employment is implementing National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme in 266 districts of the country for eradication of child labour. Under Grant in Aid Scheme, funds to the extent of 75% of the project cost are released directly to the NGOs for elimination of the child labour in the districts which are not covered under the National Child Labour Project. Apart from this, Government is taking various proactive measures towards convergence of schemes of different Ministries like Ministry of Human Resource Development, Women & Child Development, Urban Housing & Rural Poverty Alleviation, Rural Development, Railway, Panchayati Raj Institutions etc. so that child labour and their families get covered under the benefits of the schemes of these Ministries. Further the Ministry is implementing a pilot Project Converging Against Child labour–support for India’s Model in collaboration with International Labour Organisation funded by US Department of Labour with the objective to contribute to the prevention and elimination of hazardous child labour, including trafficking and migration of child labour. As per 2001 census, the total number of working children between the age group 5-14 years in the country was 1.26 crore. However, as per NSSO survey 2009-10, the working children are estimated at 49.84 lakh which shows declining trend. The State-wise information is given as under:
Sr. No. | Major State all India | Age group 5-14 | ||||
Rural | Urban | |||||
Male | Female | Male | Female | |||
1 | Andhra Pradesh | 88156 | 110191 | 20767 | 15548 | |
2 | Assam | 144655 | 31909 | 11833 | 757 | |
3 | Bihar | 224292 | 38665 | 11017 | 2548 | |
4 | Chhattisgarh | 3669 | 7321 | 636 | 0 | |
5 | Delhi | - | - | 18576 | 0 | |
6 | Gujarat | 150487 | 207973 | 15945 | 16282 | |
7 | Haryana | 22664 | 17471 | 28073 | 3988 | |
8 | Himachal Pradesh | 2300 | 2942 | 2156 | 0 | |
9 | Jammu & Kashmir | 11274 | 16872 | 1139 | 0 | |
10 | Jharkhand | 63684 | 14661 | 4123 | 0 | |
11 | Karnataka | 89796 | 113429 | 20793 | 2479 | |
12 | Kerala | 1182 | 0 | 0 | 1583 | |
13 | Madhya Pradesh | 91454 | 32812 | 57688 | 9063 | |
14 | Maharashtra | 66370 | 127996 | 54230 | 12077 | |
15 | Orissa | 54390 | 38288 | 36522 | 5363 | |
16 | Punjab | 16802 | 6433 | 15664 | 9937 | |
17 | Rajasthan | 93055 | 261871 | 43184 | 7826 | |
18 | Tamil Nadu | 0 | 13880 | 3471 | 0 | |
19 | Uttarakhand | 14810 | 7239 | 3219 | 2103 | |
20 | Uttar Pradesh | 1012294 | 546320 | 147820 | 68899 | |
21 | West Bengal | 357265 | 134657 | 31946 | 27716 | |
all India | 2511101 | 1727271 | 546897 | 198602 |
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