CRY to the rescue of child labourers

It succeeds in making 83 villages in A.P., TS child labour free. The approach of CRY had been holistic development. According to Ms. Suma, social transformation cannot take place overnight.

Child Rights and You (CRY) has managed to make 83 villages across the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana child labour free.

Addressing media persons here on Wednesday, Regional Director of CRY (south) Suma Ravi said A.P. and Telangana together rank sixth in child labour concentration in India, after Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Rajasthan. Both the states together house 14.7 per cent of the country’s child labour.

Giving details on the impact and strategy, she said CRY had identified about 675 districts across India and of them 200 were marked as critical districts. “In A.P. we have identified about 10 critical districts and around 19 blocks and 481 villages in Telangana. And we have managed to ensure 4,620 children, covering 83 villages, were mainstreamed back into schools in these states,” said Ms. Suma.

The approach of CRY had been holistic development. According to Ms. Suma, social transformation cannot take place overnight. “We need to address many things such as livelihood of parents, access to schools and community level participation. And that is what we have been doing in these villages, and will carry forward the same model to all identified critical districts,” she told

The Hindu .

CRY’s AP head Peter Suneel said children amount for 5.5 per cent of the total labour force in A.P., against the national average of 4 per cent. And in total there are 1.66 million child labourers in A.P., with 91.1 per cent working in rural areas and remaining concentrated in urban areas. He also said the dropout percentage in secondary level was 45.7 per cent and 15.6 per cent in the elementary level.

According to Ms. Suma, for the scenario to change, Parliament has to bring out a strong legislation banning child labour. “Right now the legislation bans children under 14 years from hazardous job, but we demand a total ban till the age of 18 years. And the government has to focus more on generating livelihood for the parents,” she said.

The CRY representatives were of the opinion that the child trafficking in A.P. is an organised set-up and enforcement has to become more vigilant and stricter.