No child's play this

NHRC takes serious view of child labour in West Godavari and directs the district administration to address the issue immediately. The district administration claimed to have achieved total literacy by ensuring that all out-of-school children were sent back to school through a series of anti-child labour drives.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken a serious view of the incidence of child labour in ‘high magnitudes’ reported from West Godavari district.

Responding to a petition filed by a Delhi-based child rights activist, the NHRC directed the State government to address the problem immediately. Ironically, the district had received an award for its outstanding decadal achievement in literacy from the Central government a decade ago.

The district administration claimed to have achieved total literacy by ensuring that all out-of-school children were sent back to school through a series of anti-child labour drives.

No official data “There is no official data on the number of children at work owing to absence of official survey since 1997,” said T.N. Snehan, chairman of the district Child Welfare Committee (CWC). “The number of child labour schools also came down to 13 from 26 in the last decade for want of regular fund flow,” he added.

Child labour is rampant in agriculture and aqua fields, hotels, workshops, shops and other business establishments in the district. Curiously, rehabilitation of child labourers has become difficult, thanks to the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986, which extends relief only to children engaged in works of hazardous nature.

Even as the NHRC has ordered the settlement of the issue within eight months, the district administration is preparing ground for a month-long drive against child labour, beginning October 15. Joint teams of personnel from the National Child Labour Project (NCLP), Sarwa Siksha Abhiyan and District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) will be shortly constituted for raids on workplaces that engage child workers, Mr. Snehan said. The problem of child labour relapsed in the district, as there were no drives since 2007, he added.

LOST IN THE MELEE

No official data regarding the number of child labourers since 1997

Number of child labour schools came down from 26 to 13 in one decade

There is no regular fund flow from the Centre for maintaining child labour schools

WHERE CHILD LABOUR IS RAMPANT…

*Agriculture and aqua fields

*Hotels

*Workshops

ACT BITES

*Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986, extends relief only to children engaged in works of hazardous nature

FOR THE FUTURE

*WG dist. administration will conduct a month-long drive against child labour beginning Oct. 15

*Joint team of personnel from NCLP, SSA and DCPU to be constituted for raids on workplaces engaging children

SOME FACTS

*Child labour has been found to be harmful to the mental and physical growth of children

*The major causes for child labour are poverty and poor economic conditions

*Article 24 of the Indian Constitutions prohibits child labour