A total of 2,437 child or adolescent labourers were rescued during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data provided by the Labour Ministry to the Lok Sabha on Monday.
In response to a question by Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi, Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply that data on the number of FIRs registered under the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 was “not maintained centrally”, but information had been received from various States and Union Territories. Seven states and UTs registered a total of 114 FIRs in 2020, it said. Gujarat had reported 56 FIRs under the Act, followed by Rajasthan (19), Punjab (18), Madhya Pradesh (13), Chandigarh (five), Karnataka (two) and Uttar Pradesh (one).
The reply said 2,114 child and adolescent labourers had been rescued in Uttar Pradesh “during COVID-19”, followed by 122 in Punjab, 94 in Madhya Pradesh, 54 in Gujarat, 26 in Chandigarh, 25 in Rajasthan and two in Karnataka.
In another reply, the Ministry said 1,14,30,968 migrant workers had returned to their home States during the lockdown.
