Rehabilitation of Children Under NCLP Scheme

Under the Child Labour Policy, Government of India follows a multi-pronged approach with the following three major elements:

·         Legal Action Plan

·         Focus on general development programmes for the benefit of the families of child labour; and

·         Project-based action in areas of high concentration of child labour.

 

          The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in 18 Occupations and 65 Processes. The Act regulates the working conditions of children where they are not prohibited from working. In pursuance of the National Child Labour Policy, the National Child Labour Project Scheme was started in 1988. The scheme seeks to adopt a sequential approach with focus on the rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations and processes in the first instance. The scheme is being implemented in 266 districts. Under the Project, children rescued/withdrawn from work are enrolled in the special schools, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, nutrition, stipend, health care, etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system. As per census 2001, there were approximately 12 lakh children working in hazardous occupations/processes which are covered under Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. Under the Scheme 8,95,529 children have been mainstreamed so far. This figure does not include the children rescued below the age of 5 years and above 14 years. Further, the Ministry launches awareness generation campaigns against the evils of child labour and enforcement of child labour laws through electronic and print media at the centre as well as at the district level. 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, in the Survey conducted by NSSO, in 2004-05 the numbers of working children were estimated at 90.75 lakh. As per NSSO survey 2009-10, the working children are estimated at 49.84 lakh which shows a declining trend. This shows that the existing legislation and policy framed by the Ministry have yielded positive results. The official data regarding child labour pertaining to census 2011 has not been received so far.