P govt to crack down n establishments mploying children

A large number of ren and teenagers continue ork as labourers, with many em engaged in hazardous k, even as the state governt launches another camn to identify child labour act effectively against their loyers from August 16 to 30. bout 10,000 children and agers, including about 2,000 ged in hazardous work, been identified in the past ears. Action has been taken e form of prosecution being ched against over 1,100 loyers, but there appears no k on children being engaged bourers in Uttar Pradesh. rom August 16 to 30, the government proposes to ch another campaign to tify child labourers and act nst establishments employhem,” said Suresh Chandra, tional chief secretary, ur. here are apprehensions that y of those, who may be idend in the drive, may begin ing as child labour again in ext few weeks. “Efforts are e to send such children to school or action is taken for their rehabilitation. Yet, many of such children return to the same or other work establishment within a few weeks,” said a functionary of the state’s labour department.

Besides launching special campaigns from time to time, the labour department has also implemented Naya Savera Yojana in collaboration with the Unicef in select villages of 20 districts of Uttar Pradesh to make these areas child labour free.

Apart from Lucknow, the districts covered under Naya Savera Yojana are Kanpur, Agra, Bareilly, Badaun, Moradabad, Ghaziabad, Barabanki, Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Mirzapur, Sonebhadra, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Varanasi, Ballia, Prayagraj and Gorakhpur.

“Under this scheme, 39,856 children in 6 to 14 years age group have been identified and 26,933 of them have been rehabilitated in the past four years. In the 15 to 18 year age group too, 16,383 have been identified and 5,290 have been rehabilitated. About 6,679 families have been registered with Uttar Pradesh Bhawan evam Sannirman Karmkar Kalyan Board (welfare agency for construction and other workers),” said another functionary.

“A large number of children and teenagers are working as child labourers though the exact number is not available. In many cases, the children identified and rescued return to work as child labour in the absence of any major scheme for rehabilitation,” said Sangeet Sharma, former member, Child Welfare Committee.

“There may be some cases of child trafficking but hardly any criminal case is registered. Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTUS) and Special Juvenile Police Units (SJPUS) have been set up in every district, but authorities are not able to take action as parents of such children often deny involvement of any gang. Under such circumstances, efforts made to identify those working behind such children may prove futile,” added Sharma.

ADG (law and order) Prashant Kumar said effective action would be taken in any criminal case. “We will work in coordination with government agencies to ensure effective action,” he said.