Rehab fund for child labourers not distributed since 2017
LUCKNOW: Data from the labour department suggests that the state’s system for checking and eradicating child labour has been somewhat stagnant. In the past five years (from 2017 to mid 2022)), less than half the identified children who were engaged in child labour were rescued by the authorities. The highest number of identified child labourers, 988, was recorded from Kanpur Nagar district.
From 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, nearly 12308 children had been identified as child labourers - this number could also feature repeats of children who were similarly identified and not rescued earlier. But as of 2022, only 2256 have been rescued. Moreover, only 1258 of the employers hiring child labourers had any cases filed against them.
Under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation Act) of 1986, amended in 2016 to include adolescents as well, the punishments for hiring child labourers are different in cases when they are engaged in hazardous occupations and when they are not. In the case of the former, any person hiring a child (below 14 years) or an adolescent (between 14 to 18 years) may be punished with jail time between 6 months to 2 years and/or will have to pay a fine of between Rs. 20,000 to 50,000. In case the children are not engaged in hazardous tasks or processes, the employer can be punished with jail up to 1 month and/or a fine of up to Rs. 10,000. However, it is legal for children to be engaged in their own family businesses, so long as it is not dangerous.
According to child rights activist and researcher, Umesh
Gupta, the rescue and rehabilitation process for these children is severely lacking. The labour department office in every district is supposed to be responsible for identifying, rescuing and beginning the rehabilitation process, which involves other departments as well, such as the Child Welfare Committee. “If this process is not properly carried out children will go back to work in these establishments. If the employers are not adequately prosecuted or fined, they will not be fearful of repeating their actions.”
In the amendment to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act in 2016, the government directed that every district should have Child & Adolescent Labour Rehabilitation Fund, to ensure not only the rescue of the child, but also to make sure that the amount collected can be utilised by the children for their welfare and education. According to the order, along with the amount collected from the employer, the state government will also disburse Rs. 15,000 to the children. From 1996 to 2018, only 1.42% of this rehabilitation fund has been distributed to the children. Data from 2017 to mid 2022 suggests that not a single rupee of the fund has been distributed in almost 5 years.
Shuchita Chaturvedi of the UPSCPCR (Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights) said that the labour department’s inaction in this regard is upsetting, “We would be in a much better position if they carried out the rescues correctly.” According to her, none of the governmental stakeholders are playing their roles adequately and there is high chance that the data collected is inaccurate as many children fall under the radar. Syed Rizwan Ali, state coordinator for child labour and bonded labour at the labour commissioner’s office said that the department had done its bit in identifying the children and handing the list over to the ministry of women and child development ( WCD) and further verification and collection of details was up to the WCD. Only after the WCD drew up the final list of children with required documents, could they be integrated into government schemes for their benefit, he said.