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LOK SABHA
The State Governments are implementing the policy framed by the Union Government to abolish child labour and the verdict of the Supreme Court in this regard. Giving this information in a written reply in Lok Sabha today, the Minister of Labour and Employment Shri K. Chandrasekhar Rao said that the status on the implementation of the Apex Court’s directions is periodically obtained from State Governments and the compliance of the same is reported to the Supreme Court in the form of affidavits filed by his Ministry from time to time.
Shri Rao said that the strategy in the Tenth Plan is to ensure that all working children below 9 years of age would be directly put into schools under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Older children in the age of 9-14 years will be mainstreamed into formal schools after passing through the bridging school mechanism under the National Child Labour Project Scheme. The scheme initially launched in 12 districts for withdrawing and rehabilitating children working in identified hazardous occupations and processes was extended to 100 districts in 13 states, during the Ninth Plan. This Scheme has been expended to cover 250 districts in 20 states during the current plan. Mid day meals, stipend, vocational training and health checks are essential components of the scheme.
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