NCLP Objectives | Child Labor Government Laws | National Child Labor Scheme
The National Child Labour Project Scheme is one of the schemes introduced by the Central Government as a solution for the current situation of child labour in India.
What is Child Labour?
- Child labour is the term used to describe the exploitation of children for any type of work that prevents them from having an equal opportunity to receive an education and have a typical childhood. The victimised child is then typically employed for physically, socially, and mentally destructive employment.
- Despite several laws and government initiatives, there are now over 10 million child labourers working in India. The government has set development objectives for the country by 2030, and eliminating child labour is essential for achieving those goals.
What are the Government Laws against Child Labour?
- The government has established several regulations restricting the use of child labour and is actively working to end this practice.
- The Central Government of India established the Gurupadswamy Commission in 1979. This statutory committee came to the conclusion that poverty was integrally related to child labour in India. The union government then used the committee’s recommendations and analyses to pass the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act in 1986.
- The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Act, of 2016, amends the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, of 1986, which prohibited the employment of children in any capacity, particularly in risky situations or occupations. Additionally, it has linked the Right to Education Act of 2009’s restriction on work with access to free education.
- India joined the International Labour Organization (ILO) as the organization’s 170th member to approve Convention No. 138.
- This convention compels member parties to establish a minimum age at which no one should be employed. India also endorsed Convention No. 182, which obliges signatories to outlaw all extreme child labour activities, including prostitution, the employment of minors in armed combat, and trafficking.
- The INDUS Project: The Government of India and the US Department of Labor joined forces to create the INDUS Project, which sought to prevent and eradicate child labourers, particularly in dangerous vocations. It was created as part of ILO-IPEC ( International Labour Organization- International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour).
National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme
It is a Central Government Scheme that has been designed to combat the issue of child labour in a more effective way by concentrating on particular target concepts, identifying the victims, removing them from dangerous situations, concentrating on their rehabilitation, and in the meantime disseminating awareness to the families of the child labourers about the capabilities of NCLP and the other agencies on child labour.
Objectives of NCLP:
· It aims to eradicate child labour in all its forms by first identifying the children who are currently engaged in it in the project region.
· Withdrawing the youngsters who have been identified.
· Giving the withdrawn children the essential vocational training to get them ready for regular education.
· Ensuring that they profit from the wide range of services offered by the various governments and organisations. By identifying all adolescents and removing them from the project area, it tries to remove teenage children from risky situations or jobs.
· Facilitating training programmes for such teenagers using presently available skill development schemes.
· It seeks to increase understanding of how the NCLP operates among the target communities and other stakeholders on child labour.
· To develop a system for monitoring, tracking, and reporting child labour so that everyone is aware of the problem. NCLP target Group.
· The programme focuses on all young employees under the age of 14 in the target regions, young workers under the age of 18 who work in dangerous jobs, as well as the families of young workers in those particular target locations.
· After providing the appropriate bridging programmes, the kids would gradually be integrated into the local schools.
· Teenage workers in hazardous jobs would get training to improve their skills and be transferred to non-hazardous jobs.
· The government will make sure that the families of child employees get income/stipends, employment, or social security. A follow-up examination of the impact will be done on the rescued child employees.
· The legislation pertaining to child labour will be strengthened in accordance with the necessity in the necessary area.
NCLP Highlights/Features:
· The government helps to identify, categorise, eliminate, and remove children and adolescents from dangerous jobs.
· Securing the inclusion of the rescued children in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and suitable local schools (SSA).
· The teenagers will receive additional skill-upgrading training and be moved into authorised employment.
· With the aid of improved abilities, better awareness campaigns may educate communities and the Indian public at large.
· Reimbursement for families who are releasing their children from employment in order to send them to school or training.
· Self-help groups (SHGs) are frequently formed by the mothers of such harmed children.
NCLP Implementation:
· The scheme was effectively implemented via a partnership with civil society, state and district administration, and the responsibility is shared by the different state governments and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
· The plan was originally introduced in areas with high rates of child labour and dedicated District Project Societies (DPSs) were established at the district level to guarantee proper execution of the scheme at all levels.
· The children’s and their family’s stipend payments are also handled by the District Project Society.
What are the target group for the National Child Labor Project Scheme?
· The project societies are required to conduct surveys to identify children working in hazardous occupations and processes.
· These children will then form the target group for the project society.
· Of the children identified those in the age group 5-8 years will have to be mainstreamed directly into the formal educational system through the SSA.
· Working children in the age group of 9- 14 years will have to be rehabilitated through NCLP schools established by the Project Society.
Benefits of NCLP
Since the scheme’s commencement, 13.63 lakh children have been mainstreamed through Special Training Centers established under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP).
The funding pattern of NCLP
The projects have been taken up in the Central Sector, and the entire funding is done by the Central Government (Ministry of Labour & Employment).
What is PENCIL PORTAL?
In 2017, the government launched the PENCIL portal, a unique online portal (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour). It had been created under the NCLP scheme:
Benefits and features of PENCIL PORTAL
· It includes a Child Tracking System and a Complaint Corner to enable efficient and simple implementation of the plan.
· The portal can establish connections between various State Governments, districts, project groups, and ultimately the general public and the Central Government.
· Anyone may use the site to report child labour concerns.
· As soon as a complaint is received, the system instantly assigns it to the appropriate Nodal officer so that they may take any required next steps.
· Of the 1010 complaints that have been recorded on the portal, 361 have been updated as being addressed by the Nodal authorities.
Significant advantages that will result from this NCLP Scheme
· Assist in the detection and elimination of all types of child labour;
· Assist in the detection and removal of teenagers from risky jobs and processes in the target region;
· Knowledge of the negative impacts of child labour
· The successful mainstreaming of all children who have been removed from child labour and rehabilitated through the NCLPS into normal schools.
· Adolescents removed from dangerous jobs or processes must have benefitted from skill development whenever necessary and connected to legally allowed jobs
· As a consequence of the Social Mobilization Programme, communities, specific target groups, and the general public are now better educated.
· Strengthened abilities to combat child labour through training of NCLP employees and other officials.