Annual Report - National Human Rights Commission

Rights of Women and Children
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8.49 The Special Rapporteur visited five NCLP schools of District Thane on
18-02-2005. NCLP Thane is currently running 40 schools with a sanctioned capacity of 50
students each These schools are being run by two NGOs. Serious deficiencies have been
noticed in the working of the project in terms of selection of beneficiaries and providing of
health care. The component of vocational training is totally missing. The stipend, the vital
motivational factor is also found to be absent. Discrepancies have also been noticed in
providing of supplementary nutrition. This has been brought to the notice of the Union
Labour Ministry, which provides funds and oversees the functioning of the project.
8.50 Five districts of Maharashtra namely Gondia, Aurangabad, Amravati, Jalna and
Mumbai Sub-urban District have been selected for the INDUS Child Labour Project which
envisages complete elimination of child labour in the identified districts on a priority basis
through a multi-sectoral package of services which include the identification, withdrawal
and educational rehabilitation with emphasis on vocational training of child labourers and
economic advancement of their families. Maharashtra Institute of Labour Studies has been
made the nodal agency to execute the project. The selection of 4000 beneficiaries in each
district was not finalized till the time of review (18-02-2005). The operationalization of
the project is slow. Out of a total of 200 TECs 40, in each district – only 79 were
reported to have been opened till the date of review. No Vocational Training Centre has
been started yet.
Punjab
8.51 Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar have been identified as Child Labour Prone Districts.
In the report for the year 2003-04 mention was made of detection of 91 children in hazardous
establishments as a result of the survey ordered by the Supreme Court. The follow-up action
in terms of educational rehabilitation of withdrawn children, economic rehabilitation of the
affected families and recovery of Rs. 20,000 per child from the offending employers was
found to be utterly inadequate. No progress has been achieved during the period of review
in this regard.
8.52 As mentioned in the last report, there has been no detection of child labour in hazardous
occupations/processes in Punjab after the initial survey of 1997. The same situation continues.
8.53 Three districts of Punjab–Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Amritsar are covered under the
NCLP. A total of 107 schools of capacity of 50 students each are being run by NGOs – 40
each in Ludhiana and Amritsar and 27 in Jalandhar. The Special Rapporteur visited four
schools of District Amritsar. The siting of schools and selection of beneficiaries were found
as per norms and guidelines laid down by the Union Labour Ministry. Only 25 schools
holding 1221 students are being run in Amritsar against the sanction of 40 schools. The
drop out rate is found to be very high at some places. Scheduled Castes account for 68.7%,
OBC 25% and others 6.2% of the total strength. Girls numbering 660 account for 54% of
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