CB BureauThe report by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on November 19 revealed that a declining trend has been witnessed in child labour in Varanasi district between 1991 and 2001 (census reports).
According to the NCPCR report, there were 43,320 child labourers in Varanasi district in 1991, which reduced to 34,883 in 2001.
However, the other districts of eastern UP except Mirzapur recorded an increasing trend in the growth of child labourers during this period. Despite the decline in child labour growth, Varanasi still has a high number of child labourers. According to NCPCR records, Jaunpur district witnessed the maximum growth of 34,494 child labourers during the decade.
The fact is that child labour still exists in civil society. The government report on the abolition of child labour in India in the context of strategies for the Eleventh Five Year Plan clearly points out that India continues to host the largest number of child labourers in the world.
According to Census 2001, there were 12.7 million economically active children in the age group of 5-14 years. The number was 11.3 million during 1991, thus showing an increase in the number of child labourers.
The statistics of labour department showed that as many as 2,539 children were found working in hazardous and non-hazardous industries in Varanasi district between December 10, 1996 and October 2009, while 537 children were found in Chandauli, 1,330 in Jaunpur and 705 in Ghazipur district during the same period.
If records of the labour department are to be believed, as many as 164 children were rescued from hazardous industries and 33 children from non-hazardous industries during April 2009 to March 2010 in Varanasi district.
For the educational rehabilitation of child labourers, there are 70 special schools in Varanasi, 30 schools in Jaunpur and 20 in Ghazipur. These special schools are run under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP). Each school provides education to 50 children for three years.
The NCPCR was set up in March 2007 under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005. Its mandate is to ensure that all laws, policies, programmes and administrative mechanisms are in consonance with the child rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The child is defined as a person in the 0 to 18 years age group.