DCPCR pushes for more data on child labour and holds meetings with Delhi Police, govt, districts
new delhi: In a major push to make more data available on child labour in Delhi, the Delhi Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has now met with officials of the government here, Delhi Police and district officials where it was highlighted that not enough people were reporting instances of child labour in the city.
In fact, the meetings with these officials also found that many children who are rescued are unable to receive government compensation or other financial help due to a lot of information about the children missing which leads to complications in opening a bank account.
According to one official, various workable interventions were identified at these discussions, which included keeping a tab on the attendance of children which is a predictor of child adversity, awareness campaigns and district task force meetings among others.
The official further added, "The reports for child labour that come in are not sufficient. Thus a stronger system is needed to ensure that these reports come in so that action can be taken to rescue the children. The Police department is recommended to take the support of beat police to identify such reports. The financial incentive scheme of the Commission can play an important role in sensitising the public to report such cases."
The Commission was informed that the compound is sealed immediately after a raid and the employer has to pay the immediate fine and back wages to the children who were employed as child labourers," an official said.
As per the official, "The labour department has been asked to ensure that the compensation is received by the children in their accounts and not end with the authoritative approval only. One of the challenges faced for the same was difficulty in opening the bank accounts, missing details of the child from the FIR."
The information of rescued children is with the departments and not available in the form that could empower them to look at patterns and
identify children who might get involved in child labour again and again. The labour department is being asked to create an MIS that will provide such information centrally.
"In the past several years, there has been no concerted campaign launched in order to sensitise the public or small scale employers. We also face a cultural issue where it is acceptable to employ children due to a lack of financial resources and alternatives available to the family. Various schemes exist that can help families which are in need of financial assistance," another official said.
It is needed to include training on awareness and sensitisation on the issue of child labour as apart of the training that happens for the Police Department. The labour department has a limited number of Labour Inspectors who play a pivotal role in identifying, rescuing and rehabilitation of children employed as child labour.
"We held a meeting with Delhi Police and Delhi Government officials. All the aspects related to curbing child labour were discussed. All efforts are being taken to abolish the menace of child labour by 2023, " Anurag Kundu, Chairperson, DCPCR told Millennium Post.
Besides, the labor department has been asked to share a report on children rescued in the year 2019-2020 with all details; SDMs have been asked to share the list of compounds that were sealed for child labour; DCPCR will share the details of cases district-wise where release certificate has been an issue.
