Adityanath gives clarion call to end the scourge of child labour in UP

Asks local bodies to conduct a census of child labourers

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath has given a clarion call to end the scourge of child labour in the state.

He has written to the representatives of state urban local bodies, numbering more than 652, to conduct a census of child labouroers engaged in their areas, so that they can be rescued from their workplaces and rehabilitated under ongoing schemes.

The letters, seeking support, have been sent to the local bodies’ district chairpersons, district panchayat members, mayors, municipal council and nagar panchayat chairpersons, corporators, block presidents and secretaries, apart from village heads.

In his note, Adityanath said heavy labour at younger ages impeded the mental and physical development of children, and as such a compassionate and practical approach must be accorded to the issue.

He has directed for providing skills development and job oriented training to a member of the rescued child labourer’s family, apart from making arrangements for their food, housing and health matrices, so that there is no relapse.

The CM observed the various panchayati raj institutions and their elected representatives were mandated to play a vital role in the implementation of government’s social security and welfare programmes.

Adityanath expects the local bodies to spearhead a campaign to link them to the labour department schemes viz. Naya Savera Scheme, National Child Labour Project (NCLP), conditional cash transfer (CCT) etc, apart from ensuring their education.

Meanwhile, Adityanath has asked them to take the cooperation of different government and non-governmental organisations (NGO) to restore the childhood of the affected child labour.

Earlier, taking cognisance of reports that Indian migrant labourers sometimes face hardship in the Gulf, the CM had assured to extend all help of his government whenever needed. He had directed the labour department to provide prompt relief to such people, who migrate from UP to the Gulf for a livelihood, but are distressed.

Between 2014 and 2018, nearly 28,500 Indian migrant labourers died in top 6 Gulf destinations of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) according to the data compiled by the Indian embassy in these countries. This was revealed in a written reply by minister of state for external affairs Gen (Retired) V K Singh in Lok Sabha few months back.

According to the emigration clearance required (ECR) passport information from the ministry of external affairs, UP accounted for the maximum blue collar migrant workers in the Gulf at 86,273 in 2018, followed by Bihar 59,181. The erstwhile top ranked state of Kerala witnessed a 90% drop in the number of labourers migrating to the Gulf from 1,63,737 in 2008 to 2018 at 14,496.

However, the overall number of Indian unskilled workers migrating to west Asian countries has consistently fallen over the last 10 years from about 7,62,500 in 2008 to 3,22,000 in 2018.