The Real Children’s Day: India Sees 51.5 Per Cent Rise In Rescued Child Workers, As Rehabilitation Hits New High

A nationwide revamp in the the complaint and redressal mechanism has finally paid dividends, as the number of child labourers being rescued and rehabilitated by the authorities has shot up by 51.5 per cent as compared to last year. According to data from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the total number of child labourers rescued in 2017 was 29,979, and has now jumped to 45,344 in 2018 (as updated last on 1 September).

Uttar Pradesh has witnessed the highest number of child labourers, but no effort was taken to rescue them for the past two years. Five other states, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha and Uttarakhand have not rescued a single child this year either. However, convictions relating to child labour cases also dipped slightly in 2017 as compared to 2016, from 676 to 567. The highest number of people convicted were from UP with 361 followed by Punjab at 184.

Sapna Shah of Akanksha Foundation said, “This is the first time the government has brought all complaints on one platform. This way, it's easier for the authorities as well as civil society to zero in and tackle the problem at the root. But the real results will be seen if the authorities promptly implement it,” reports The New Indian Express.

Ministry officials attribute this success to the fact that the centralised complaint lodging system on the Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour (PENCIL) has been brought under the purview of a task force which has helped in increasing their work efficiency.