In a move to eliminate child labour, about 80,000 children will be integrated into the mainstream by 2007 under an Indo-US project. The three-year project, launched in February 2004, will save children engaged in hazardous industries.
The US Department of Labour will provide $20 million dollars for the project. India will pledge an equal amount. The project will be implemented in 21 districts in Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
The project, christened INDUS, was started following a joint statement on ‘Enhanced Indo-US Cooperation on Eliminating Child Labour’. Meanwhile, the National Child Labour Projects, launched by the Ministry of Labour in August 1994, have been extended to 250 child labour-endemic districts.
The project aims to eliminate child labour before the end of the 10th Plan.
