Tuesday brought a new dawn for at least 75 village panchayats of 20 districts in UP when they were declared child labour free during a programme organised by the state labour department in coordination with Unicef at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow.
Swami Prasad Maurya, state cabinet minister of labour and employment, felicitated the pradhans of at least 35 villages and gave them appreciation letters to acknowledge their efforts in making villages child labour free. The programme was organised to mark World Day against Child Labour.
Urging public to help end child labour, Maurya appreciated the efforts of village pradhans for assisting the labour department and Unicef in mainstreaming children involved in labour.
He said the children were linked with vocational training under Kaushal Vikas Scheme, Building and Construction Workers (BoCW) Scheme and Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme (CCTS) under ‘Naya Savera’ (new dawn) scheme for child labour prevention launched a year ago on June 12, 2017.
Chief field officer for Unicef, UP, Ruth Leano too appreciated the efforts of village pradhans and labour department for their constant endeavour for ending child labour. “We (Unicef) reaffirm and resolve to re-double our efforts to accelerate ending child labour in UP,” she stressed.
Speaking on the occasion, labour commissioner Anil Kumar said the labour department, Unicef and other stake holders had made extra efforts to discourage the practice of child labour prevalent in the society.
Kumar said in the past one year, at least 10,219 child labourers were made to join schools under the child labour prevention scheme. These children were under regular observation of the state labour department and Unicef and made to continue their education so that they did not get involved in child labour, he added.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar said in the past one year, at least 10,219 child labourers were made to join schools under the child labour prevention scheme. These children were under regular observation of the state labour department and Unicef and made to continue their education so that they did not get involved in child labour, he added.
{{/usCountry}}The labour commissioner said the scheme was rolled out in villages of 20 districts where child labour was highly prevalent and it would be extended further to eradicate the practice of child labour completely.
Secretary of Building and Construction Workers Scheme, Sangeeta Ghosh gave a presentation of different welfare schemes to eradicate child labour while state nodal officer and coordinator for child labour and bonded labour, Sayed Rizwan Ali gave a special presentation over ‘Naya Savera’ scheme and its outcome.
Child protection specialist with Unicef, Aftab Mohammad said a multi-pronged strategy was required to eliminate child labour and the first was to ensure that the parents of such children got minimum wages as per law so that they were able to survive.
On the occasion, a group of children staged a play over harassment of children to push them into child labour and its eradication.
NAYA SAVERA SCHEME FROM JUNE 12, 2017 TO APRIL 2018
On June 12, 2017, state labour department with the support of Unicef launched Naya Savera for prevention and rehabilitation of child labour in 843 gram panchayat and urban wards across 20 high prevalence districts of UP.