Jalandhar: Staff shortage hampers labour department work - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Jalandhar: Staff shortage hampers labour department work

Hindustan Times | By, Jalandhar
Jun 15, 2015 08:38 PM IST

The government's claims of preventing child labour have fallen flat. The labour department has failed to tackle menace in Doaba region owing to acute shortage of staff.

The government's claims of preventing child labour have fallen flat. The labour department has failed to tackle menace in Doaba region owing to acute shortage of staff.

The department is observing a child labour prevention week from June 16, exhorting people to stop engaging children in work, particularly that of hazardous nature. But due to staff shortage, the drive has become a headache for the department.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

As per information, against the nine sanctioned posts of labour inspector, the district labour department has only three labour inspectors, who have been working with additional charge of other districts for the past two years.

Assistant labour commissioner Sukhjinder Singh said, "We have only three inspectors in Jalandhar, who have additional charge of Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts, while the department has one inspector at Nawanshahr district to work on complaints
related to child labour, which makes it tough to manage workload."

"We have divided the time of raids and places among the staff so that they could conduct raids in all villages and cities of the district during this week to curb child labour," he added.

As per guidelines under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, employment of children below the age of 14 years in hazardous industries that are harmful to the health of the child is banned and it is the duty of the inspector to tackle it and keep a check on it. The 10-14 years age-group is that of school-going children.

Sources in the department said last year, the department had conducted 840 inspections and rescued only 20 children under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. Even they were rescued from local shops or bazaars to somehow complete the target of the department.

"Around 50 to 60 complaints relating to labourers are received every month at the department and that makes it tough to manage time when it comes to inspection. Ministerial staff's post has been vacant for long," a senior labour officer said.

"Despite that, our staff is doing their best to curb child labour in the region. But still, we need more staff for efficiency. Moreover, it is the duty of police officers as well as citizens to inform the labour department if any child is enrolled for labour, but people usually do not bother to do that," Singh added.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    author-default-90x90

    Jatinder Mahal is a staff correspondent. He covers Jalandhar, Kapurthala and SBS Nagar district for Hindustan Times.

SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On