Institute to study child labour on the card
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, May 22: Under the objective of curbing child labour, rehabilitation of the affected ones and to study feasibility of covering parents of such children a 'Child Labour School' would be established in the State capital soon.

According to an informed source, the School is being envisaged to facilitate comprehensive survey on child labour and in addition to preparation of rehabilitation packages will also bring the parents under a special beneficiary scheme.

As in other parts of the country where similar studies have already been conducted, the 'School' when it comes into existence, would streamline the study, the source said and added that Ministry of Labour and Employment has instructed State Labour Department to do the needful to expeditiously set up the school and to activate it.

It is informed that surveys on child labour in manipur was conducted only in 1997 and 2005 with the first such study covering all the districts coming out with a figure of 585 children engaged as child labour compared to the second such exercise limited to Imphal municipal areas The latter survey enlisted 273 child labourers.

Kids toil away to contribute to the family's purse

According to an official of the State Labour Department, who preferred anonymity, another fresh survey on initiation of the Central ministry is likely to commence within this year.

Citing fund crunch of the Department as well as the Government as the chief reason for negligible progress in chalking out welfare schemes of children stuck in child labour, the official also reminded that effective from october 10, 2006 total prohibition on engaging children under 14 years of age in any form of manual labour had been enforced.

prior to the prohibition, the ban on child labour covered only those industrial units where working conditions and nature of job were found to be hazardous.

A startling revelation in the 2005 survey of municipal areas said to be some cases of engaging under-aged children while out of the total figure of 273 51 were girls.

Disclosing that after detection of the illegal practices, parents and employers had assured to strictly abide to prescribed regulations subsequently resulting in relaxation from punitive action as proposed FIRs were withdrawn, the official said.

Despite rules laid down for legal action against those found abusing the law initiation of action by the State Dept do not commensurate with spirit of the prohibition due to absence of provision on carrying out rehabilitation programme for the affected children , the official conceded.

Explaining that hauling up the children from their working places would serve no purpose in case they could not be rehabilitated, the official however exuded confidence that such hindrances could be addressed once the said 'school' strongly advocated by the union Ministry comes into shape in the State.

informing that State Govt had already commenced work on presenting a project report to the Ministry, the source confided that comprehending ineffectiveness only one 'school' would have upon the matter, the Ministry would be impressed to grant two such institutions whose locations will most probably be within Imphal.

In setting up the School, the Union Ministry is stressing on extensive and intensive study for extending 'beneficiary oriented schemes' to parents whose under-aged wards are engaged as labourers, said the source adding the Dept is looking into the aspect.

Contending that budgetary allocation to the Labour Dept has been minuscule that could be summed up from the provision of only Rs 6 lakh for the current fiscal, the official nevertheless comprehended that the Dept could play its role with more intensity and impact owing to enhanced empowerment from the Union Ministry.

It is worth mentioning that in the industry-deprived manipur, work places for minor boys mostly relate to commercial units like motor workshops, hotels and construction sites whereas the girls from economically unsound family are engaged for domestic chores of better-off families.