State govt revives plan to eliminate child labour by '30
2
Ranchi: The state department of labour, employment, training, and skill development and the child protection society, with the technical support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Bal Kalyan Sangh, on Thursday revived a draft state Action Plan for Elimination of Child Labour by 2030.
The draft, which integrates learnings from the 2012–16 plan and responds to the present legal and socio-economic contexts, aims to serve as a roadmap for the next five years. The plan is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8.7, which targets to end child labour in all its forms by 2030.
Department secretary Jitendra Kumar Singh said, "The state saw a 78% decline in child labour between 2001 and 2011, surpassing national average.
Our task now is to build a coordinated, multi-stakeholder response. The draft will undergo consultations before submission to the state cabinet for approval. The labour department will be the nodal agency for its implementation."
The national project coordinator with the ILO, Narasimhan Gadiraju, said, "While the framework remains similar to earlier plans, this draft reflects upon legal advancements, including the ratification of ILO Conventions 138 and 182, post 2016.
It provides a clearer definition of a child and places the responsibility squarely on the state govt for execution and periodic review. Jharkhand had over 91,000 child labourers as per the 2011 Census."
The chief technical advisor with the ILO, Giovanni Soledad, said, "The reduction in child labour from 160 million in 2020 to 138 million in 2024 in Asia and the Pacific region is a positive trend. There is, however, a need to accelerate efforts with greater investment in education and social protection to meet the target by 2030."
Joint labour commissioner Pradip Lakra said, "The labour department cannot shoulder this responsibility alone. We are now strengthening our presence at the block level and increasing the number of field staff to boost identification, rescue, and rehabilitation mechanisms."
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