28-05-2025
Drive against child labour from June 12
Lucknow: The state govt will launch a mega awareness programme to mark the World Day Against Child Labour on June 12. The drive aims to make UP free of child labour by 2027.
"The labour department is spearheading a massive programme to eliminate the child labour in coordination with various departments like education, women and child development, panchayati raj, home, health, social welfare, rural development, urban development, and vocational education," a govt spokesperson said.
He added that lack of reliable data was a major hurdle in eradicating child labour as statistics were not updated since the 2011 census.
"The panchayati raj department was asked to collect data on working children and child labourers at the village level. This data will be shared with the departments of labour and education, which will facilitate the implementation of targeted child labour elimination programmes.
District-level task forces will be established to expedite data collection with the help of local panchayats," he said.
"Govt has also partnered with Unicef to compile a booklet detailing schemes of various departments aimed at benefitting child labourers and their families. This will help in publicising govt initiatives and bringing more people into their purview," he added.
The spokesperson said that govt was also considering re-implementation of 'Naya Savera' scheme to provide better opportunities to child labourers. "Another initiative to prevent child labour is the operation of Atal Residential Schools in all divisions, meant for the children of labourers," he said.
