Central government revises National Child Labour Project scheme to make it effective

The Central government has reviewed the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme to make it more effective and revised the NCLP guidelines.

MoS Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya in his reply in Rajya Sabha stated that under the revised guidelines, the Special Training Centres (STCs) for rehabilitation of child labour have been aligned in line with RTE Act.

Following changes have been made to the existing guidelines:

The target group has been expanded to all working children below the age of 14 years and to adolescents (14-18 years) working in hazardous occupations and processes

The procedure for setting up of Project Societies and opening of STCs has been simplified

The payment of stipend to the



children is made on modular basis for a minimum of three months through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)

The budget of Project Societies/STCs and rate of honorarium for volunteers/staff has been enhanced

The procedure for conducting survey has been simplified

Monitoring mechanism has been strengthened at national, state and district level

At present, the scheme is sanctioned in 280 districts of 21 states across the country. The minister added, "The rehabilitation of Bonded Labour, 2016 Scheme would also be implemented through the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Societies in existence. Creation of additional NCLP Societies is a continuous process depending upon the need thereof."