By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has gone hammer and tongs against the State Labour department for its failure to implement the directives of the Commission for tackling the menace of child labour in Meghalaya.
The three-member NCPCR delegation, which is presently in the city, held a detailed meeting with State Government officials including the Chief Secretary and lambasted them for failing to take any efforts to contain child labour in the State.
Addressing a press conference later, NCPCR member Dr Yogesh Dube said that the State Labour department has failed to contain child labour in the State.
“They are buying time and wasting their energy,”Dr Dube told reporters.
Reprimanding the Principal Secretary, Labour department, Dr Dube said, “We are dissatisfied with the approach of the Principal Secretary (Labour) in handling child labour and his approach is lethargic.”
Taking strong note of the existence of child labour in the State, the Commission has directed the State Government to embark upon comprehensive child labour surveys in all the districts of the State to draw a comprehensive plan besides incorporating its recommendations for amending the State Mining Policy to make it child friendly.
The NCPCR member also informed that the State Government has agreed to implement the recommendations of the Commission within three months even as the department has fully complied with the commission’s earlier recommendations. The Commission has also directed the Labour department to draw an action plan on how the child labour survey would be done even as the Principal Secretary has been asked to submit the action plan for Jaintia Hills within July 31 and for other districts within August 31.
Prominent institutes like IIM Shillong, NEHU and MLCU along with Civil Societies and the concerned department will jointly conduct the survey, modalities for which would be prepared by September.
The Commission also questioned the functioning of the district task force stating that the task force must conduct inspections and raids as well to root out child labour.
The State Labour department has also agreed to the idea of the Commission to obtain certificates from the mine owners for not engaging any child labourer in their respective mines.
The Labour department informed that the proposal of the 39 Labour Inspectors are yet to be filled but assured the Commission that 10 Labour inspectors would be recruited within a weeks’ time while the remaining would be appointed in the next few months.
The Commission also complained of the failure of the Labour department h to map all vulnerable areas where child labour is highly prevalent, Dr Dube said,
“Though in paper the department claims to have done the work but it has failed to produce any details of the areas which have been mapped as vulnerable,” he told reporters.
The NCPCR is also set to organize a consultation programme in the State with regards to child rights, implementation of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and other new acts in the month of July where various issued with regards to protection of child rights will be discussed and deliberated.