Hindustan Times: Lucknow: Wednesday, June 13, 2018.
Out of a
total amount of Rs 5.06 crore realised as penalty from those indulging in child
labour across the state in the last 22 years, only 1.42% of the fund has been
utilised for the welfare and rehabilitation of the rescued children.
Lucknow-based
child rights practitioner Umesh Kumar Gupta says that the apex court issued
directives in 1996 asking the labour authorities to realise a penalty of up to
Rs 20,000 from those found indulging in child labour. This amount was then
supposed to be deposited in the welfare fund constituted at the district level.
The interest earned from these funds was also supposed to be used for welfare
of child labourers, but due to the lacklustre approach of authorities, a major
portion of this fund has been lying unutilised for the last 22 years, he adds.
“According to
a response to an RTI application filed by me, deputy labour commissioner Dilip
Kumar Singh informed that over Rs. 5.06 crore was collected as penalty from 75
districts of the state between December 12, 1996 and March 2018. But only Rs.7.18
lakh, which is merely 1.42 per cent of the total collected money, was utilised
for the welfare of rescued child labourers across all districts,” said Gupta.
According to
Gupta, the RTI response revealed that not a single person has been penalised
for child labour in Shamli, Shambhal and Mainpuri in the last 22 years and only
Rs 5,000 and Rs.14000 were collected from Amethi and Sant Kabir Nagar districts
respectively in the same duration. The situation gets worse when it comes to
utilisation of the amount realised as penalty because the funds have not been
spent at all in at least 56 districts since 1996, revealed Gupta.
The
authorities, however, blame absence of specific guidelines or any government
order for the poor utilization of funds.
State nodal
officer and coordinator for child and bonded labour Mohd Rizwan Ali said there
are several obstructions in utilising the funds due to the absence of specific
guidelines.
He also
stressed on the need for relaxation in guidelines on the utilisation of funds.
Giving an example he said that according to the court guidelines, the interest
earned from the penalty collected after rescuing the child labourer should be
used for the welfare of that particular child. However, penalty collection
takes times as people often move courts when served notices and the child
becomes an adult by the time the penalty is realised and the amount keeps lying
unutilised, he emphasised.
“As several
crore rupees are lying unutilised, the authorities should be allowed to use
them in a collective form for the welfare and rehabilitation of rescued child
labourers,” he added.
He went on to
say that senior government officials have been requested several times to
approach the court and get specific guidelines and relaxations. He further said
social organisations working to eliminate child labour could also approach the
court in the matter.
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