National Child Labour Project

To rehabilitate the children withdrawn from work, the Government is implementing the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme in 266 districts of the country.  The NCLP Scheme started in 1988. Under the Project, children withdrawn from work are enrolled in special schools, where they are provided education, vocational training, nutrition, stipend, health care, etc. before mainstreaming them into formal education system. Under NCLP Scheme, expenditure of Rs. 92.71 crore was incurred against Revised Estimate of Rs. 92.80 crore for 2010-11. During 2011-12 the expenditure of Rs. 70 crore has been incurred  (upto November 21, 2011) against Budget Estimate of Rs. 373 crore.

             

                        A Central Monitoring Committee under the Chairpersonship of Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment with representation from State Governments and concerned Ministries/Departments has been set up for supervision, monitoring and evaluation of the National Child Labour Project.  As per available information, 94657 child labour during 2010-11 and 51641 child labour during 2011-12 (Upto June, 2011) have been mainstreamed under NCLP Scheme.

     

             This is a major scheme for the rehabilitation of child labour.  Under the scheme, Project Societies at the district level are fully funded for opening up of special school/Rehabilitation Centres for the rehabilitation of child labour. 

             The special schools/Rehabilitation Centres   provide non-formal education, vocational training, supplementary nutrition, stipend etc. to children withdrawn from employment.

                        The child workers identified in the survey are put in the special schools and provided the following facilities- Non-formal/formal education; Skilled/craft training; Supplementary nutrition @ Rs. 5/- per child per day; Stipend @ Rs. 100/- per child per month; and Health care facilities through a doctor appointed for a group of 20 schools.

             

LIST OF DISTRICTS WHERE SPECIAL SCHOOLS ARE IN OPERATION

S.No	Name of  States	No. of                 Districts	Name of the Districts
01	Andhra Pradesh	20	Ananatapur, Chittor, Cuddapah, Guntur, Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Kurnool, Khammam, Nellore, Nizamabad, Prakasam, Rangareddy, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Vishakhapatnam, Warangal, West Godavari, Mehbubnagar, Adilabad and Krishna
02	Assam	3	Nagaon, Kamrup and Lakhimpur
03	Bihar	24	Nalanda, Saharsa, Jamui, Katihar, Araria, Gaya, East Champaran, West Champaran, Madhepura, Patna, Supaul, Samastipur, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Nawada, Khagaria, Sitamarhi, Kishanganj, Begusarai, Banka, Saran, Purnia and Bhagalpur
04	Chhattis garh	7	Durg, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, Surguja, Raigarh,   Raipur and Korba
05	Gujarat	9	Surat, Panchmahals, Bhuj, Banas Kantha, Dahod, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad and Rajkot
06	Haryana	3	Gurgaon, Faridabad and Panipat
07	Jammu & Kashmir	2	Srinagar and Udhampur
08	Jharkhand	8	Garwah, Sahibganj, Dumka, Pakur, West Singhbhum(Chaibasa), Gumla, Palamu,  and Hazaribagh
09	Karnataka	15	Bijapur, Raichur, Dharwad,Bangalore Rural, BangaloreUrban, Belgaum, Koppal,  Devangere, Mysore, Bagalkot, Chitradurga, Gulbarga, Bellary, Kolar and Mandya.
10	Madhya Pradesh	21	Mandsaur, Gwalior, Ujjain, Barwani, Rewa, Dhar, East Nimar(Khandwa), Rajgarh, Chhindwara, Shivpuri, Sidhi, Guna,   Shajapur, Ratlam, West Nimar(khargon), Jhabua, Damoh, Sagar, Jabalpur, Satna and Katni
11	Maharashtra	15	Solapur, Thane,   Sangli,  Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Nanded,Nasik, Yavatmal, Dhule, Beed,Amravati, Jalna, Aurangabad, Gondia and Mumbai Suburban.
12	Nagaland	1	Dimapur
13	Orissa	24	Angul, Balasore, Bargarh, Bolangir, Cuttack, Deogarh, Gajapati (Udayagiri), Ganjam, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Koraput, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Sonepur, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Kendrapada, Khurda, Nayagarh and Sundergarh.
14	Punjab	3	Jalandhar, Ludhiana andAmritsar
15	Rajasthan	27	Jaipur, Udaipur, Tonk, Jodhpur, Ajmer, Alwar, Jalor, Churu, Nagaur, Chittaurgarh, Banswara, Dhaulpur, Sikar, Dungarpur, Bharatpur, Bikaner, Jhunjhunu, Bundi, Jhalawar, Pali, Bhilwara, Ganganagar and Barmer, Dausa, Hanumangarh, Kota, Baran.
16	Tamil Nadu	17	Chidambaranar (Tuticorin),Coimbatore, Dharmapuri,Vellore, Salem, Tiruchirapallli, Tirunelveli, Krishnagiri, Chennai, Erode, Dindigul, Theni. Kanchipuram, Thiruvannamallai, Tiruvallur, Nammakkal and Virudhunagar
17	Uttar Pradesh	47	Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Bulandshahar, Saharanpur, Azamgarh, Bijnour, Gonda, Kheri, Bahraich, Balrampur, Hardoi, Barabanki, Sitapur, Faizabad, Badaun, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Kannuaj, Shajahanpur, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Sultanpur, Fatehpur, Shravasti, Pratapgarh, Basti, Sonebhadra, Mau,  Kaushambi, Banda, Ghaziabad, Jaunpur, Rampur, Bareilly, Lucknow, Meerut, Etawah, Agra, Ghazipur, Mathura, Etah, Moradabad, Allahabad, Kanpur Nagar, Aligarh and Ferozabad.
18	Uttarakhand	1	Dehradun
19	West Bengal	18	Burdwan, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, Kolkata, Murshidabad, Midnapore,  Maldah, Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum, Nadia, Hugli, Howrah, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Bihar, East Midnapore.
20	Delhi	1	NCT of Delhi
	Total	266

                                   

 (PIB Feature)

****

*Inputs from the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

National Child Labour Project

A reception for the NCC Cadets

A reception for the NCC Cadets hosted by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne and the President AFWWA, Smt. Kiran Browne, at the Air House, in New Delhi on January 17, 2012.   (Photo and detail: PIB)

Killing of VOA Reporter

Pakistani Taliban Claims Responsibility  

January 17, 2012

Ayaz Gul | Islamabad

Photo: VOA Deewa

VOA reporter Mukarram Khan Aatif shown in northwest Pakistan in January 2012. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for killing Aatif in a mosque in Shabqadar, some 35 kilometers from Peshawar.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibilty for the Tuesday killing of Pakistani reporter Mukarram Khan Aatif, who worked for the Voice of America.

Aatif was assassinated in Shabqadar, a small town located in the violence-hit Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, not far from Peshawar.
Witnesses and local police say that Aatif was attending evening prayers when two assailants on a motorbike arrived at the mosque.  One of them entered the building, they say, and shot Aatif in the head and chest before escaping the scene.

The slain reporter, in his mid 40s and a native of the Mohman tribal agency bordering Afghanistan, was rushed in critical condition to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Friends and relatives and that death threats from Taliban militants had forced the slain reporter and his family to abandon their hometown and move to Shabqadar.

_{Aatif, far left, attends a training session in Islamabad, Pakistan, 2010. (VOA Deewa)}
Soon after news of his death surfaced, local and international media groups  condemned his killing as a act an terrorism.  Imtiaz Alam, secretary-general of South Asia Free Media Association, a regional media watchdog, called for a probe.

“The government must investigate and find the culprits and also compensate the family," Alam said. "And I expect more killings in Pakistan, and journalists are now leaving country under threat from all kinds of actors, especially the extremists.”

Pakistani information minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said the government will conduct a “thorough and transparent” investigation into the incident and promised financial assistance to the victim’s family.

“It is really a very sad incident and I condemn it from the core of my heart." Awan said. "I assure his family and all the media that we have to really interrogate and go for a transparent inquiry, and I am sure that we will be able to find some facts related to this incident.”

The minister added that Pakistan’s ongoing war against Taliban-led extremists has exposed the entire society to revenge terrorist attacks.

In addition to filing reports for Deewa Radio, the Voice of America’s Pashto language service, Mukarram Khan Aatif also worked for Dunya TV, a privately-run local television station.

Critics insist that not only militants but Pakistani security agencies are also behind deadly attacks on journalists. The failure of the Pakistani authorities to bring elements involved in such attacks to justice, they say, has emboldened those fearful of increasingly independent media.

According to Reporters Without Borders, at least 10 reporters were killed in Pakistan in 2011, making it the deadliest nation in the world for journalists. Courtesy: Voice of America