Child labour on the rise in Gulbarga: Survey

GULBARGA: The National Child Labour Project’s survey in December 2011 under the Union government showed that as compared to the 2004-05 survey, the number of child labourers in hazardous units at Chincholi taluk, Gulbarga has increased by three folds. According to official sources, the 2004-05 survey showed that 193 children below the age of 14 were working at Chincholi taluk. However, the 2011 survey showed that 584 child labourers work in the units.In the 2004 survey, 56 children (46 boys and 11 girls) from the Scheduled Caste Community were identified as child labourers while last year’s survey recorded 143 (108 boys and 35 girls) working there. The last survey showed five children from the ST category working while the current survey showed an employment of  17 such children. In the other category, 97 children (65 boys and 32 girls) were found working in hazardous units in 2004-05 while the latest survey shows the number increased to 424.In 2004-05, three NGOs conducted the  survey while in 2011-12, Gramakirana Seva Samsthe and Karnataka Grameena Mahila Vividhoddesha Samsthe did the survey after being trained by the district administration. Around 18 sectors were considered as hazardous including mines (underground and under water), employment of child as domestic workers or servants, handling of toxic or inflammable substances or explosives and handloom or power loom industries among others.Apart from this, 121 children (65 boys and 55 girls) were found working in non-hazardous units in Chincholi taluk. Gulbarga DC Vishal R and district project officer Chandrika Joshi told Express that these children were found working when the survey team visited the spot. “The district administration would take steps to rehabilitate the children working in both hazardous and non-hazardous units and would consider prosecuting the employers who employed the children,” said the DC. The Right to Education Act issued in 2011 states that the government should enrol the children in schools without any discrimination.