National Child Labour Project SCHEME

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National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme

• Government had initiated the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme in 1988 to rehabilitate working children in 12 child labour endemic districts of the country.

Objective of the Scheme:

• This is the major Central Sector Scheme for the rehabilitation of child labour.
• The Scheme seeks to adopt a sequential approach with focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations & processes in the first instance.
• Under the Scheme, survey of child labour engaged in hazardous occupations & processes has been conducted.
• The identified children are to be withdrawn from these occupations & processes and then put into special schools in order to enable them to be mainstreamed into formal schooling system.
• Project Societies at the district level are fully funded for opening up of special schools/Rehabilitation Centres for the rehabilitation of child labour.
• The special schools/Rehabilitation Centres provide:
  1. Non-formal/bridge education
  2. Skilled/vocational training
  3. Mid Day Meal
  4. Stipend @ Rs.150/- per child per month.
  5. Health care facilities through a doctor appointed for a group of 20 schools.

The Target group:

• The project societies are required to conduct survey to identify children working in hazardous occupations and processes. 
• These children will then form the target group for the project society. 
• Of the children identified those in the age group 5-8 years will have to be mainstreamed directly to formal educational system through the SSA. 
• Working children in the age group of 9- 14 years will have to be rehabilitated through NCLP schools established by the Project Society.

Project Implementation:

• The entire project is required to be implemented through a registered society under the Chairmanship of administrative head of the district, namely, District Magistrate/Collector/Dy. Commissioner of the District. 
• Members of the society may be drawn from concerned Government Departments, representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, NGOs, Trade Unions, etc.

Funding pattern:

• The projects have been taken up in the Central Sector, the entire funding is done by the Central Government (Ministry of Labour & Employment). 

Present Status of NCLP Scheme:

• At present about 6000 special schools are in operation under NCLP scheme. 
• As on date more than 10 lakhs children have been mainstreamed into the formal education system under the Scheme.

The architecture of institutional mechanism under NCLP is as under

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