No Cases Of Forced Child Labour During COVID-19-Induced Lockdown, Says Smriti Irani In Rajya Sabha

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No Cases Of Forced Child Labour During COVID-19-Induced Lockdown, Says Smriti Irani In Rajya Sabha

As per information from the NCPCR, no such cases/reports regarding children forced to leave their homes for illegal child labour, smuggling and forced marriage during lockdown have come to the notice.

Not a single case of children forced to leave their homes for illegal child labour and smuggling during the COVID-19-induced lockdown has come to the notice of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Rajya Sabha was informed on July 20.

Strict Monitoring At Railway Stations

In response to a question in the upper house, Smriti Irani, the minister for Women and Child Development, said 330 stations have been covered under the Integrated Emergency Response Management System (IERMS) project to install CCTV cameras and monitoring rooms at the railway stations.

Further, all 67 stations of Konkan Railway have been commissioned under the 'Provision of Video Surveillance System' project, and 696 anti-human trafficking units are operational in districts of different states and UTs under the project for 'Setting up/strengthening Anti-Human Trafficking Units'.

No Cases Of Forced Child Labour/ Marriage & Smuggling

Irani said in a written response, "As per information received from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), no such cases/reports regarding children forced to leave their homes for illegal child labour, smuggling and forced marriage during lockdown have come to the notice," quoted NDTV.

The NCPCR has received a total of 617 complaints relating to child kidnapping since 2020. It is an Indian statutory body established by an Act of Parliament, the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, and works under the aegis of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, GoI.

Other Schemes For Children & Women

In reply to a question on the mandatory requirement of the Aadhaar card for minors who want to avail of the Supplementary Nutrition Programme, she said, "No child is deprived of supplementary nutrition due to the absence of Aadhaar number and the benefits under the scheme can be accessed using the mother's Aadhaar card," quoted The Print.

She added the Ministry of Home Affairs is also implementing a scheme, namely Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC), under the Nirbhaya Fund with a total outlay of ₹ 223.19 crores.

Further, in the response, Irani said that under CCPWC, MHA had provided a grant to states/UTs to develop cyber forensic cum training laboratories, hiring junior cyber consultants and training capacity building to give hands-on training to law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, judicial officers, and investigators.

Twenty-eight states/UTs have set up cyber forensic cum training laboratories. Over 19,000 police personnel, prosecutors, and judicial officers have been trained.

Also Read: 'Because I'm Dalit': UP Minister Dinesh Khatik Resigns From Cabinet Alleging Discrimination, Corruption

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