Bengal Accomplishes 'Zero Child Labour': State Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak

Demonstrating data in the Assembly on Friday, the State Labour Minister asserted that Bengal now stands free from the shackles of child exploitation.

Kolkata: State Labour minister Moloy Ghatak, speaking at the Assembly on Friday, November 29, asserted that West Bengal has now emerged as a state with ‘zero’ child labour.

While answering questions during the Question and Answer Session regarding the number of child labourers in the state at the moment, the minister provided statistics on how the number of child labourers dropped in the past few years. Ghatak told the House that in 2020, there were 14 child labourers in the state while in 2021 the number dropped to a mere six.

"The number dropped to three in 2022, one in 2023 and zero labourers were found till October 31, 2024," the minister added. Lauding the efforts of multiple departments, Ghatak said that camps are conducted throughout the year to ramp up awareness about child labour in the state.

"In this, help is taken from the state government as well as labour organisations. The state observes Child Labour Prevention Day on June 12 every year. Not only that, the state government spends a huge sum of money on the rehabilitation of child labourers and other issues," Ghatak added.

The veteran minister said that until 2021, a central scheme was in operation to meet the expenses of rehabilitation, development and education of these child labourers.

However, since the shutting down of this scheme in 2021, the state government has been overseeing it. The labour minister said that this has been possible due to constant monitoring by officials, awareness campaigns, joint efforts of labour organisations and voluntary organisations and employers.

Ghatak appealed to the legislators to be more active in this regard. "Work done to earn money by anyone below the age of 14 is against the law. In this case, only income from family business and acting profession is exempted," the minister said.

Opposition From Activists:However, the minister's claim was contradicted by several NGOs and activists. "Child labourers were present before and exist even now. I am not sure what data has been presented in the Assembly, but this is far from true. If we collate the results, each district in West Bengal will throw up contradicting data," an activist told ETV Bharat, on the condition of anonymity.