NEW DELHI, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Child labor can be eradicated from India only through proper implementation of existing laws, said Heeralal Samariya, secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Employment, on Wednesday.
"The ideal place for a child is school and not work. The employment of a child below 14 years is completely prohibited in any occupation or processes," said Samariya while speaking at an event to mark the World Day Against Child Labor.
The theme for this year is "Children shouldn't Work in Fields, But on Dreams," which focuses on the importance of ending child labor and calls for evolving strategies to end child labor.
According to Samariya, Census-2011 showed a decline in child labor in the country from 12.6 million in 2001 to 10.1 million.
Speaking on the occasion, Kalpana Rajsinghot, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Employment, said that National Child Labor Project (NCLP) aims to eliminate all forms of child labor through identification and preparing children withdrawn from work for main stream education along with vocational training.
