Bal Shramik Vidya Yojana: 100 kids selected to end child labour

Kanpur: As many as 100 children were selected under Bal Shramik Vidya Yojana, a campaign to abolish child labour and educate children.Under the scheme, children are provided regular financial assistance to continue their education. Boys receive Rs 1,000 per month and girls Rs 1,200 per month directly into their accounts. Along with this, an incentive amount of Rs 6,000 is also provided on passing class 8, class 9 or high school examination so that children remain consistent in their studies.Rahul, a class 9 student who benefited from the scheme, said that earlier he had to work as a labourer, but now he was able to go to school regularly. Pooja, a class 8 student, said that financial assistance made her studies easier and she now wanted to study further. Between April and Dec, a total of Rs 5,49,400 was disbursed to 72 children, while payments to the remaining beneficiaries are in process. The selected children included 33 girls and 39 boys. Of these, 9 children are studying in class 8, 14 in class 9 and 13 children in class 10, while other children are being prepared for further studies. Through the scheme, such children are being connected to mainstream education who were once forced into child labour and whose parents are deceased or disabled or the family lacks a stable source of livelihood. Now, these children are crossing the threshold of school and studying in classes 8, 9 and 10.Under the scheme, eligible children were selected by the labour department after on-the-spot verification and inspection to ensure that the benefits of the scheme reach only the genuine needy.Assistant labour commissioner Ram Lakhan Patel stated that the government's clear intention is to ensure that no child is engaged in child labour and that every child is educated. Eligible children are selected after inspection for this purpose.