Portal to check child labour launched in Manipur

Newmai News Network Imphal | September 26   Manipur Labour & Employment Minister Thokchom Singh attended the launching of the web portal PENCIL - Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour – for the effective campaign against child labour. The portal was launched at the National Conference on Child Labour in the national capital today.   The PENCIL web portal was launched and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Child and Adolescent Labour was released by Union Home Minister, Government of India, Rajnath Singh at the National Conference on Child Labour held at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, Chanakya Puri, New Delhi.   Developed by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the portal PENCIL is an electronic device to effectively implement the National Child Labour Project, (NCLP) to work against child labour for no child labour in the country. PENCIL portal has five components — Child Tracking System, Complaint Corner, State Government, National Child Labour Project and Convergence.   Radheshyam, in the National Conference on Child Labour, said that due to bad road conditions in Manipur and also in other places in the North Eastern States, it is hard to implement certain centrally sponsored schemes. He urged the central government to extend more support and help towards Manipur and North Eastern States as the state still needs to develop in terms of infrastructure and many more.   He added that the PENCIL portal and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Child and Adolescent Labour would give an extra hand in fighting against and monitoring child abuse. And since it is an online portal even the Project Societies can access from anywhere, he said.   The Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) aims for Child Labour Free India by creating a platform for trainers, practitioners and monitoring agencies, ensuring prohibition and protection of children and adolescents from hazardous labour.   The PENCIL portal is to provide effective implementation and monitoring mechanism for both enforcement of the legislative and NCLP. It is also an online mechanism for connecting the Central Government to State Government, District and to all Project Societies.