Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday, 12 June 2026, called the fight against child labour a collective social responsibility and announced that a comprehensive campaign is under way across Uttarakhand to identify, rescue, and mainstream child labourers into formal education.

Context

Posting in Hindi on World Day Against Child Labour, CM Dhami stated: 'बाल श्रम के विरुद्ध लड़ाई केवल कानून की नहीं, बल्कि समाज की सामूहिक जिम्मेदारी है' — 'The fight against child labour is not just a matter of law, but the collective responsibility of society.' He described an ongoing state-wide campaign to pull children out of the 'vicious cycle of labour' and place books in their hands instead of tools.

The Chief Minister also issued a direct public appeal: anyone who spots a child working at a workplace or in their neighbourhood should immediately inform the police or the relevant administrative department.

Policy Backdrop

India's legal framework on child labour has been progressively tightened. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 extended the absolute ban on employing children below 14 years and introduced steeper penalties for violations. The law also restricts employment of adolescents aged 14–18 in hazardous industries.

At the national level, the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme, operational since 1988, funds the identification, withdrawal, and rehabilitation of child labourers through special bridge schools before their enrolment in mainstream education. India has also ratified ILO Conventions 138 and 182, committing to minimum age standards and the elimination of the worst forms of child labour. The Right to Education Act, 2009 further mandates free and compulsory schooling for all children aged 6–14, creating a legal scaffold that state campaigns like Uttarakhand's are designed to activate on the ground.

The PENCIL portal — Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour — maintained by the central government, allows states to log complaints, track rescues, and report rehabilitation progress in real time, providing a monitoring backbone for such campaigns.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are children trapped in informal labour — domestic work, construction sites, roadside eateries, and agriculture — predominantly from economically vulnerable families. Uttarakhand's geography, which includes remote hill districts with limited school access, has historically made enforcement difficult and rehabilitation more complex than in urban settings.

Employers in the informal sector, particularly small businesses and households, face legal exposure under the 2016 Amendment Act, which prescribes fines and imprisonment for violations. Civil society groups, district administration, and the state police are the operational arms of the rescue and rehabilitation chain.

What's Next

State-level quarterly progress reports on child rescues and school enrolments under the campaign will be a key indicator of its reach. Integration with the national PENCIL portal would allow independent tracking of Uttarakhand's performance against other states. The Chief Minister's public call for citizen reporting signals that community participation is being positioned as a force-multiplier alongside law enforcement — a model that, if sustained, could inform how other hill states approach the problem.