Dr. Justice K. Ramaswamy, Member, NHRC visited districts Bhadoi, Mirzapur and Varanasi of the Carpet Belt of Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the child labour situation prevailing in the carpet industries there. He was accompanied by Shri Chaman Lal, Special Rapporteur, NHRC. The Member had separate meetings with the district officials, representatives of carpet manufacturers and household units and the office bearers of some of the NGOs working in the field of child labour in these districts.

The District Magistrates of the three districts briefed the Member about the status of progress of identification of children engaged in the carpet industry, admission of retrieved children to formal or non-formal schools for education, rehabilitation of affected families in accordance with the direction of the Supreme Court and prosecution of the offending employers. Detailed statistics in this regard were given.

In his address to the officials, the Member stressed that it was the professional and moral responsibility of the Administration to effectively enforce the Child Labour and Bonded Labour Acts, mobilize community support in these ventures and forge linkages between governmental and non-governmental resources in order to ensure the economic and social rehabilitation of the affected families. The Member also urged the District Administration to make periodic surprise checks on the working of co-operative societies of bonded labourers within their jurisdiction, so as to make sure that the labourers did not fall into the debt trap again and relapse into bondage.

The Member also held meetings with representatives of the carpet manufacturers and some NGOs working in this field. He heard out their problems and asked them to ensure that there was no child labour employed in their industries.