What it means

Officials clarified that ‘child labour-free’ status does not imply that every household in the district was physically inspected. Rather, it means that all identified child labourers were withdrawn from work, enrolled in schools, and their families linked with welfare schemes. A working child under the age of 14 years is considered a child labour as per Indian laws.

Village-level child welfare and protection committees, school management, and local bodies verified the absence of child labour before declaring their respective areas child labour-free. Officials said the declaration currently covers all 496 gram panchayats in the district. Efforts in urban areas are continuing through ward-level interventions, involving resident welfare committees and elected representatives, to raise awareness against child labour.

Multi-department effort

Dubey added that the campaign went beyond labour department inspections and became a district-wide social movement against child labour.

During the first phase, meetings were held with traders’ associations, industrial bodies, hotel and restaurant associations, market groups and village representatives. Business establishments were encouraged not only to refrain from employing children but also to report instances of child labour.

Around 45,000 stickers declaring establishments free of child labour were distributed. Dubey added that local media also played a significant role in spreading awareness.

The second phase focused on rural areas, in collaboration with Panchayati Raj institutions, women’s welfare officials, schools, Anganwadi workers, ASHA workers and village heads.

Deputy Labour Commissioner of Jhansi, Kiran Mishra described the programme as “self-motivation based”, with businesses voluntarily participating in the campaign and certifying that child labour was not being employed in their establishments.

Bringing children back to school

Abhishek Kushwaha, district consultant with NGO Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan, said the campaign relied heavily on identifying school dropouts. Education department data on out-of-school children was shared with agencies, and village-level committees tracked children working in villages or nearby blocks and facilitated their return to school.

Officials said more than 3,000 out-of-school children were identified and sent back to schools. Dubey said the district also identified around 71 child labourers during the campaign and ensured their rehabilitation through school enrolment and welfare support.

Officials said Jhansi’s experience has already been shared with the state government and some of its practices could be replicated elsewhere.

Umesh Gupta, state head of NGO British Asian Trust, said they have been supporting the labour department in Jhansi, Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur, Chandauli and Siddharthnagar to make the districts child labour-free by December 2026, a year before the target.

In Jhansi, officials said after rural areas, efforts are now on to make the entire Jhansi division — Jhansi, Lalitpur and Jalaun — free of child labour.

“Our message is that child labour should be eradicated from the entire country,” Dubey said.

The writer is an intern at Lucknow office of The Indian Express