Save the Children NGO Job Circular 2022 aims to end all child labor by 2022. Save the Children has set up a forum to further develop the roadmap to achieve this target.
This week marks the end of the ICJ case against the incorporation of Circular No. 12/1941 of Save the Children International (SCI) and Save the Children Fund (SCF), Job Circular 2022.
Save the Children has written a letter to the Prime Minister, saying that the government is “grateful” for its long-term partnership on the issue.
Earlier, the NGO had taken the Indian government and Indian NGOs to task for implementing the Circular on Save the Children. The NGO claimed that the Circular’s “unnecessary amendments in laws and unjustified administrative decisions” would only hamper the efforts to improve child labor.
But Save the Children didn’t stop. The NGO further claimed that the new job orientation given to the workers does not ensure a minimum earning rate of 20 percent, along with unemployment benefits.
Save the Children NGO Job Circular 2022
The NGO had also said that it would continue to work with the government of India and the National Council of Social Welfare (NCSW) to take the issue further and “independently formulate and implement policies and programs to end child labor by 2022”.
During this week’s visit to India by the ICJ, the bench, headed by Justice Mark Taffel of Australia had asked, “What about the legal requirements like implementing the Circular? This was very important. You must be saving the children of India.”
The ICJ had also pointed out to the Indian government that the initiative could not be adopted in isolation as its success could have a knock-on effect. “This whole initiative may be embraced in its entirety. No one can stop you and how can anyone stop you?” the ICJ had asked.
“What is the purpose of the Job Circular? This should also include children from lower-income families. Are there any other schemes to protect the children of the poor? The same should be brought forth,” the ICJ had added.
READ THE FULL LETTER
To: Honorable Narendra Modi
SIR:
Dear Honorable Prime Minister,
Over the past four decades, Save the Children has partnered with the Indian Government, the National Council of Social Welfare (NCSW), all states, and the private sector to save and improve the lives of millions of Indian children and young people through education and child labor reduction efforts.
I write to you today as a representative of Save the Children, the international non-governmental organization that our government has partnered with over the years to support child labor reduction efforts and the implementation of Job Circular 2022.
With Job Circular 2022, Save the Children aims to end child labor by 2022. For us, this would be a remarkable achievement since it would reduce the estimated 220 million children currently working in India to just 35 million.
As a partner to the Government of India, Save the Children has developed a roadmap for the next five years, which will focus on creating employment opportunities, improving the child labor reduction process, and mobilizing additional funding to achieve this goal.
Save the Children believes in contributing positively to the government’s broader poverty reduction efforts. Job Circular 2022 is a well-intentioned effort to mitigate the disadvantage faced by some of India’s poorest and most vulnerable children and we are grateful for our long-term partnership with the Government of India and the National Council of Social Welfare (NCSW) to take the initiative forward.