Dynamics of Employment of Children and Socio-Economic Reality: A Study of Children in Hazardous Occupations in East and West Jaintia Hills Districts of Meghalaya.

Abstract

The study aimed at examining the prevalence of child labour in the villages of East and West Jaintia Hills Districts of Meghalaya where coal mining is predominant. One hundred villages across East and West Jaintia Hills were selected for the study. The selection of the villages for the study was based on the Vulnerability Mapping Survey in rural areas, conducted by the Government of Meghalaya during the year 2013. The Vulnerability Mapping Survey covered 6168 villages (39 Community and Rural Development Blocks and 579 Gram Sevak Circles) across the 11 districts in the state. The survey was an attempt to locate the number of villages where the occupations and processes prohibited for children under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986 were prevalent.