(a)whether the data on child labour provided by the Government is much less than the data provided by various other reliable sources;
(b)if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the reaction of the Government in this regard;
(c)the details of basis and mechanism in place for compilation of the said Government data; and
(d)the efforts made by the Government to accurately compile the data related to child labour in the country?
MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)
(a) & (b): The data taken by the Government on child labour is based on the data provided by the Census and the number of main workers in the age group of 5-14 years in the country is 43.53 lakh as per 2011 Census. Office of Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India conducts decennial Population Census, the last being in 2011, wherein data on various demographic and socio-economic parameters are collected from each and every individual in the country. Main Workers, as defined in Census, are the persons who were engaged in economically productive activity for more than six months during the year preceding the Census period.
(c) & (d): Census is conducted by an extended de facto canvasser method. Under this approach, data is collected from every individual by visiting the household and canvassing the questionnaire all over the country, simultaneously over a period of three weeks, without any omission or duplication. The count is then updated to the reference date and time, by conducting a Revision Round. In the Revision Round, any changes in the entries that arise on account of births, deaths and migration between the time of the enumerator’s visit and the reference date/time is noted down and the record is updated.
To quantify the omission and duplication, if any, in the Census enumeration, that is coverage error as well as to measure the response error in respect of certain selected characteristics canvassed at the Census called content error, a Post Enumeration Survey (PES) is conducted for evaluating the result of Population Census.
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