Objective:
Provision of opportunities including non-formal education, vocational training, etc, to working children to facilitate their entry/re-entry into mainstream education in cases where they have either not attended any learning system or where for some reasons their education has been discontinued with a view to preventing their continued or future exploitation.
Target Group:
The programme will lend support to projects in urban areas, not already being covered by the existing schemes of the Ministry of Labour, which provide support for the wholesome development of child workers and potential child workers especially those who have none or ineffective family support such as children of slum/pavement dwellers/drug addicts, children living on railway platforms/ along railway lines, children working in shops, dhabas, mechanic shops etc., children engaged as domestic workers, children whose parents are in jail, children of migrant labourers/sex workers, leprosy patients etc.
Programme Component:
The programme will focus on measures such as [a] facilitating introduction to/return to the mainstream education system as children at study are not children at work, [b] counseling to parents, heads of families, relatives of the targeted children so as to prevent their exploitation, and [c] give vocational training wherever necessary.
The programme will be implemented through composite centre for providing any/all activities as indicated above. ( Pattern of assistance at Annexe-I)
Eligibility for Assistance.
Non-Governmental Organisations meeting the following requirements are eligible for assistance under this programme:
| a |
It is a registered body under an appropriate Act for at least two years so that it gets a corporate status and a legal personality and a group liability is for its activities. |
| b |
It has an appropriate administrative structure and a duly constituted managing/executive committee. |
| c |
The aims and objects of the organisation’s Memorandum of Association should include the basic objective of this scheme, viz., the welfare of child |
| d |
The organization is initiated and governed by its own members on democratic principles, without any external control. |
| e |
The organization shall not run for profit to any individual or a body of individuals and shall take an undertaking to submit periodically and punctually reports and returns as prescribed from time to time by the Government [Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment]. |
Inspection and Audit:
The Ministry from time to time will specify the nature, type and periodicity of the inspection and the agency, which will be designated to carry out the inspection. The entire expenditure on this account will be borne by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment from within the budget allocation for this programme. The audit of the organization will be carried out as per Government of India’s rule in this regard from time to time.
Monitoring and Evaluation:
The programme will be monitored by way of regular inspections as detailed above. They will also be evaluated from time to time on the basis of their impact on the target group. The number of children who have actually been inducted into the mainstream education system through bridge education and also number of parents who have actually withdrawn their children from a working life as a result of the project will be ascertained over a period of time and shall be taken as a parameter for ascertaining the efficacy of the programme.
The programme will be evaluated after a year and the findings will be shared with the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Human Resource Development (Departments of Women and Child Development and Elementary Edcuation & Literacy) and modifications will be made in the scheme, if necessary.
Release of Grants in aid:
| 1 |
The grant will be released to selected organizations in two equal half yearly instalments. The first installment (50 percent) will be released as soon as possible for the year to which the application pertains. An audited statement of accounts and the performance report for the previous year shall, however, be required before the second installment is released. An organization shall before it receives assistance from the Government of India execute a Continuity Bond valid for 5 years in the prescribed proforma to the effect that in the event of its failure to comply by and or all the conditions of the grant shall be liable to refund the whole or such part of the grant as the Government may decide with interest thereon. (General terms and conditions for release of grant-in-aid at Annexe-II) |
| 2 |
Should the actual expenditure on the items for which assistance was sanctioned fall below the level at which the grant was determined, the organization shall be liable to refund unutilized portion of the grant to the Government of India. |
| 3 |
The organization must exercise reasonable economy in expenditure on approved items. |
| 4 |
The organization shall maintain a record of all assets acquired wholly or substantially out of government grant. Such assets shall not be disposed of, encumbered or utilized for purpose other than those for which the grants were given without prior sanction of the Government of India. |
| 5 |
The organization will also submit to the Ministry a statement showing the equipment purchased out of the assistance with its price. |
| 6 |
An organization applying for the grant under the scheme will have to enclose with their application, certificates from the Ministry of Labour and Department of Elementary Edcuation & Literacy that they have not already received or are expected to receive a grant from some other official sources for the purpose for which the application is being made under this scheme. If it is found at a later date that the organization had withheld or suppressed information regarding the grant from other sources, the grant from Government of India may be cancelled, reduced or the organization may be asked to refund the grant already paid to it. |
| 7 |
The organization should have its own organizational budget for the year for which it proposes to apply for assistance. |
| 8 |
The service of the organization should be open to all citizens of India without distinction of religion, race, caste, language or any of them. |
| 9 |
The organization shall be open to inspection by an officer of the Central Government and the State Government or a nominee of these authorities. |
| 10 |
The organization shall furnish to the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment such information as the Ministry may require from time to time. |
NB: Application format for proposals are as given in “Annexure-III”.
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