Nepal has over 2.1 m child labourers

There are 240,000 child laborers in Nepal, where the number of girls is more than the number of boys, according to the National Labor Survey 2010.

The information was shared by the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management, the National News Agency RSS reported on Thursday.

Of the total child laborers, 48 percent of child laborers are found in the rural area while 20 percent work in the cities. Among them, the youngest is only 5 years old. 51 percent of them are between 10 to 14 years old and 24 percent are aged 15 to 17.

Joint Secretary at the Ministry, Purna Chandra Bhattarai said that some 60 percent are girls doing hazardous work.

Among these, only 43 percent have been able to go to school.

There are 24.7 percent child labourers between the age group of 5 to 9 years while 51.3 percent are between 10 to 15 years and 24 percent are between 15 to 17 years. More than 127,000 child labourers work in risky conditions.

According to the figures released by the ministry, 44 percent child labourers earn between Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 5,000 a month and only 8 percent of them earn more than Rs. 5000.

Similarly, some 3,000 children work in bricks factories across the country.

There are an estimated 5,000 street children in Nepal, 1300 of them living in the streets of the the capital city.

The officials also said that though the government aims to abolish child labour by 2020, this will not be possible without the support from the non-governmental organisations and social awareness.