NCPCR takes note of child labour at Delhi-NCR landfills amid irresponsible e-waste dumps

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has taken cognisance of reports of the involvement of child labour at landfills where e-waste is irresponsibly dumped and will ensure action against the offenders, its senior official said on Wednesday.

NCPCR chairperson Priyanka Kanoongo said the apex child rights body is seized of the issue, highlighted by a recent industry report and non-government organizations (NGOs) working on related matters.

NGOs and experts have earlier raised concerns over the engagement of children who work as rag pickers in landfills in Delhi-NCR and are often exposed to e-waste dumped at these sites, where discarded mobile phone components, among others, are an increasing contributor to waste.

The country has laws which make it clear that engagement of children in rag-picking itself is a crime, it is a cognizable offence. The law states if e-waste is disposed irresponsibly even on a road and if a child picks it up, then it becomes a cognizable offence, Kanoongo told

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