At least nine schools in Panchmahals and seven in Dahod under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) have been shut down due to shortage of funds.

Sources in the state Labour department said the fate of about 150-odd children is at stake and is also doubtful as the funds sent by Union Labour Ministry is not adequate and funds available with them is not enough to pay the teachers.

Officials said apart from schools in Kutch district, no instalment of funds for the upkeep has been received since December 2008. They added the funds sent by the Union ministry are irregular and has been affecting their projects.

“In Panchmahals and Godhra, some of the trusts who had given buildings or uniforms to the school students have been paying money. But they have also stopped because these organisations cannot fund anymore. We had no other option but to close these schools,” said Government Labour Officer G L Patel.

On the other hand, Assistant Labour Commissioner for the Vadodara Region, V J Pandya, who looks after the projects in Central Gujarat, said Dahod and Panchmahals are the worst affected among the NCLP schools.

According to the Labour department officials, funds amounting to around Rs 6 lakh for seven NCLP schools in Dahod, Rs 12 lakh for nine schools in Panchmahals and Rs 30 lakh for the schools in Vadodara have not been released yet.

Meanwhile, 85 teachers for the three districts and other NCLP teachers in state get paltry sum of Rs 1500 as salary.

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