Patna: Rescued child labourers, studying in about 1,400 schools in Bihar, will be provided mid-day meals, an official said on Friday.

"All children studying in child labour schools will be provided free mid-day meals. It is part of an incentive to attract children to child labour schools in the state," Bihar Labour Resources Minister Avadesh Narayan Singh said.

He said 1,400 child labour schools running in Bihar under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) scheme will be covered under the mid-day meal scheme.

Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi had last month announced a new action plan for rehabilitation of child labourers. Under the plan, specific steps for schooling, motivation, awareness and stringent enforcement of law will be taken, the minister had said.

There are about 11 lakh child labourers in Bihar, accounting for 8.9 percent of child labour in India. IANS