Mangalore, Jun 12: Dakshina Kannada District Legal Services Authority, district administration and District Child Labour Planning Association jointly organised a programme to observe World Day Against Child Labour at the Town Hall in the city on Wednesday.
Speaking after inaugurating the programme, the District & Sessions Judge Choudapurkar Arun said that although child labour was substantially less in Dakshina Kannada as compared to other districts, it still existed in the district.
“If we introspect the reasons, it is mainly due to poverty and large family that drives the parenst to send their children to work. We have to ponder over ways to combat and eradicate child labour, and also rehabilitate the children rescued from the clutches of child labour and provide them education. We should vow to eradicate child labour from the society,” he said.
Delivering the introductory remarks, Dakshina Kannada Assistant Labour Commissioner D G Nagesh said that Asia had the largest number of child labourers in the world, with over 2 crore children engaged in child labour in India and 8.5 lakh children in Karnataka. According to statistics, 91 percent of the child labour in India occurs in rural areas and 9 percent in cities. Out of the total child labourers employed, about 55 percent of the children are male while 45 percent are female. Those children engaged in work are deprived of adequate nutrition, security, education, leisure, clothes and basic freedom, violating their rights, which is why it is essential to curb child labour in India, he said.
“Although several laws that protect the rights of children exist in our legal system, child labour is still found in abundance in India. However, it is substantially less in our district compared to other districts. Awareness programmes on child labour were organised in 10,000 institutions in the district. A total of 122 children were rescued from hazardous work environment, while 37 were rescued from non-hazardous work conditions in the district,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, chairperson of Child Welfare Committee Asha Nayak said that changes or amendments in the law were necessary to combat the ones who indulge in child labour, who would otherwise go scot-free. “We have to have a transparent working system,” she said.
In his presidential address, District Commissioner Dr N Prakash said that every governmental department and non-governmental offices should join hands to eradicate child labour.
On the occasion, CEO of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Dr K N Vijayaprakash delivered an oath to the students and audience present. In the programme, 15 female students were distributed free school bags sponsored by the Labour Department.
Prior to the programme, over 300 students from various colleges took part in an awareness rally from Ambedkar Circle to the Town Hall to raise awareness and activism against child labour.
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