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    Children’s Rights International LogoJOURNAL
    Children’s Rights International
    Justice is Hope
    An Initiative of World Congress on Family Law and Children’s Rights Inc.

     

    Awareness Programme Against Child Labour Planned

    Tuesday, August 21, 2007
    Staff Reporter
    The Hindu

    Nagercoil: The State convener of Campaign against Child Labour (CACL), Y. Siluvai Vasthiyan, has urged the Government to ensure the safety of 44,000 children, who were reported missing annually. Of that only 22 per cent got traced.

    There were four lakh children (below 18 years juvenile justice (care and protection) act – 2000) who were victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the country and every year one lakh children were lured in to it. Over 10 crore children were forced in to various forms of labour and that it was nearly one third of the entire children population in India.

    Mr. Siluvai said that it was proposed to conduct awareness programme throughout the State, including Kanyakumari district.

    Various non-governmental organisations and trade unions were exploiting the disaster-hit coastal population, who had already lost their livelihood sources. Girls were targeted and taken to other districts for exploitative labour process. This phenomenon was increasing day by day.

    Increasing rate of poverty and the collapse of harmonious living conditions in rural areas due to globalisation and liberalisation process, natural disasters like tsunami, flood and cyclone and other calamities, lack of awareness and education, vulnerabilities of children in general, lack of proper laws and non-enforcement were some of the causes for the increase in child labour.

    What one can do is to demand free, quality, compulsory education for all children up to 18 years, report instances of child labour and child abuse to authorities and to CACL, pay minimum living wages to adult employees and ensure that their children attended school and urge the political parties and elected representatives to take steps to eliminate the child labour.

    The CACL was committed to the eradication of child labour through building public opinion, investigation of abuse, exploitation, advocacy, lobbying and monitoring of national and international developments. The campaign believed in networking and alliance building with other likeminded groups. It intervened in specific cases of violation of child rights and abuse of children and initiated relevant lobbying to restore justice and rights of the children, said the district convener, Tho. Nainar.

    Disclaimer

    The views expressed in the CRI Journal are those of the author's and are included to enhance discussion, they do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Children's Rights International.