Bhubaneswar, April 30: Dreaming of a new India with no child labour at all, the Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL), a confederation of ace volunteers from across the nation who have been fighting for protection of child rights and advocating for robust Juvenile Justice, rolled out a massive campaign in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on Wednesday, to mark the National Anti-Child Labour Day.
Hundreds of social activists under the aegis of the CACL, took out a symbolic human chain here at the Pantha Niwas show casing their deep dissonance for the prevalence of child labour yet in the civilized society, despite extensive provisions of law, enforcement and amenities to doing away with the social evil. According to the national database, 11% of the work force of India is child labour.One in every 10, workers in India is a child. Assessing its malign fall-out on the way of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and national development as a whole, the human chain configured here also committed to unitedly fight against the child labour practices with indomitable will, mutual co-operation and community participation.
Follwing a workshop on the policies on Protection of Child Rights, the activists worked out on a poster that features, ‘Say no to Child labour-But Education for All’, and took out an Anti-Child Labour Campaign for public awareness. The 44-day-long movement for the social cause will be wrapped off on the International Anti-Child Labour Day, slated on June 12, disseminating the vulnerability of Child Labour and its long-term percussions on the human resources development.
The 44-day innovative campaign that the CACL used to instrument since last five years, was flagged off by Additional Labour Commissioner, Madam Mohan Paik, Additional Labour Commissioner, Government of Odisha, B B. Acharya, Technical Consultant, Department of Labour emphasized on addressing the root causes of child labour, i.e. poverty and socio economic distress among the communities through economic empowerment of families. He called for collaborative action led by civil society organisation, government and other stakeholders.
He called for fulfilling the commitment of the campaign that is the child labour free India by 2030, as a common goal.
Among other key dignitaries, CACL National Convenor – Ashok Singh Jha, State Convenor (Odisha) Gopal Krushna Kar, Former National Convenor- Ranjan Kumar Mohanty, former State Convenors- Sudhir Sabat and Ranjit Pattanayak, Guru Prasad, Country Director, EDUCO, Father Jacob, Founder of PREM and many other dignitaries, graced the occasion.
Worth mentioning, the national secretariat of the Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL) has been advocating for a child labour free India since 1992. At present CACL is active in 18 states across the nation. With a new ethical framework, the CACL is now working out on a zero tolerance policy, to do away with the social hindrance, by rejuvenating the ‘District-Level Labour Task Force Committees’, which are yet in the freezer, long after constitution.
