NASHIK: Child labour is a major problem faced by the country and is ruining the lives of many children. Strict laws have been enacted by the state and the central government against that. Nevertheless, the rate of child labour remains the same. The need for concrete measures to curb child labour was raised at a state-level online seminar on anti-child labour.
At the seminar, Santosh Shinde, a former member of the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, opened the discussion by explaining the current situation of child labour, especially in the state of Maharashtra and the implementation of legal provisions to prevent child labour. The first session discussed in detail the problems of child labour, causes and effects of child labour, current government schemes and initiatives. State Education Research and Training Council Deputy Director Dr Kamaladevi Awate appealed to the dignitaries and adults present to come together to eradicate child labour and give a bright future to all their children.
The principal of the district education and training institute Dr. Shobha Khandare opined that it is important to implement the Right to Education Act. Labor Officer Datta Pawar informed about the legal provisions for the prevention of child labour and various initiatives taken by the Labor Department in the last few years. Former Parliamentary Officer Ujjwal Uke, former Vice President of Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce Sameer Dudhgaonkar, Radhakrishna Deshmukh of Anti-Child Labor Campaign, Save the Children’s Ipsita Das, Atul Bhalerao, Alicia Tauro, Sonali More were present at the seminar.
Government should collect data
A number of laws have been enacted to prevent child labour. However, their implementation has not been effective enough to prevent child labour. The government should collect information by conducting surveys in an effective manner. Ramakant Satpathy of Save the Children suggested that NGOs should develop alternative methods of collecting information.
