Krishna sets 2007 deadline for ending child labour

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, MAY 31. The Chief Minister, Mr. S.M.Krishna, has said that the State Government is committed to ending child labour in the State.

He was speaking after releasing the ``Action plan for the elimination of child labour'' here on Thursday. The function also saw the inauguration of the Karmikara Bhavan on Bannerghatta Road.

Mr. Krishna said child labour could not be eliminated by the Government alone, but it would take all steps to end the menace. There was a need for serious introspection on the issue. The evil of child labour had been prevalent for long, and it could only be abolished in stages. He urged the people and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to join hands with the Government in tackling the problem.

Calling for a movement to eradicate child labour, he said steps would be taken to end the practice by 2007, and added that for this, efforts should be made to implement the action plan from this year.

He said child labour was mainly prevalent in hotel and catering, sericulture, beedi and household sectors. Employers were now becoming aware of the problems posed by this, when their exports were being rejected on the grounds that children had been employed for producing the goods.

He regretted that the employers managed to circumvent the laws against child labour. Apart from political will to tackle the problem, the will of society was also important, he said.

Assuring the representatives of the UNICEF and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that all possible steps would be taken to prevent child labour, he said it was a complex and difficult proposition entailing enormous efforts on the part of the Government.

Mr. Krishna directed the Ministry of Labour and the Labour Department to deal firmly with the perpetrators of child labour and those who violated the laws to prevent the menace. ``The Government will not interfere in the actions taken by the Labour Department in this direction,'' he said.

He asked the employers to become more responsible and understand their obligations. Citing the case of the garment industry, he said some units employed children, and if the foreign purchasers came to know of it, they would reject their exports.

Calling for the labour force to be educated and informed about the latest developments, he said they would be more relevant in the era of globalisation. Hence there was a need for more discussions and debates between employers and employees.

He hoped that the action plan would help the State tackle the problem of child labour more effectively.

The Minister for Wakfs and Labour, Mr. A.M.Hindasgeri, said this was the first time after Independence that any Government was giving such importance to the Labour Department. The Government was taking the help of UNICEF and other organisations to eliminate child labour.

He said the bhavan had been built at a cost of Rs. 4.6 crores. All the wings of the Labour Department would function there, he added.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Mr. K.H Srinivasa, said there were nearly one crore child labourers in the country. Ten lakhs of them were in the State. He suggested that job-oriented programmes and courses be upgraded to prevent unemployment.

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Section  : Southern States
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