Sunday, 10 NOVEMBER 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Labour department is planning to organise an awareness programme at the government universities and colleges in the Dehradun district to reduce child labour. Informing about this, assistant labour commissioner Deepak Kumar said that in alignment with the instructions of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and Dehradun district magistrate Savin Bansal, the department has launched a special campaign to identify children engaged in child labour. This campaign is being conducted regularly on weekends. In addition to complying with the NCPCR’s directives, the department has initiated a one-month campaign starting from October 1, which involves identifying instances of child labour in establishments such as cracker factories. He further stated that during the month-long campaign, they had inspected several factories but had not identified any children engaging in child labour. He also added that the NCPCR had instructed them to extend the special campaign, originally scheduled to end on October 31, till November 20 focusing on the unregistered factories in the Dehradun district.
Regarding future efforts to prevent child labour, Kumar added that the department is planning to conduct child labour awareness programmes at district colleges and universities to educate young people about the laws and regulations surrounding child labour. He also stated that the department will soon hold meetings with relevant officials to ensure proper implementation.
Kumar emphasised that through diligent vigilance and intensified campaigns recently initiated, there has been an average 70 per cent decrease in complaints of child labour. He noted that up until June, the department had received numerous complaints, but starting in September, a significant reduction in child labour complaints in the Dehradun district has been observed.
So far, the Labour department has rescued 10 child labourers through its special campaigns. Six child labourers were rescued in September, and four were rescued in October under the special campaign.
