District Administration Holds World Day Against Child Labour
Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada District Legal Aid Authority, District Administration, Zilla Panchayat and District Child Labour Planning Association jointly organised the Anti-Child labour day and legal awareness programme at the City Town Hall here on June 12.
The programme began with an invocation. Assistant Labour Commissioner K B Nagaraj welcomed the gathering. Prl District and Sessions Judge K S Bilagi inaugurated the programme by lighting the traditional lamp along with other dignitaries.
In his inaugural address, K S Bilagi said that comparing to other districts and cities, the statistics of child labour in the city is very low, though it is appreciable and a matter of pride. According to the survey in Dakshina Kannada, there were only two child labours compared to other districts in the state. The people of Dakshina Kannada should be role models to eradicate child labour.”
K S Bilagi further said, “Children are considered like God, when we have much devotion towards God then how come we send our children who are like God to work outside. Children are innocent and they need to be educated. We love our children and we want them to be educated but what about the children on the streets? Why do we not think about them? Nowadays there is equality between men and women since women are also educated and they too work. Women have the keys to correct the society. Earlier girls were not allowed to continue their studies after 10th or PUC but now women shine in every field. Love your children and educate them instead of finding God in the Temple/Church/Mosque, you should find God in your children. Curbing child labour is the responsibility of the society.”
In his presidential address, ADC Kumar said, “Today we have observed the World Day Against Child Labour, this day should not be limited for one day but should be a continuous process. It is our duty to eliminate child labour. There are children who are forced to work in Industries or Hotels. In such cases, we should look into the cause of it which is very more important. One among the various reasons of child labour is big families because if there are many children in the family, parents cannot provide proper education and basic facilities. In such a situation, some parents send their children to work for meagre wages so that the family will get some additional income to meet the expenses. Fundamental duties are more important than fundamental rights. Each one of us has the responsibility to eliminate child labour from our society.”
Senior Civil Judge Mallana Gowda Patil administered the oath against child labour on the occasion to the gathering. School bags were distributed to 20 students by K S Bilagi on the occasion. Senior Labour Officer Ganapathi Hegde delivered the vote of thanks.
President of Children Welfare Committee Nikesh Shetty, Deputy Director Public Education Walter H D’Mello, Deputy Director Women and Children Development department Sundar Poojary, Director PADI Renny D’Souza, Dinaker Shetty, Director Prajna Counselling centre Hilda Rayappan and others were also present.