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Child labour still persists in Telangana districts
In spite of launching ‘Operation Smile’ against child labour, the heinous practice of engaging children below 14 years of age in brick kilns is still in vogue.
Adilabad: In spite of launching ‘Operation Smile’ against child labour, the heinous practice of engaging children below 14 years of age in brick kilns is still in vogue.
Their education and lives are being destroyed in Adilabad, Nirmal, Asifabad and Mancherial districts. There are over 500 kilns in the four districts each employing not less than eight to 10 children. In fact, over 4000 have been engaged in them.
Though it is an offence to employ children below the age of 14 years, the kiln owners are not hesitating to employ them to improve their profits.
The children, who are supposed to be in schools are working in the kilns putting their life at stake.The Center launched ‘Operation Smile’ to save them from working as child labourers and from taking up hazardous occupations.
As part of it, child protection officials, NGOs and labour department officials got 945 children released from the kilns. During December and January, raids on the kilns companies resulted in freeing 35 children.
Talking to The Hans India on Tuesday, Child Rights Protection Officer said that the freed children were being rehabilitated and enrolled in schools.
Around 95 per cent of workers hail from the neighbouring States of Maharashtra and Odisha. They are steeped in abject poverty. The parents work in the brick kilns for about six months in a year.
They also ensure that their children were employed in the kilns. If the parents working in the kilns have infants, the owners should employ Ayahs or nurses to take care of the children.
If there are no such amenities in the brick kilns, the labour department should take disciplinary action. Moreover, there are no schools for the children of brick kiln workers. This is forcing the children to work in the kiln.
The labour department officials are being blamed for not taking disciplinary action against the managements of the kilns.
The management that failed to provide such amenities should be fined Rs 20,000 per child labour and the amount should be deposited in the name of the child.
Even after freeing over 948 children from the forced labour in the four districts, a Sarva Siksha Abhiyan survey puts at least 900 children are still out of the school in the districts.
A survey by the NGOs blamed poor financial background of parents as one of the reasons for child labour. Some of the managements are enrolling the children because they work for low wages.
An NGO, Mari opined that parents would not allow their wards to work as child labourers if financial security is provided to the children.
Srinivas of the NGO said special drives were conducted to identify child labourers working in the brick kilns and extended financial assistance to the tune of Rs 6000 to each family.
A total of Rs 39 lakh have been sanctioned towards financial assistance to parents of 800 children. He expressed the hope that there would be scope for wiping out child labour if the State government comes forward and extends similar financial support.
