Action against those who engage child labour

​Peddapalli: District in-charge Collector S Prabhakar Reddy ordered the officials of concern departments to take stringent action against the shop owners, who employ children for work in the district.

He chaired a meeting with the officials of welfare, labour and police departments to discuss the implementation of third phase of ‘Operation Muskaan’, a central government project, at the Collectorate conference hall in Peddapalli on Thursday.

The in-charge Collector ordered the officials to identify child rag pickers at bus and railway stations and at other locations along with missing children and child beggars, as part of the implementation of the third phase of Operation Muskan.

All the identified children must be sent to child protection centre Ananda Nilayam at Rangampally and girls to Kasturba High School, the Collector ordered.

He warned the owners of brick kilns not to employw children as workers and the voluntary organisations that that are working with children without licenses.

District Welfare Officer A Padmavathi, District Education Officer Venkateshwar Rao and Child Welfare Corporation Chairperson G Kumaraiah were present along with others.