The Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat is preparing to submit a proposal to the Government to set up a residential school for children of migrant workers in Mangalore, Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat K.N. Vijay Prakash has said.
Participating in a function to mark Anti-Child Labour Day here on Tuesday, Mr. Prakash said the need for such a school was mooted during the recent visit of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights member Yogesh Dube. Mr. Prakash said Mangalore was among the fast-growing cities in the country and construction activity here had been increasing at a greater pace. Mangalore was turning out to be a home for migrant workers from north India and north Karnataka.
Mr. Prakash said there was a need to provide healthcare and education to children of migrant workers. A residential school would go a long way in meeting these needs.
Mr. Prakash later told The Hindu that discussions were on over the modalities of this school with officials from the Women and Child Welfare Department and representatives of non-governmental organisations. “We are also looking at how children aged between three and five can be taken care of,” he said. Special funds from the Centre would be sought for the proposed school, he added.
Earlier, Assistant Labour Commissioner Venkatesh Sindihatti said eight children were rescued and rehabilitated after 2,315 raids by the Labour Department personnel to different industrial units and houses last year. Of the eight cases, one was found following a child labour survey conducted during October and November 2011.
He said a report on the survey had been submitted to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which had questioned the findings of the survey.
Principal District and Sessions judge Ashok Nijagannavar said there were about six crore child workers in the country. Of them, 1.2 crore were working in hazardous units. He expressed the need for society to help such children who had been denied of joyous moments of childhood. Mangalore City Corporation Commissioner Harish Kumar, Principal Civil judge Subramanya and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Traffic) D. Dharmaiah participated in the function.
Keywords: Child Labour
