Speakers at a convention on child rights appealed to the media to raise voice against child abuse and trafficking.
Former director in Press Information Bureau M.V.S. Prasad said that media, NGOs, child rights associations and like-minded people should join hands to prevent child labour and crime against children. Media should act as ‘voice of children’ in protecting their rights, said Mr. Prasad.
He was speaking at the State-level workshop on ‘Role of Media in Preventing Child Trafficking and Child Labour’, organised by Tirupati-based Academy of Gandhian Studies (AGS) in association with Plan India and Human Dignity Foundation here on Sunday.
He expressed that print and electronic media personnel should be aware of child rights, Juvenile Justice Act, Press Council Act, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Right to Information, Right to Education, Child Marriage Prevention Act, Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation), Cinematography and other Acts.
AGS field manager D. Ashok Kumar explained the theme of the workshop. Plan India child labour project manager Madhu Sagili appealed to the journalists to follow the guidelines while publishing the reports relating to children and maintain standards.
As per 2011 figures, 82.28 lakh child labour were there in India. Andhra Pradesh stands in ninth place with 3.15 lakh child labour, while Telangana State was in tenth position with 3 lakh child labour. Eight per cent were not enrolled in schools and of the 92 per cent enrolled, 16 per cent are not regularly going to schools.
Nearly, 57 per cent children are working to support their families and most of them are working in factories and industries, he said.
Senior journalist N. Chalapathi Rao said the recent budget allocation for child welfare was meagre and blamed the government for failing to rehabilitate the victims in child abuse and labour cases.
BIRD executive director Paul Raja Rao and others spoke. He stressed the need for conducting training programmes for media and NGOs on child rights.
