All smiles at Makkala Habba

Over 1,200 children were treated to fun and frolic at the ‘Makkala Habba’ programme organised jointly by the Bala Vikasa Academy, Dharwad; the Mysuru district administration and the Department of Women and Child welfare on the Rangayana premises here today.

While many children sung folk songs, devotional songs and light music, others performed a variety of dances. A performance in which children danced on steel cups enthralled the audience.

After the formal inauguration and cultural programmes, children were let to play on their own. Local sponsors, including the milk federation society, sponsored eatables for the children on the occasion and the list included ice creams, lassi, and cakes.

Canvas to paint

A massive canvas clothing had been erected at the venue on which children could draw and paint. Children from all the seven taluks of the district who had assembled at the venue thoroughly enjoyed the programme. Earlier, inaugurating the programme Pushpa Amaranath, zilla panchayat president, rued the rise of incidents of sexual assaults on children in the State.

She underscored the need to take urgent steps to provide complete protection to children who have been staying far from their parents. She said that the right to education was a fundamental right for the children.

It had come to her notice that many poor parents were sending their children to hotels, garages and other areas of work to earn every month.

Ms. Amaranath said that depriving children basic education and sending them to work at an early age was illegal.

The Education Department had taken up a drive to identify under-aged children engaged in child labour and was trying to bring them back to mainstream education.