Bhubaneswar: With a view to obtain the views and suggestions of children on the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Rule 2017 and the State Plan of Action for Elimination of Child Labour, the PECUC in partnership with UNICEF and the Labour and ESI Department, Government of Odisha, organised a mock Children’s Assembly as part of its 44-day campaign against child labour at Institute of Engineers here, Friday.
The objective of the mock Assembly was to create awareness among children about the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Rule, create an opportunity for children to express their views on policy issues, provide them with an opportunity to understand the characteristics of Legislative Assemblies and develop leadership qualities among them.
The Department of Labour and ESI in association with UNICEF and state level NGOs including PLAN, CYSD, CACL and PECUC have planned several activities as part of the campaign during 2018. A campaign to end child labour has also commenced April 30 and it will continue till June 12.
Around 140 children from across the state were identified for participation in the Children’s Assembly. They included children who have moved out of child labour and have been rehabilitated as well as children from marginalised communities studying in government primary and secondary schools, who are vulnerable to child labour.
Women & Child Development Minister Prafulla Kumar Samal , OSPCR chairperson Sandhyababti Pradhan, Additional Director General of Police, CID, CB, Santosh Upadhyay , special secretary, Dept of Labour & ESI Umakanta Tripathy, OSPCR member Harihar Nayak, Asst Labour Commissioner Ajay Kumar Pattanayak, technical consultant (Labour & ESI) Dept Bhakta Bandhu Acharya , Alka Gupta from UNICEF Odisha, PECUC secretary Ranjan Kumar Mohanty and PECUC executive director Anuradha Mohanty, attended the programme and encouraged the children.
Participating in the mock Assembly, children discussed related issues and suggested and shared their views on the elimination of child labour and the CLPRA rule.
During the question answer session, the minister said, “As many as 79 NCLP schools are currently functional in four districts of Odisha, while 1,73,508 children from NCLP Schools have been brought to the mainstream of the formal education system. During the last five years, 602 cases have been lodged under CL(P&R) Act, While six raids were conducted and 31 children rescued in different districts of Odisha during 2017.” He added, “District Labour Officers have been declared as Nodal Officers of the concerned district under the PENCIL programme.”
More than 300 participants, including children from different background, and government representatives, media, development agencies and NGOs participated in the meet. The mock Assembly was preceded by a preparatory meeting with children in the city Thursday.