Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Seven hundred child labourers in the city have gone back to their own states in the last one week as the campaign against child labour has put the chill on employers. Chairperson of Child Welfare Committee Pallavi Porwal informed Free Press that an employer from Chandan Nagar accepted his negligence as he had employed children.
Skating on thin ice, the employer approached the CWC and apologised for recruiting child labour in his factory and claimed that they have sent all the children back to their hometown after counselling them and advising them to pursue education.
Porwal said, “This has been possible due to the awareness campaigns that are being currently run by the committee along with the Labour Department, Women and Child Development Department, and other organisations. The person was a bit reluctant to inform us about the happenings, however, it is heartening that he realised our motto and handled the situation responsibly.”
“The committee has checked and followed up the details confirming that 700 children have been sent back to their hometowns in the past week. The committee along with others was already planning to raid identified hotspots in the city. However, the news comes as a relief. The raids would still continue and the committee would dedicatedly work in the future as well,”
- Pallavi Porwal, chairperson child welfare committee
Child labour prevention
In order to rescue child labourers, the Department of Women and Child Development identified the month of June as child labour prevention month. During the month various campaigns and raids were carried out in the city rescuing 170 child labourers. Porwal believes that continuous raids and awareness programmes are the major reasons that people are opting to say no to child labour.
Children return to Bihar
Porwal said that according to the details received by the committee and documents screened most of the 90 children have returned to Bihar. Previous counselling sessions and reports from the Labour Department had indicated that nine of the 15 children rescued in the last 15 days hail from Rajasthan and Bihar. During counselling the children admitted that their parents sent them to Indore in search of work so that they could contribute financially to their families.
