The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Tiruchi News : Raids being conducted to identify child labourers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Raids being conducted to identify child labourers

Syed Muthahar Saqaf

A total of 14 cases registered against employers

TIRUCHI: With the deadline to eliminate child labour from hazardous industries approaching fast, the Labour Department in association with other departments and the National Child Labour Project (NLCP) has initiated efforts to identify child labourers and admit them in schools after freeing them.

Special teams have been conducting a series of raids in all hazardous units situated in the nook and corner of the district since the beginning of May, which has been declared as `enforcement month' by the Government.

Workers of Child Labour Elimination and Effective Rehabilitation Society (CHEERS), a nodal agency to implement NCLP, education, health and revenue departments were actively involved in the exercise.

The teams conducted surprise checks in over 300 automobile workshops, tyre retreading concerns situated in different parts of the district, stone crushing units in Thuvakudi and Thiruverumbur, brick kilns in Lalgudi and surrounding areas, tanneries and artificial stone polishing and gem cutting units.

About 25 children below the age of 14 years were found employed in 14 units during the raids, a press release of the Inspector of Labour, M. Solaimuthu, issued here said.

Doctors from Health Department, who formed a part of the special team, examined the boys and girls to ascertain their age.

The officials were surprised when most of the children said that they were students of regular schools and had come to work during summer holidays to help their parents, whose meagre income could not make both ends meet.

Official sources said the information furnished by boys would be crosschecked with school authorities later.

In case the boys were dropouts, they would be admitted to NCLP special schools functioning in different parts of the district before being admitted to regular schools.

However, all the children identified during the raids were freed from their workplaces.

A total of 14 cases were registered against employers under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986.

Industries have been warned of severe legal consequences if they employed children.

The raids, led by Mr. Solaimuthu and the Project Director of the CHEERS, Jaisee Suvetha, were organised on the direction of the Collector, K. Nanda Kishore, and the Deputy Commissioner of Labour, V. Jayamani.

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