Tamil Nadu - Vellore   

Call for national alliance against child labour

Staff Reporter

Memorandum to Ajit Singh Kataria, chairperson, Central Advisory Board "Convergence of services in government departments, coordination between civil society, the government, voluntary organisations and the media is essential."

VELLORE: P. Jegadish Gandhi, director of Vellore Institute of Development Studies and consultant, Abolition of Bonded Labour Awareness Campaign, has called for the formation of a national alliance against child labour to eliminate the system by 2007.

In a memorandum submitted to Ajit Singh Kataria, chairperson, Central Advisory Board on Child Labour, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr. Gandhi said it was a proven fact that lack of sustainable family income was the root cause for the perpetuation of child labour. The systems of bonded and contract labour had made the families economically vulnerable. Child labour can never be abolished without eliminating the above systems. The problem cannot be solved without the participation of children and their parents.

Instead of relying only on the "top-down" official anti-child labour projects and programmes, community conscious participation and the cooperation of non-governmental organisations should be enlisted at all levels of decision-making towards the total elimination of child labour in the districts. Above all, the eradication of bonded child labour depends on the Centre's commitment to two imperatives: enforcement of the Bonded Labour Abolition Act 1976 and creation of meaningful alternatives for bonded child labourers and those at risk of joining the ranks. It is essential that all NGOs be encouraged by the Government to collaborate in this effort. The Government has the resources and authority to implement the law, while community-based organisations have the grass-roots contacts and trust necessary to facilitate the implementation. A social partnership strategy is the need of the hour to eliminate child labour by 2007 in India, he said.

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