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`Tracking progress of rehabilitated child labourers is difficult'

Savitha Suresh Babu

MANGALORE: As many as child labourers have been identified in the district since the District Child Labour Project Society started functioning in 2001. Of them, 89 have been rehabilitated, according to U. Chandravathi, Director of the District Child Labour Project Society.

She told The Hindu that 27 of them had been admitted to schools and 62 to a bridge school. At present, 27 of the 89 children admitted to school were continuing their education. Many children dropped out of the school after the age of 14 while some moved to other places. "Although we write to the Labour officer in different districts and deputy commissioners in other States, it is difficult to follow the progress of such children once they move out of the district."

This assumed importance in Dakshina Kannada as most of the rescued child labourers (66) were from other parts of Karnataka and other States (25). Only 28 children were from the district, she said.

Sixty-nine children were found rag-picking in the district. They were also admitted to schools. Again, owing to problems of migration, only 20 of them were continuing their education.

With greater awareness, the number of child labourers in the district was on the decline. There was a proposal to declare the district child labour-free by May 31, 2007. An elaborate process was on to check if an area could be declared child labour-free, she said. The Labour Department would make a proposal to the Deputy Commissioner to declare a particular area child labour-free. Proposals to declare a few gram panchayats and a taluk so were pending before the Deputy Commissioner. The declaration would only state that there were no child labourers in organisations and institutions in a particular area. Domestic work would not be included, Ms. Chandravathi said.

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