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Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh Labour Minister faces an embarrassing situation

Special Correspondent

As a questioner pointed out that even IAS officers and Ministers employed children

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Labour & Employment Minister G. Vinod was placed in a tight spot as he dwelt on the need for eradicating child labour in the State at a press conference here on Monday.

Initiatives

The Minister, who returned to the city after attending a four-day conference of International Labour Organisation (ILO) at Geneva from June 9 as part of an Indian delegation, told reporters that the initiatives taken by the Andhra Pradesh government to remove child labour was highly appreciated by the delegates at the conference.

The Indian delegation was headed by Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes. The Minister said in all, 16,300 children, trapped in child labour, were liberated and rehabilitated in the State last year through intervention by Labour Department officials. Lauding the efforts of B. Ajay, Joint Labour Commissioner, the Minister said 9,000 out of 13,998 cases booked for recovery of minimum wages against the child labour employed, had been disposed of and an amount of Rs 2.08 crore recovered. A questioner, however, pointed out that child labour existed very much in our own backyards. He said children of tender age were employed by IAS and other officers themselves, apart from Ministers.

Visibly upset but recovering from the embarrassment, the Minister appealed to officers in the State and Ministers not to encourage child labour and instead extend cooperation in eliminating the deadly practice.

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