Karnataka - Bidar   

Project to eliminate child labour proves to be a success in Bidar

A NEW LIFE: Rescued child workers at a bridge school run by Prawarda, an NGO, at Basavakalyan taluk of Bidar district.

BIDAR: National project coordinator of the International Programme for Elimination of Child Labour, Karnataka, Sanjiv Kumar has expressed satisfaction with the implementation of the Karnataka State Child Labour project in Bidar and Chamarajanagar districts.

These districts were selected for the implementation of the child labour project, an initiative of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) with support from the Government of Italy. The project was started in August 2006.

Speaking to The Hindu here on Saturday, Mr. Kumar said the project, apart from rehabilitating rescued child labourers, also aimed at training adolescents and mothers of the rescued children to help them earn and support their families.

The rescued children are admitted to day bridge centres and residential bridge centres to educate them so that they can join mainstream education later, he said.

Mr. Kumar said 3,800 child workers had been rehabilitated and 575 adolescents given vocational training in skills such as rewinding, wiring and construction, among others.

He said 4,615 people, including parents of rescued child workers, had been enrolled as members of self-help groups (SHGs), and 700 parents had been trained in Zardozi work, candle making and other such skills.

In Chamarajnagar district, he said, 1,800 rescued children had been rehabilitated, 400 adolescents given vocational training, and 3,000 people enrolled in SHGs.

Harish Jogi, project director, National Child Labour Project, Bidar, said that before taking up the project, a survey had been undertaken by the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, and it had identified about 40,000 child workers in the district.

Mr. Jogi said in certain villages of the district, the number of child workers were on the decline and “very soon, the officials of the project will announce some villages as child labour-free villages.”

“In the district, Prawarda, a non-governmental organisation, and Basavatheetha Vidyapeeta run bridge schools for rescued child workers,” he said.

Organisations such as RUDSETI gave training to adolescents, Mr. Jogi said.

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