Gajapati administration launches drive to eradicate child labour

Berhampur: The Gajapati administration on Wednesday launched an awareness drive on eradicating child labour from the district. Gajapati collector Lingraj Panda kicked off the campaign by flagging off a vehicle which will cover the entire district in a week to generate awareness among people about the stringent laws of child labour.
The administration will form anti-trafficking clubs in every high school in the district to generate awareness against child trafficking. “After becoming free of child marriage, we want to make the district free of child labour and child trafficking,” Panda said.
Gajapati was declared as a child marriage-free district in February.
The anti-trafficking clubs will be formed once the schools reopen after the summer vacation. “The club members, who will mostly be the students, will inform Childline or the district administration if they find any child working as a labourer or trafficking for work,” Panda said.
The modalities and functioning of the clubs will be formulated after a discussion with the departments of labour, school and mass education, women and child development and members of the panchayat raj.
The chariot will move through villages, making people aware about the consequences of engaging children below 14 years in any workplace and below 18 years in hazardous jobs, sources said. “The parents will be asked to send their children to school, instead of sending them to the workplace,” Panda said.