Every year on June 12, the World Day against Child labour is observed to raise awareness on the plight of child laborers world-wide.
In Sundargarh district, child labour scenario is very acute. During August 2016, 106 minor children of Sundargarh had been rescued from different places in the district. The labour Department of the district needs to act promptly to check child labor.
During August 2015 in Operation Muskan 1 in Sundargarh district, 26 children were rescued in a joint raid by the police and the Women and Child Development Department personnel from different hotels, shops, houses and brick factories.
11 children of Sundargarh district were rescued from different places outside Odisha while they were working as child labourers. Similarly, during January 2016, in Operation Smile, 33 children were rescued within Sundargarh district while they had been engaged to work in different places and eight child labourers of the district were rescued from different places outside Odisha.
Similarly, in 2016 Muskan II in Sundargarh district, 106 children were rescued. As many as 27 children of the district were rescued outside Odisha while they were working as child laborers.
laws have been made to prosecute the guilty who will engage a child as a labourer. In Odisha, 15 persons have only been punished in court of law during last 20 years.
In Odisha, cases had been registered against 867 persons from 1994 to 2015, allegedly for engaging children in work out of which 15 were punished by the court and 70 persons were acquitted. The rest cases are pending in court.
According to sources, squads are there to raid at different places to rescue children while working but the squads are for namesake as number of child labourers is rising in Sundargarh district.
Significantly, a minor girl child of Rajgangpur who had been engaged as a labourer in a bridge construction work, had lost her life recently as he was buried inside clay at herwork place. “To eradicate child labourer in Sundargarh district, the State Government should support the parents of the rescued child labourers and also the labour Department should act promptly and strictly against the persons who are engaging minors in work,” said CWC, Sundergarh Chairperson S Dei.