The problems of child labour and child rights violation are on the increase in the country. There are a number of vulnerable children who are deprived of their basic rights, particularly the right to education, rued State head of Pratham Council for Vulnerable Children (PCVC) Subrat Kumar Kar at a Press meet here on Tuesday.
Giving the recent instance of the death of Mahakalpada rape and burn victim Sujata Bairagii, he said that while some issues are being disclosed by the media, a lot more issues in the grassroots areas are being suppressed. In order to ensure that every child’s rights are protected and every child is enrolled in school, the council is mainly focusing on eradicating child labour and strengthening of the Right to Education (RTE).
According to reports, about 97 per cent of children in India are going to school, which is a positive sign, informed Director of PCVC Farida lambay, who is also the co-founder and executive secretary of the Pratham Mumbai Education initiative. But the remaining vulnerable children who are deprived of education and becoming victims of child labour are a matter of concern now, said lambay.
Subsequently, Director of PCVC Kishore Bhamre said that the council’s mission is to give opportunity to every child by bringing them to schools and providing them quality education. The onus of protecting child rights mainly rests on the media as the media can reach out to every incident occurring in the nook and corner of the country and can pressure the Government for policy making and justice, said Bhamre.
Besides, he called for a teamwork of Government, NGOs, media and charity foundations to come forward and plan out solutions to the growing violation of child rights. Talking about Odisha, Kar informed that with focusing on rural areas, the council has recently worked in around 656 villages of Mayurbhanj district. The council has started setting up vigilance committees in villages through which all issues including study, midday meal, disability and migration can be discussed by conducting review meetings. Among others, Director in-Charge of PCVC in Andhra Pradesh Ashok Seth was also present.