Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal on Thursday directed the officers concerned to identify a small district on pilot basis and make it free from the menace of child labour in the swarna jayanti (golden jubilee) year of the state.
He directed them to conduct a survey in the district to ascertain the reasons why children are forced into labour.
The Chief Minister, who was presiding over a meeting to review the functioning of Women and Child Development Department here, also directed the officers to popularise women hostels to generate awareness about these hostels among the women.
With a view to facilitate working women in the state, he asked the officers concerned to get a survey conducted of all the working women hostels functioning in the state and take appropriate steps to further improve their conditions. He also directed them to submit a report in this regard within a fortnight.
At present, 16 such hostels are functioning in different districts of the state with an aim to provide accommodation facilities to the working women.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister also laid stress on the need to resolve the cases of domestic violence through mutual dialogue. On this, Women and Child Development Minister, Kavita Jain, informed the Chief Minister that protection officers (POs) have been appointed in all the districts of the state for resolving various issues of women through mediation.
She said that the Department had written to the police stations concerned in the state asking them to make separate sitting arrangement for the POs so that the women could easily approach them with their complaints. The Chief Minister also directed the department to involve other prominent women of the area involved in social service, advocates and retired officers in this process to make it more effective.
The Chief Minister suggested that that fresh milk could also be served to the children in the Anganwadi centres in the state along with other food items under the supplementary nutrition programme being implemented by the Department to further improve the level of protein in their diet.
He directed the officers of the department to prepare and submit to him a proposal in this regard. There are about 26,000 Anganwadi centres in the state. He also directed to ensure effective implementation of all the schemes being implemented by the department for the welfare of women and children. Besides, he also asked to ensure that all the beneficiaries of various welfare schemes are linked with Aadhaar card.
The Chief Minister also reviewed in detail various other schemes of the department, including ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ programme, ‘Aapki Beti Hamari Beti’, ‘SABlA Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls’ and ‘Kishori Shakti Yojna’.
He also released a book entitled “Schemes for the Welfare of Girls and Women in Haryana” of Women and Child Development Department. Earlier, the Minister Kavita Jain informed the Chief Minister that out of the 24 lakh registered beneficiaries in the Anganwadi centres in the State, Aadhaar seeding of 22 lakh beneficiaries has already been carried and the remaining two lakh would soon be covered.
She said that as per announcement of the Chief Minister, the work for the setting up of State Nutrition Mission is in progress. She also informed that with a view to provide support and assistance to women affected by violence, the first One Stop Centre has been set up in Karnal. Now, the Central Government has accorded approval for the setting up of six more such centres in the State, she said.