Child labour is a blot on the society and it is the duty of all sections of the society to abolish it, said Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Monday.
launching a month-long Statewide Abolition Public Awareness Campaign (APAC) at a seminar in the State capital Gandhinagar, Rupani said that the task should not remain the responsibility of the State labour Department alone, but all the Government departments, NGOs and trade and industry associations should come forward to abolish child labour.
He said that the parameters would be fixed and competitions would be held among districts to encourage cent per cent success. He exuded confidence that the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel which provided leadership to attain Independence in India would now lead from the front to abolish child labour from the country.
The Chief Minister said that childhood is the time to study and smile, play and build character, and not slog in the labour market. He said the bigger task is to rehabilitate the children freed from the labour market, arrange for their education and skill development, and prepare them for right jobs when they grow up.
He also launched the State labour Department's Twitter handle and Facebook page on the occasion. He called for making the Child Helpline 1098 more effective across the State.