Childhood lost
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Child labour would remain the biggest shame for the state as Labour Day is celebrated across the state Sunday, said several child rights activists during a protest they staged here Saturday against the continuing practice of child labour.
“Orissa is already home to more than two lakh child labourers. Unfortunately, most of the hotels in capital city have at least one child labourer put to work and the women and child development department has failed to eradicate child labour from the state,” said leading child rights activist Sudhir Sabat during the protest at Lower PMG.
The child rights activists said unemployment, poverty and drought have resulted in the migration of workers from western districts like Kalahandi, Bolangir, Nuapada and Sonepur districts to major urban centres in and outside the state. These labourers often end up as bondage labourers at brick kilns, they said.
“There is a need for inter-state coordination of labour departments for making the country free from child labourers. Although we have many laws to protect the rights of children, child labour continues to flourish in the state,” said Bhaskar Pradhan, another leading child rights activist.
