Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: A photo exhibition on eradication of child labour titled “Let’s Ignite Hope” was organised by Ministry of Labour in association with Bakul Foundation, Mushroom and Unicef at Lalit Kala Akademi here Wednesday. The five-day expo was organised to sensitise people on the issue of child labour and measures needed to tackle the scourge. The objective of the visual show is to open the eyes of the society to the stark realities and complex instances of child labour and to make them aware of the prevalence of the social evil.
The expo explores the mechanism available on behalf of the Government to address the issue. At least 60 photographs, spread over three sections, were on dis
play.
The first 30 photographs set the context for child labour as an issue and showing the diversity of professions in which children are employed at roadside dhabas and in brick kilns. The next set of photographs focus on situations that ensure prevention of child labour.
The section displays pictures on what childhood should be like and has visuals of children, who are potentially at risk as they seem to come from financially weak families, but they are engaged in happy childhood with fun and education, with play and study, reading and drawing.
The third set of photos focus on response of the Labour Department to instances of child labour with images of kids being rescued from hazardous workplaces. The photographs also portray children studying in NCLP (National Child Labour Project) schools
and residing in seasonal hostels set up to ensure that kids do not accompany their parents, who are migrant labourers to far of places.
Sujit Mohapatra of Bakul foundation
claimed the exhibition is the outcome of Mu Volunteer initiative and UNICEF. It is an attempt to promote young change-makers. The photo exhibition was inaugurated by Labour Department principal secretary Anu Garg. “I asked the children to think about other children, who were not as privileged as they should be. I advised them to be more sensitive to the issue.’’ Two young girls – Manorama and Subhashree – who had begun as child labourers, but went to a school under the NCLP programme narrated their stories of success and pain.
