Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Jun 13: A voluntary organization, Child Rights and You (CRY), has come out with a report which says that Bengaluru employs highest number of child labour in the entire state. At the same time, Dakshina Kannada (DK) district has been shown to be having no child labour.
CRY survey puts the capital city of Karnataka as the top violator of child labour law in terms of number of child labourers working there. Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Mysuru, and Yadagiri districts are listed behind this city in that order. The report said that the child labour system, which stood at 53 percent in 2011, has been declining every year at the rate of 2.2 percent.
The survey covered employment of child labour in the age groups of 5 to 9 and 10 to 14. Child labourers in the first group is dominant in Bengaluru, Belagavi and Kalaburagi districts while the children in the other age group are employed more in Bengaluru, Belagavi, Ballari, Raichur, and Yadagiri districts. Ratio of children working in Bengaluru works out to 3.44 percent of their population in the first group, while 16.24 percent child labourers in the 10-14 group works in Yadagiri.
As per the report, 13,185 boys and 11,682 girls in 5 to 9 age group are employed in the city. In the other age group, 24,368 boys and 17,387 girls are working. The city accordingly tops in terms of employment of children in both the age groups.
Child labour is found more in urban areas, and in several cases, young children are made to work in hazardous industries. Garages, hotels, and households are among those which prefer to employ children. Director of CRY study department, Komal Ganotra, feels that greater awareness should be spread to root out this inhuman practice.
Speaking at World Anti Child Labour Day programme organized at Jnananyoti auditorium in the city on Friday June 12, labour minister, Parameshwar Naik, hailed Dakshina Kannada district for being child labour-free district and urged the other districts to follow suit towards eradicating the evil system of child labour from Karnataka. He sought wholehearted cooperation of the public in this endeavour, stressing that without people's participation this movement will not be successful.
At this programme was attended by principal secretary in the department of labour, Ramamurty, labour department commissioner, Dr Vishwanath, various labour leaders and others. On this occasion, cash rewards were handed over to six children who wriggled out of the child labour system and scored high marks in SSLC examination. Other children who got admitted to schools after being released from the clutches of the child labour system were presented with school bags and text books.