New Delhi, Jun 12 (IANS): The Congress on Friday launched an awareness programme on the occasion of World Day against Child Labour, expressing concern over what it said was the trivial approach of the authorities in curtailing child labour menace.

Ahmed Patel, Congress Treasurer and Rajya Sabha member, tweeted: "Imagine the prowess of human capital, if the children bound by the shackles of child labour are set free and allowed to prosper as respectable human beings! And like everything else, this change begins with our surroundings."

Congress national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also urged people not to encourage child labour.

"Those tender hands at the repair shop hold the potential to change the destiny of a nation. Let us not chain them in the limitations of child labour," Surjewala said in his message on Facebook.

Even former Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari asserted that governments need to do more to eradicate child labour.

"The next time you stop at a dhaba and see a 'Chotu' scurrying to fetch you tea, realise that a little child is putting his childhood at stake to earn a livelihood- And needs your voice to help eradicate child labour and have a fair shot at life," Tewari tweeted.

Party leadership from various states, including Punjab Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla, former Himachal Cabinet Minister Asha Kumari, Haryana Minister Harish Chaudhary, Chhattisgarh Minister T.S. Singh Deo and Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi's close aide Archana Dalmiya also expressed concern over the increasing number of child labour cases in the country.

According to International Labour Organization, there are more than 1.5 crore child labourers in India in the age group of 5 to 14.