Date:19/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/19/stories/2008111955620600.htm

Tamil Nadu

Strategies evolved to eradicate child labour in Tamil Nadu

Special Correspondent

Government suggests comprehensive measures

— Photo: S. James

TACKLING HEAD ON: District Labour Officer M.S.H.Iqbal addressing a meeting at the Madurai Collectorate on Tuesday.

MADURAI: A new strategy through convergence of various State Government departments has come into effect for eradication of child labour.

The State government has suggested comprehensive measures to tackle the problem during a district-level meeting of officials in Chennai recently and it urged district officers to follow them, according to officials involved with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in Madurai district.

Accordingly, a training programme for district officials was held at the Collectorate here on Tuesday where some decisions were taken for child labour eradication and monitoring. Collector P. Seetharaman, who participated in the valedictory function, called for evolving an action plan that would be both preventive as well as curative in addressing the issue.

From now on, Village Education Committees will also be involved in the task along with Labour Department and the SSA.

“Sub-committees will be formed at both village level and block level to review the implementation of child labour eradication programmes every month. Based on it, a report will be prepared once in three months by Block Development Officers which would be submitted to the Collector,” officials said.

Verification

Door-to-door verification for identifying child workers will be undertaken after which follow-up steps to send those children to school will also be initiated.

The State Government’s latest instruction to officials in the goal of eradicating child labour is to find out whether government welfare schemes are reaching the targeted poor and if not take appropriate remedial action. All block-level heads of State Government departments are also being involved in the review exercise.

Officials from the SSA, labour department, health, revenue, social welfare and panchayat representatives were among those who took part in the training programme.

M. S. H. Iqbal, Inspector of Labour, and K. Natarajan, Chief Educational Officer (SSA-Madurai district), were among those who spoke.