Statesman News Service
MALDA, Feb. 28. — Hundreds of child labourers participated in a sports tournament organised by the Malda labour department at Brindaboni playground onTuesday .The event was attended by the labour minister who distributed prizes to the winning participants. The organisers informed that students from different blocks, mainly those hailing from Kaliachak I, II and III , and many boys and girls from other blocks came together to participate in this unique programme. According to officials, the child labourers working in bidi-binding business, who are also studying in schools, participated in the sports meet. It may be recalled that the administration has set up 40 schools across the district for young boys and girls engaged in the trade of bidi-binding and other hazardous works.Reportedly, to run these schools, the administration has recruited teachers on contract. The Central government-sponsored schemes for the education of child labourers have been implemented in the first phase here as a pilot project.The project was conceived to educate child labourers who had left schools midway to support their families. In Malda, besides bidi-binding, boys and girls are working in different sectors to earn their daily bread. In the Malda region, there are many hotels, restaurants, sweet stalls and tea stalls, where these young boys and girls work. A large number of kids are also found working as rag-pickers in English Bazaar Town, dropping out of schools owing to acute poverty. The minister for labour department, Mr Mohammed Amin, today announced that the government aims at educating child labourers who are forced to take up hazardous jobs owing to poverty.
No comments:
Post a Comment