3 days workshop on Child Labour Eradication
# Trade unions and employers have a key role to play# ILO programme is operational in 18 countries
Tamil Nadu has redrawn its priorities in eradicating child labour and would do away with the social evil in all hazardous and non-hazardous sectors by the year-end, according to Ramesh Kumar Khanna, Labour and Employment Secretary.The strategy involved identifying all forms of child labour, rescuing, rehabilitating and mainstreaming the children and, most importantly, creating awareness of the problem, Mr. Khanna said at a State-level workshop conducted by the International Labour Organisation's ACTRAV-Norway programme on Social Dialogue and Youth Employment here on Sunday.This called for a convergence of various government departments and social mobilisation of resources. Trade unions and employers had an important role to play, he said.
The three-day workshop is aimed at capacity-building among trade union representatives regarding eradicating child labour, especially in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts.The ACTRAV-Norway programme was operational in 18 countries including India and had two components — trade union action against child labour and youth employment — said Magnus Berge, chief technical advisor of the programme.India's economic growth necessitated an important role by trade unions in influencing policies on child labour, he added.The ILO programme had been launched in India and Nepal and included coordination with trade unions, which could facilitate creation of awareness of child labour among workers, said Susamma Varghese, national coordinator, ILO, Chennai.The workshop would deliberate upon child labour issues plaguing Coimbatore and Tirupur and help trade unions develop union policies to combat child labour and promote employment for youth in various industrial sectors.
The ILO would jointly work with trade unions to develop specific activities to combat child labour in specific industrial sectors, apart from documenting the efforts made by trade unions in the fight against child labour and promoting youth employment, he added.Unemployment of adult family members led to an increase in child labour and trade unions would willingly cooperate in the project to eradicate the problem in Coimbatore and Tirupur, T.R.S Man, state secretary, All India Trade Union Congress, said, adding that the inadequate law enforcement was a major contributing factor.
