Kids rescued from child labour honoured for good show in boards

At Coimbatore, District Collector TN Hariharan signed a signature campaign against child labour and gave away financial assistance to former child labourers who had fared well in Class 10 and Class 12 examinations this year. He said officials would obtain 30, 000 signatures from owners of various industries for not engaging children in their business.  

At Namakkal, District Collector M Asia Mariam inaugurated the signature campaign at the Namakkal South Higher Secondary School for Boys. She also flagged off an awareness rally.  Vizhuthugal, an NGO organised an awareness campaign to enrol children in schools. 

At Tiruchy, with the help of Child Labour Elimination and Effective Rehabilitation Society (CHEERS) under Ministry of Labour and Employment, about 23 children who were once child labour have cleared their Class 12 exams. 

About five alumni of CHEERS who have now joined colleges were felicitated by the district collector K Rajamani on Monday. An awareness event saw the child welfare personnel identifying children from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families living in city limits as most vulnerable to become a child labour. 

In an event organised by the Childline and Anti-Human Trafficking Cell of city police at Gandhi Market, traders were sensitised not to employ children under the age of 14. As a part of the initiative, stickers mentioning the Childline helpline 1098 and assurance on not to employ children were affixed on shops in Gandhi Market. Traders also took an anti-child labour oath.