Children meet Agatha Sangma, suggest ways to end child labour

Bubbling with excitement, six children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds met the youngest minister of the government, Agatha Sangma, at her office Tuesday to discuss various ways to eliminate child labour.

Putting forth the children's views with confidence, Yogesh told the minister of state for rural development: “Free and compulsory education is the most important demand that we children have. While the government has put a lot of emphasis on higher education, they have chosen to ignore elementary education in the Union budget this time”.

“Also, education without jobs holds little meaning to most of us because we need money to feed ourselves. This is why vocational education must be given more importance by the government,” he added.

Amit Kumar, a 14-year-old, said: “Also there are enough laws when it comes to banning child labour in the society, but implementation is always a problem. There have been times when my friends and I have gone to the police near our homes to complain against children being employed to work, but instead of punishing the employers, the police chase us away.”

Listening to their complains patiently, Sangma said she is doing all that is within her capacity to help the youth of the country.

“Our aim in the rural development ministry is to develop rural areas, create jobs so that youngsters don't have to migrate to the cities for better opportunities,” Sangma said.

The children, brought together by child rights NGO World Vision, also had specific recommendations for the government.

“The Union budget this time had little to offer for children. The budgetary allocation for 400 million children of the country is a mere four percent of the budget, and this should increase. Also the government should frame proper guidelines for child protection committees in villages and laws must be implemented well,” suggested Nikku, a 14-year-old girl in the group.

Responding that she will do her best, Sangma said: “I will try my best and also help create a better network amongst other ministries so that all can join this endeavour to fight child labour and other issues of child rights. I am also hoping that the Right to Education Bill is implemented - that will do a lot of good to a lot of children”.

Last updated on Jul 14^th, 2009 at 16:53 pm IST--IANS