Panchkula, January 9: Deputy Commissioner Sh Satpal Sharma today chaired a meeting of the District Task Force and Vigilance Committee constituted for the prevention of child labour and bonded labour in the district. The meeting was held at the conference room of the Mini Secretariat. During the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner directed the task force to conduct regular surprise inspections at locations where child labour is likely to occur, with the objective of making the district completely free from child labour.
The Deputy Commissioner said that his objective is to make Panchkula district completely free from child labour. He emphasized that along with taking strict measures to curb child labour, spreading awareness in society is equally important.
He directed that surprise inspections should be carried out at roadside eateries, brick kilns, industrial units, shops, traffic light points, and other locations where instances of child labour are likely to occur. If children are found employed at any such place, strict action should be taken against the offenders as per the prescribed rules.
In addition, he instructed that awareness programmes should be organized at regular intervals at these locations to sensitize people about the social evil of child labour. The Deputy Commissioner also directed the police department to maintain special vigilance at various traffic points.
While reviewing the action taken by the District Task Force, the Deputy Commissioner directed that a detailed report on the measures taken to prevent child labour be presented at the next meeting. The report should also include details of the locations where raids were conducted by the task force.
He stated that to completely eradicate this social evil, strict action must be taken against those who force children into labour. Along with action under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, public awareness campaigns should be conducted to sensitize people about this illegal practice. He further emphasized that under the Child Labour Act, employing children below the age of 14 years in any form of business or work is strictly prohibited.
During the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner also reviewed the steps being taken by the Vigilance Committee constituted to prevent bonded labour in the district and issued necessary directions. He instructed that it must be ensured that no bonded labour exists anywhere in the district.
Present on the occasion were SDM Panchkula, Sh Chanderkant Kataria; SDM Kalka, Sh Sanyam Garg; ACP Sh Vikram Nehra; Assistant Labour Commissioner Smt Anjana; Chairperson of the Child Welfare Council Panchkula, Smt Veena Rani Arora; members Smt Ritu Agarwal and Sh Dinesh Jangra; Tehsildar Sh Suresh Kumar; ASMO Sh Mohit Sharma; Labour Inspectors Sh Tejbir Singh and Sh Krishna Kumar Saini; Sh Rahul Deswal from DLSA; Smt Navjeet Kaur from the DCPO office; and other non-governmental members of the committee.
