'Come out of the tendency to shield violators of law'

The human nature of shielding violators of law has affected effective implementation of various acts in the country, Principal District and Sessions Judge Kadluru Satyanarayana Acharya said.

He was speaking at a programme organised on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour by Labour department at Town Hall here, on Wednesday.

Acharya said ‘Nammavaru’ (our people) concept and protecting them was hindering the effective implementation of laws by agencies concerned. “Such attitude is also affecting conviction of the offenders even after filing the case.”

“We all need to come out of this human tendency to shield our people who have violated rules and regulations,” he said.

Calling upon the people to introspect on how bad is child labour, he said there was a need to create awareness on the ill effects of child labour. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, should be implemented effectively. All the rescued child labourers should be rehabilitated to ensure that they do not fall prey to the menace again.

On children in conflict with law, he said a total of 233 cases had been registered with Juvenile Justice Board in Dakshina Kannada district. Of this, 150 cases have been disposed off so far. One need to introspect on who is responsible for crimes committed by the children. Observing World Day Against Child Labour reflects our
inability to react to the laws related to prohibition of child labour.

Child Welfare Committee (CWC) President Renni D’Souza said the draft National Education Policy 2019 proposes to increase the class of compulsory education up to Grade 12 (age-18), which is a ray of hope in preventing child labour in the country.

Stating that there has been a rise in begging in Mangaluru city, he said in spite of raids conducted by officials every Wednesday, the menace could not be checked effectively.

The district administration should chalk out a plan to free Dakshina Kannada from the menace of begging. There is a need to create awareness on the menace of child labour and to create a child-friendly society in the district, he added.

Prajna Counselling Centre Director Prof Hilda Rayappan said the centre had rehabilitated 22 school dropouts till now.

Assistant Labour Commissioner K P Nagaraj said the Child Labour Project Society in Dakshina Kannada was constituted in 2002. Since then, inspections were carried out at 99,000 units and establishments to prevent child labour. As many as 137 children were rescued and cases were booked against owners, who had employed children for work, he added.