Workshop held for labour inspectors in ZP premises

Workshop held for labour inspectors in ZP premises

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Feb 16, 2012: A workshop for inspectors appointed under Section 17 of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 was held in the Nethravathi Auditorium of the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) on Feb 16 Thursday. 

Addressing the gathering, J. T. Jinkalappa, the joint labour commissioner, said that the union government had set a deadline of 2007 for Karnataka to declare itself as a state free of child labour, but had extended that deadline to 2012. Every three months, the state chief secretary files an affidavit of child labour status in the Supreme Court. 

Stating that the census of child labourers has already been completed in 25 districts and pending in 5 districts, he said that this census is fraught with complications as families employ children as domestic labourers although organizations have stopped employing child labourers. 

He also said that the union government has given all labour inspectors the power to raid houses suspected of employing child labourers. In spite of strict laws, child labour still exists in a district that has a high rate of literacy, he said. 

The workshop was jointly organized by the state government, the Zilla Panchayat, the district administration, and 12 departments. 

R. V. Patil, the secretary of legal services authority; Dr. K. N. Vijayaprakash, the CEO of the Zilla Panchayat; Asha Nayak, the president of the child welfare committee; Hassan T. Shrinivas, the deputy labour commissioner; and Moses Jayshekar, the deputy director of public instruction, were also present.