Budgam, June 16: Authorities on Friday visited various brick kilns in this central Kashmir’s Budgam district and found 58 children of seasonal migrant families working as child labourers.
A team from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Budgam along with the District Child Protection Unit, Assistant Commissioner of Labour Budgam, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) Budgam, the police station Budgam, and people from the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit Budgam visited various brick kilns in the district, including Nasrullapora, Bhatpora and Chandapora, and inquired about the child labour and exploitation of children by the owners of brick kilns.
Afshan Paul, Chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee Budgam, told Rising Kashmir that the CWC Budgam along with other teams dealing with children visited various brick kilns in Budgam and found 58 children of the seasonal migrant families were working as child labourers
“The owners of the brick kilns were asked to come to the Child Welfare Committee office and provide a list of all the children of the migrant families that are presently working there,’ she said.
The chairperson said the families of these seasonal migrant workers were made aware of their constitutional rights, the rights provided under the Juvenile Justice Care and the Protection of Children Act 2015, and that their children needed care and protection in present circumstances.
“The owners of brick kilns agreed to cooperate with the CWC and other stakeholders for sharing information regarding the protection of children’s rights and the steps taken by the team in ensuring enrollment of such children in nearby schools,” she said, adding that a demand was pressed for the establishment of mobile schools for such children as there are more than 100 brick kilns in the area.
Afshan said the owners were cautioned and warned by the team not to engage children in such manual work which is unsuited to their health and wellbeing. An awareness drive was also carried out in a nearby school at Chandapora, during which the protection issues and wellbeing of children were enquired.
The chairperson said the CWC Budgam, under the guidance of the Director and District Child Protection Officer Budgam Syed Farhana Asgar and Mission Vatasalya, will continue such drives across the district to secure the protection of child rights and stop the exploitation of children who are in need of care and protection.
