Child labour likely to increase after lockdown due to rising financial crisis

Kottakkal: There are concerns that the social issue of child labour would increase in the state after the COVID pandemic. The ongoing financial crisis would compel the children to engage in labours and this should be stopped, demanded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan movement headed by Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi.

The elder children of the financially backward families are mostly compelled to go for works and this will affect their studies, said Prasreen Kunnampally, the state coordinator of Bachpan Bachao Andolan movement. Child labour is comparatively very low in Kerala. But as per the' Saranabalyam' project of the government, about 56 children were rescued from child labour in 2018-2020 period.

Majority of these children were from other states. In a public interest litigation filed in Supreme Court recently, Bachpan Bachao Andolan had alleged that illegal child trafficking in India will lead to child labour. Following this, the court asked the senior lawyers to study about the matter in detail and submit a report.

Within two years, 225 children were rescued through 'Saranabalyam' project from child labour, begging and other forms of exploitation. The organisation assume that there are many children engaged in child labour without being noticed. The volunteers of 'Saranabalyam' stated that inspection will be intensified cooperating with various departments in order to prevent child labour after lockdown.

As part of the mission, 12 children were rescued from child labour in Pathanamthitta, 9 from Ernakulam, 8 from Kasaragod, 7 from Idukki, 6 from Thiruvananthapuram, 5 from Thrissur, 3 from Palakkad, 2 from Malappuram and 1 child each from Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kozhikode and Kannur.