Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister
Prithviraj Chavan on Sunday said that the state government was
committed towards eradicating child labour by ensuring that
every child of school-going age attends school.
"We will eradicate this national evil (child labour)
and would bring every child to school to make him a productive
member of the society," Chavan said while addressing a
programme on the `World Day Against Child Labour` here.
"I have instructed the concerned officials to make
sure that they work very closely with the NGOs and district
officials to take action against those who have employed minor
children," Chavan said.
Highlighting the budgetary provisions, made by the
state government, the chief minister said, Woman and Child
Development department`s budget was raised to Rs 16 crore this
year for the purpose.
The government is paying special attention to 15
districts where huge child labourers were found. As many as
16,000 to 17,000 child labourers from these districts have
been admitted to schools in 361 schools, he said.
"A total of 25,000 child labourers have been brought
into the main stream through education. However the figure is
meagre in front of 7.5 lakh child labourers in the state," he
added.
PTI
