Elimination of child labour act of worship: CM

LAHORE

Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said elimination of child labour from brick kilns is his mission and vows to end this menace from the society. 

The CM expressed these views while addressing the 9th meeting of the steering committee set up for elimination of child labour from brick kilns on Saturday.

He said child labour would be equipped with education. He said child labour would also be eliminated from auto workshops, hotels and petrol pumps. He said like elimination of child labour from brick kilns, strict action would also be taken for eliminating child labour from other professions. He said mortgaging the families through advance payment for child labour at brick kilns would be eliminated. He said all-out resources would be provided for the children of the nation. The chief minister said he would not rest content till ensuring the enrollment of last child working at brick kilns.

The meeting decided to evolve a future strategy for the child labour. Shahbaz Sharif directed that the process of survey should be completed at the earliest and final recommendations be presented. He said elimination of child labour was a form of worship and we would have to work like a team for achieving this objective. He said more than 31,000 children working on brick kilns had been enrolled in schools and reiterated that all the children working at brick kilns would be admitted to schools for education. The chief minister said the Punjab government had given revolutionary package for providing education to the children working at brick kilns. 

He said besides a monthly stipend of 1,000 rupees, free books, uniform and stationery would be given to every child whereas 2,000 rupees would be given to the parents of the children going to schools. He said bounded labour was a social curse, which would be eliminated at every cost. Shahbaz Sharif asked the officials concerned to leave offices and go to field for eliminating child labour from brick kilns and review the steps taken in this regard.

He directed that challans of the cases registered on the violation of law of child labour should be sent at the earliest so that  violators could be awarded punishment. He said continuous socio-economic steps were essential for the families working at brick kilns for elimination of mortgaging families through advance payment for taking child labour at brick kilns. Therefore the steering committee should consider every aspect in this regard and bring a durable solution on permanent basis so that steps taken for elimination of child labour should also continue regularly in future, he added. 

The chief minister said that an effective monitoring system should be evolved for providing education to the children working at brick kilns. He said provincial ministers and secretaries concerned should continue their regular visits to the brick kilns and take effective steps for elimination of child labour from brick kilns. Shahbaz expressed satisfaction over the steps taken for elimination of child labour from brick kilns and appreciated the performance of Labour Department. Secretary Labour gave a briefing about the steps taken for elimination of child labour from brick kilns. 

He told the media that more than 5,000 brick kilns were inspected, 207 sealed and 650 cases were registered on violation of child labour laws and 717 brick kilns owners had been arrested. The meeting was told that the International Labour Organisation and European Union had appreciated the steps taken by the Punjab government under the leadership of chief minister for eliminating child labour from the province. Provincial Ministers Rana Sanaullah, Ch. Muhammad Shafiq, chief secretary, additional chief secretary, inspector general police, secretaries concerned and senior officials attended the meeting whereas Provincial Minister for Labour Raja Ashfaq Sarwar attended the meeting from Rawalpindi through video link.