22 districts in state face child labour problem

PATNA: Deputy comptroller and auditor general (CAG) of India Arun Kumar Singh on Friday said poverty is the only reason behind child labour as no one willingly pushes his/her child to work at a tender age.
Speaking at a seminar, 'Action-2015', organized on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labour at Youth Hostel here, Singh said laws or lectures were not sufficient to stop the social evil of child labour which could be eliminated only by uplift of the poor masses."People who force children to work should be punished. They should also be boycotted at social level. Children work out of compulsion and low income," said Singh.
Chairperson of Bihar State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR), Nisha Jha, said social evils are getting entrenched in the society because of people's negligence. She said, "Most of the people are self-centred and never care about what is happening around them. They see child labourers as their domestic help, servants or paid worker, but don't treat them as children and should take responsibility to educate them. Rich are getting richer and poor are becoming poorer. The wealthy class should also work for the well being of the poor. They should take responsibility of teaching children of at least one family in their lifetime. We have identified 22 districts of Bihar facing problem of child labour."
The seminar on Elimination of Child Labour People's Responsibility' was organized by Save the Children and Campaign against Child Labour (CACL). Street plays were also held in several parts of the city by the children to spread awareness against the child labour.