KANCHANPUR - Despite continued efforts to minimise and regulate the exploitation of child labour, children being hired in most of the hotels at the district headquarters, Mahendranagar, have gone unabated.

 

During a survey conducted by Narmada Bal Club, Mahendranagar, 22 child labourers were found working in 20 hotels at the headquarters. “Among the 170 hotels, 20 were found exploiting child labourers under the age of 16,” said Chairperson of the club and member of the supervision committee Kishor Prasad Joshi during a press meet organised on Sunday.

 

The report states that most of the exploited children belonged to financially backward families and communities. The survey was conducted at the headquarters for five days beginning June 22.

 

Joshi shared that the children told them of being deprived of basic minimum wage, only earning Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per month. “While most of them were found working at the hotels due to financial constraints, some were found to have abandoned their homes and opted to work at the hotels along with their friends,” said Dhiraj Joshi, another member of the supervision committee.

 

Joshi spoke about how the children were found indulging in alcohol and drug abuse while at the hotels. The children, however, complained that several organisations have previously made promises to free them from the hotels but have never returned back, Joshi said.

 

District Child Welfare Committee (DCWC) officer Bhuwan Raj Chataut, meanwhile, pledged to rescue the children and return them back to their families. ”We will ensure education facilities to those who wish to study and intend to counsel the others to return to their respective families,” Chataut said. In a recent rescue mission by the DCWC, seven children working on daily wage along the Mahakali river were rehabilitated.

 

According to Chataut, three were relocated to an orphanage and the rest back to their respective families.“Having to feed themselves, the seven were found working at sand and stone quarries,” Chataut said. Chataut reiterated to save underage workers with financial constraints.