Eradication of Child Labour

Eradication of Child labour forms the core of all of CREDA’s work. CREDA has been actively fighting to get children work out of work since 1982.

It wishes to empower children through education to help the1:11 AM 11/18/2017 lead a more focussed life based on informed decisions.

CREDA’s campaign against child labour has been fought through mobilising the local community,

Some of the steps taken include;
· Printing and distribution of bi-monthly newsletters among Panchayat, volunteers, press, government officials, schoolteachers, NGOs/CBOs and other concerned persons in the project areas.
· Organisation of Awareness camps.
· Yatras or rallies to spread the message
· Village meetings to build rapport with the community and stake holders
· Interactive meetings by animators
· Setting up of vigilance committees.

CREDA’s programme has been successful though there is still much that has to be done to correct the situation. There has been a growing acceptance of CREDA’s work amongst parents, loom owners and government officials. In fact, the children themselves are part of the vigilance committees to persuade parents to withdraw children from work and build pressure against migration of children from neighbouring villages. Some children become mentors to other children in their villages. Teachers who were taught by CREDA many years ago run most of the schools.

Village Child Labour Vigilance Committees
CREDA has encouraged the establishment of vigilance committees as the watchdog body at village level to monitor child labour prevalence and to check that children are enrolled in school (and retained there).

Vigilance committees have now been established in all 206 villages. The committees have a minimum of 11 members, but the more common membership base is 15-20. The Committees are informal in that they do not have a legal status and membership is constituted among those committed to the cause. Elected Panchayat members are often active in the vigilance committees, but in their own capacity and not representing the Panchayat as an institution.

The vigilance committees have become an important entry point to oversee child rights issues and also to promote education. The fact that they are based in the villages and that the tasks are performed on a voluntary basis make the potential for sustainability realistic. CREDA as an organisation cannot monitor the situation of children on a daily basis, but with the assistance of these committees it appears that a village based monitoring mechanism is still in place.

The committees have also become important in promoting labour rights in general such as following up of government rates for minimum wages. Though vigilance committees will not change the situation overnight a discussion forum at the local level has been created. Training has been provided in legal rights and this is the first step for inducing change in the long run.

Education...