Say no to child labour

CHENNAI: ‘The next time you see anyone employing a  child, call us immediately. Don’t wait for any kind of violence to occur.’ That was the message conveyed by Arunodhaya, an NGO working for the elimination of child domestic labour for more over a decade, at an event to  celebrate Children’s Day in the city. Virgil D Samy, Director, Arunodhaya, speaking at the inaugural of the week-long awareness programme for creating a child domestic worker-freezone, said, “As a community, we all have a responsibility. Most of the times, when we see children being employed by people, we remain indifferent to it. Next time you see anybody employing a child, be it your neighbour in your flat,or when you spot a child domestic worker coming to a departmental store tobuy something, identify them and inform us.”   Arunodaya  is involved in the rescue  and the  rehabilitation of child domestic workers. They have a  network of people who can intervene in these cases and take necessary action.  Virgil, while pointing out hurdles they faced in rescue work, said, “Language is a huge problem. There are child domestic workers from other states who do not speak the local language. It is very difficult to reach out to them.” Arunodaya staff enacted a powerful street play highlighting the types of abuse that a child domestic worker could face, especially  girl children.   They plan to stage this street play for various stake holders throughout the entire week as part of awareness activity.  For any complaints or  reports on child domestic workers, the NGO can bereached at: 044-25232283,  9444051529.