MGLI hosts webinar on eliminating child labour

The Mahatma Gandhi Labour Institute (MGLI), Ahmedabad, hosted a webinar on ‘Strategies to Eliminate Child Labour’ on June 12 to commemorate World Day against Child Labour.

Dr. Helen Seker, Senior Fellow at VV Giri National Labour Institute, Dr. Kingshuk Sarkar, Joint Labour Commissioner, West Bengal, Pushpa Joshi, Child Education Specialist, UNICEF, Gujarat, Divyesh Sonavane, Assistant Labour Commissioner, Gujarat, and Indrajeet Chauhan, Project Manager, Gujarat State Child Protection Society, were the expert speakers at the webinar, which saw participation of 79 persons from across the country.

The expert speakers deliberated on the recently amended laws related to child labour and protection. They also covered various aspects on the effectiveness of the laws on health and education of children.

Representatives of governments of Gujarat and West Bengal apprised the participants about the various policy initiatives taken by them. They also expressed apprehensions that poverty will rise because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and that this could lead to higher incidence of child labour.

The sessions were followed by an open house discussion.

Several useful and practical suggestions were received during the webinar for eliminating child labour. These recommendations will be compiled and submitted to the state government for examination and implementation.