Campaign launched for child labour-free municipality in Dhankuta

Dhankuta, September 2

Dhankuta Municipality today launched a campaign to make the municipality child labour-free.

Social Development Officer at the municipality office Nushraj Shrestha said people’s representatives, stakeholders, various unions and organisations, teachers and mediapersons, among others, attended an orientation organised to launch the campaign and various child clubs were formed during the programme. He said such orientation programmes would be organised in all 10 wards of the municipality.

District Child Welfare Committee, Dhankuta, has come up with the slogan ‘Children commit mistakes, not crime’.

Mayor Chintan Tamang said they decided to make the municipality a child labour-free municipality after cases of child labour increased in the municipality.  Many children have been used as domestic help in the municipality going against the child protection policy implemented two years ago,” he added.

Tamang said children were also employed in hotels, small scale industries and shops. “The organisations working in the field of child rights are spending much of their time and money only on awareness programmes, training and seminars,” he added.

Human Rights Forum, Dhankuta, secretary Ghanendra Neupane urged all to make the campaign a success. According to District Child Welfare Committee data, there are 100 child labourers in the municipality.