Kathmandu, July 1:

At least 18,000 children, including a girl child, are working in the mechanical sector, according a national survey conducted on child workers.

The survey, conducted by CONCERN-Nepal during 2005-06, included 1,003 child labour respondents working in this sector across 25 districts. It revealed that those workers refuse to quit their jobs before arrangement of any other alternative.

Children working in this sector are required to work with risky equipment and cope with uneasy working environments, the survey said.

“Neither the past governments nor the NGOs have paid attention to the child workers’ condition,” said Bijaya Sainju, executive director of CONCERN. Jiyam Shrestha, programme manager of CONCERN, said:

“The majority of them are either internal migrants or migrants from India.”