Kathmandu, September 2:

Though there are many legal provisions restricting child labour, a lot needs to be done to eliminate the heinous act from society, Chief District Officer of Lalitpur district Sthaneshwor Devkota said today. He was speaking at a workshop on ‘Existing laws on Child Labour and its effective Implementation’ organised by the Legal Aid and Consultancy Centre (LACC).

“Besides forcing the government to formulate more reformative and practical laws, stress should be given to implementing the existing laws,” he added. Kedra Neupane, local development officer of Kathmandu, pointed out the need to tackle the existing difference between words and deeds in the society. Sudarshan Dhakal, Lalitpur local development officer, said effort to wipe out the root causes of such social stigma should be initiated after identifying them.

Shanta Thapaliya, chairman of the LACC, said much could be done to eradicate child labour and child exploitation if collective efforts were initiated with government and non-government organisations. She stressed the need to fight against all forms of child labour and exploitation from the right-based approach. Presenting a paper, Baburam Regmi, joint secretary at Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, said that the ministry would help all the bodies concerned in eradicating child labour and exploitation by forming laws and sorting out problems that appear while implementing the laws. Chhatra Kumari Gurung, vice-chairman of the LACC, suggested including the issues of child rights in school curriculum.