A 12-year-old girl was on Sunday found hanging by the neck in a bamboo grove near her residence in Nadia district of West Bengal, police said.
Police said the body of the girl, a class 6 student of a Muragacha Subodhoni High School, was found to be without clothes and suspended about six inches above the ground.
"This is an incident of murder. We can't say if the girl was sexually assaulted. That can only be said after the post-mortem examination report and other necessary forensic tests," Superintendent of Police (Nadia) H. Kusumakar said.
He said: "The family members of the victim have not mentioned any name of the suspects. We are investigating the case now."
According to sources, the girl had left her Bahirgachi home Saturday evening to attend a wedding ceremony in the neighbourhood. When she did not return home, her father began a search but could find no clue about the whereabouts of the girl.
Late in the night, he lodged a complaint with the local Nagasipara police station that his daughter was missing, police said.
Later the locals spotted the girl's body in the bamboo grove on Sunday morning.
By courtesy The Times of India
IANS 26 July 2009, 09:05pm IST
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
A union minister see no harm if child artists work in TV serials
New Delhi, July 11 (IANS)
Despite a ban by the Maharashtra government, Information and Boradcasting Minister Ambika Soni says she has no problems with child artists featuring in TV serials as long as their studies are not affected.
'There is no problem with child stars featuring in serials, because after all, parents are the best judge of their children,' Soni told CNN-IBN in an interview.
'If parents are okay with it and the children are continuing their studies alongside, what is the problem with them performing in serials?' she asked.
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'I think parents are the best judge. So long as their studies don't suffer and parents have no problem I don't know why any notice has been served. Parents are the best decision makers,' she said.
Last month, the Maharastra government had issued notices to several production houses, warning them against violating the Child Labour Act by using children in their TV shows.
The state labour department had pulled up these production houses for violating provisions of the Act under which child artistes should get one hour rest after every three hours of shooting. Also, their studies should not be affected. If found guilty, the production houses may have to cough up Rs.10,000 in fine or face imprisonment of up to six months.
Soni has said that she would review the notices already issued.
Source: by courtesy from yahoo.
Despite a ban by the Maharashtra government, Information and Boradcasting Minister Ambika Soni says she has no problems with child artists featuring in TV serials as long as their studies are not affected.
'There is no problem with child stars featuring in serials, because after all, parents are the best judge of their children,' Soni told CNN-IBN in an interview.
'If parents are okay with it and the children are continuing their studies alongside, what is the problem with them performing in serials?' she asked.
javascript:void(0)
'I think parents are the best judge. So long as their studies don't suffer and parents have no problem I don't know why any notice has been served. Parents are the best decision makers,' she said.
Last month, the Maharastra government had issued notices to several production houses, warning them against violating the Child Labour Act by using children in their TV shows.
The state labour department had pulled up these production houses for violating provisions of the Act under which child artistes should get one hour rest after every three hours of shooting. Also, their studies should not be affected. If found guilty, the production houses may have to cough up Rs.10,000 in fine or face imprisonment of up to six months.
Soni has said that she would review the notices already issued.
Source: by courtesy from yahoo.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Save the Children demands new legislation to end the child labour
New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) The new United Progressive Alliance government must introduce a bill to prohibit all forms of child labour in the country within the first 100 days, a child rights organisation said Friday.
“In its plan of action for the first 100 days in power, the Ministry of Labour and Employment must bring in a new bill to prohibit all forms of child labour upto 14 years,” said Vakil Miller, of NGO Save the Children.
The appeal came on the occasion of International Labour Organisation Day Friday. India has over 12 million children involved in labour, according to government figures.
According to Miller, the government needs to revamp the national child labour project which has not been effective in the past years in removing children from the labour force and rehabilitating them.
“The new government must make investments required to end the scourge of child labour.
“Much before the government sets out to restructure the education system, it is critical for it to tackle the question of child labour as India is one of the countries with highest figures in child labour,” added Miller.
There are 13 million children below 14 years engaged in child labour across the world.
“In its plan of action for the first 100 days in power, the Ministry of Labour and Employment must bring in a new bill to prohibit all forms of child labour upto 14 years,” said Vakil Miller, of NGO Save the Children.
The appeal came on the occasion of International Labour Organisation Day Friday. India has over 12 million children involved in labour, according to government figures.
According to Miller, the government needs to revamp the national child labour project which has not been effective in the past years in removing children from the labour force and rehabilitating them.
“The new government must make investments required to end the scourge of child labour.
“Much before the government sets out to restructure the education system, it is critical for it to tackle the question of child labour as India is one of the countries with highest figures in child labour,” added Miller.
There are 13 million children below 14 years engaged in child labour across the world.
90 civil society organisations across Karnataka have joined hands to end rampant child labour in the state.
Bangalore, Feb 23 (IANS) In a first of its kind attempt in the country, 90 civil society organisations across Karnataka have joined hands to end rampant child labour in the state.
The Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL), a nation-wide network to eliminate child labour, took the lead in launching the initiative.
The Civil Society Initiatives for Elimination of Child Labour was launched in August 2008.
“The aim of the exercise is to educate and involve society through various civilian groups about the scourge of child labour. In a way we want to involve the entire society in eradicating the inhuman practice of engaging child labour in various sectors,” V. Susheela, convener of the Karnataka chapter of CACL, told IANS.
“Our latest initiative has borne positive results as 90 civil society groups have become members of our campaign in the past seven months. These groups are working in tandem in stopping children from being employed in various sectors across the state. The civil society groups are also involved in advocacy and opinion building against child labour,” Susheela added.
Some of the civil society groups which have joined hands with CACL are Bangalore Hotel Owners’ Association, Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners’ Association, Karnataka Truck Owners’ Association, and various trade unions including the Karnataka Beedi Workers’ Union.
The CACL initiative has the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Karnataka Child Labour Project.
On the impact of the initiative so far, Susheela said, “It is sure to enlighten civil society that the practice of child labour is unlawful and it will help in the rescue and rehabilitation of poor children working as domestic helps in homes, garages and hotels.
“Most people are not aware that employing children as labourers is unlawful. The issue of child labour is very complex, as in most cases parents themselves deny their child is working. Thus it takes a lot of time to rescue children from the clutches of their employers. But we’re working and hope to achieve good results soon,” said Susheela.
According to the 2001 census, there were 12.59 million child workers in India. Karnataka had 823,000 child labourers. Uttar Pradesh topped the chart with 1,927,997 of child labourers, followed by Andhra Pradesh where 1,363,339 children were found working.
“Our very first target of involving civil society groups is to reduce the number of child labourers in Karnataka. This can happen only when new recruitment stops. Awareness on not recruiting children as workers could be easily spread through civil society groups,” said Mahindra Rajaram, consultant of the advocacy wing of CACL.
“Whenever we have approached any groups, we have got positive feedback from them. If we could sustain our work, we are sure to bring some positive results in the coming years,” he added.
However, Rajaram said that since child labour was a complex issue and directly linked to poverty, it would take some time to bring tangible results.
“Figures regarding child labour are also conflicting. Figures from NGOs differ hugely from government data,” he noted.
“Exact figures of child labour of any place is hard to provide,” said Rajaram.
According to a recent CACL survey, Karnataka has 400,000 child labourers, whereas the state government’s labour department puts the figure at just 85,000.
Child rights activists estimate that currently there are 50 million child labourers in India, though it was banned more than two years ago.
The notification on prohibition of employment of children as domestic help and in restaurants or roadside ‘dhabas’ (eateries) came into effect on Oct 10, 2006. Violators face jail for up to two years and a fine of Rs.20,000 (about $420).
According to the 7th All India Education Survey, done last in 2002, 50 percent of Indian children aged 6-18 do not go to school and most of them are engaged in one or other profession, making them child labourers.
As per the child rights charter, a universal definition of “child” includes all persons under the age of 18.
The Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL), a nation-wide network to eliminate child labour, took the lead in launching the initiative.
The Civil Society Initiatives for Elimination of Child Labour was launched in August 2008.
“The aim of the exercise is to educate and involve society through various civilian groups about the scourge of child labour. In a way we want to involve the entire society in eradicating the inhuman practice of engaging child labour in various sectors,” V. Susheela, convener of the Karnataka chapter of CACL, told IANS.
“Our latest initiative has borne positive results as 90 civil society groups have become members of our campaign in the past seven months. These groups are working in tandem in stopping children from being employed in various sectors across the state. The civil society groups are also involved in advocacy and opinion building against child labour,” Susheela added.
Some of the civil society groups which have joined hands with CACL are Bangalore Hotel Owners’ Association, Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners’ Association, Karnataka Truck Owners’ Association, and various trade unions including the Karnataka Beedi Workers’ Union.
The CACL initiative has the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Karnataka Child Labour Project.
On the impact of the initiative so far, Susheela said, “It is sure to enlighten civil society that the practice of child labour is unlawful and it will help in the rescue and rehabilitation of poor children working as domestic helps in homes, garages and hotels.
“Most people are not aware that employing children as labourers is unlawful. The issue of child labour is very complex, as in most cases parents themselves deny their child is working. Thus it takes a lot of time to rescue children from the clutches of their employers. But we’re working and hope to achieve good results soon,” said Susheela.
According to the 2001 census, there were 12.59 million child workers in India. Karnataka had 823,000 child labourers. Uttar Pradesh topped the chart with 1,927,997 of child labourers, followed by Andhra Pradesh where 1,363,339 children were found working.
“Our very first target of involving civil society groups is to reduce the number of child labourers in Karnataka. This can happen only when new recruitment stops. Awareness on not recruiting children as workers could be easily spread through civil society groups,” said Mahindra Rajaram, consultant of the advocacy wing of CACL.
“Whenever we have approached any groups, we have got positive feedback from them. If we could sustain our work, we are sure to bring some positive results in the coming years,” he added.
However, Rajaram said that since child labour was a complex issue and directly linked to poverty, it would take some time to bring tangible results.
“Figures regarding child labour are also conflicting. Figures from NGOs differ hugely from government data,” he noted.
“Exact figures of child labour of any place is hard to provide,” said Rajaram.
According to a recent CACL survey, Karnataka has 400,000 child labourers, whereas the state government’s labour department puts the figure at just 85,000.
Child rights activists estimate that currently there are 50 million child labourers in India, though it was banned more than two years ago.
The notification on prohibition of employment of children as domestic help and in restaurants or roadside ‘dhabas’ (eateries) came into effect on Oct 10, 2006. Violators face jail for up to two years and a fine of Rs.20,000 (about $420).
According to the 7th All India Education Survey, done last in 2002, 50 percent of Indian children aged 6-18 do not go to school and most of them are engaged in one or other profession, making them child labourers.
As per the child rights charter, a universal definition of “child” includes all persons under the age of 18.
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