Prevention

Achieving the objective of a child labour free city not only implies rescuing children from work, but also ensuring that they do not return to work and preventing new children from being forced into child labour.

Platform Prevention program

Setting-up of Help Desks

One key strategy to prevent the entry of children for work is to set up Help Desks in main railway stations. The setting up of Help Desks allows PCVC to establish an accurate database of the children moving in and out of the city and better understand their situations. These Desks also serve as a focal point for building contact with children selling, begging or working on the platforms and helps raise awareness among the hundreds of passengers coming to and from the Terminus.

Collaboration with Railway Authorities

PCVC is also trying to involve the different organizations present at the Terminus (RPF, GRP, hamals, and rickshaw and taxi drivers unions) by conducting orientation programs and training on the issue of child rights.

Community Prevention program

At community level, the active involvement of community members and grassroots vigilance groups is a key factor of success. The Community Prevention program is designed to create community ownership and eventually hand over the responsibility of eradicating child labour to the community itself.

Community Vigilance Groups are the pillars of our Community Prevention

At a community level, we facilitate formation and replication of community vigilance groups which work in collaboration with Prevention Teams to scout the communities. They help us

locate factories where children are working, put pressure on owners to release the children and ensure that the factories permanently stop employing children. These community vigilance groups generally consist of the PR officer of the local police station, local Labour officer, representatives of owners association, members of youth and women groups as well as other NGOs working in the community. From state to state, different bodies have been more actively involved in setting up these community prevention groups: School Management Committees in Rajasthan, village Panchayats in UP and Andhra Pradesh, Students Action Committees in AP and Self-Help Groups in Solapur.

Success of the Community Centre Model in Mumbai

At present there are 6 such Community Centres operational in Mumbai (Govandi). In one year the following has already been achieved:

• 1000 children have been covered under the Prevention Program and more than 600 children have been removed from work
• 872 pockets (200-250 households) have been declared and sustained child labour free
• 300 out-of-school children have been provided with educational supportand prepared to be enrolled in formal school
• 300 school-going children have been supported in school through tuitions
• More than 500 children have visited the libraries every month
• 600 girls have attended the Skill Training Program, out of which 263 decided to take government exams and were awarded a Government Certificate
• A great number of awareness raising activities have been organized to sensitize the community to child labour issues