On the eve of Anti-Child Labour Day, a group of shopkeepers in the Capital have decided to set an example for the rest of the city by declaring their shops “child-labour free”.

This campaign was launched by NGO Chetna with support from another NGO Save the Children.

The police officers and traders of Lajpat Nagar Market first met at the local police station in February to confirm their support for the campaign. On Monday, “This shop is child-labour free” stickers were distributed to be put across shops in Lajpat Nagar.

25 shops make a pledge

The group went round the market urging shopkeepers not to employ children and invited them to take the pledge by putting up the stickers in their shops. Up to 25 shops pledged to be child-labour free.

The group will continue in this fashion for another 45 days and they hope to cover as many shops as possible in the market with plans to initiate something similar in the neighbouring Nehru Place Market.

“Every child has a right to a childhood, including the invisible and unaccounted children. We want to contribute in whichever way we can to ensure this right,” said Sanjay Gupta of Chetna.

“We aim at making child labour socially and culturally unacceptable,” said Save the Children Delhi State programme manager Prasanta Kumar Dash.

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