Campaign against child trafficking, labour begins in Jharkhand's mica mining area

By A Representative
Kailash Satyarthi’s Children’s Foundation (KSCF), an initiative of Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, has launched a week-long Mass Awareness Rathyatra against child trafficking, child labour and promotion of quality education for children in the mica mining region of Jharkhand.
The Rathyatra will cover over 100 villages in the region and has been jointly organized with Railway Protection Force (RPF), District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) and district police authorities.
Designed for a week-long campaign, the Mass Awareness Rath (chariot) was flagged off by the Koderma district deputy development commissioner Lokesh Mishra, in the presence of JawaharLal, Shimpi Kumari and Ankur Kumar, inspectors in RPF, representatives of Bal Panchayats and police officials. Children of the Vivekanand Academy, Koderma, held a street play to create awareness against child labour during the flagging off event.
The Rath was led by Bal Panchayat members, who were selected from among the Bal Mitra Gram (BMG) around the mica mining region. Around 400 people participated in the flagging off event of the week-long Mass Awareness Rathyatra.
The Rath is scheduled to travel around Koderma for four days and will then cover Giridih for the remaining three days. Pamphlets raising awareness against child labour and child marriage will be distributed, jan-choupals, street plays and public meetings will be organised during the week-long campaign.
Lokesh Mishra said, “From a very long time our district has been a victim of various forms of child exploitation, especially child marriage and child trafficking. However, the initiatives of KSCF & BBA in the direction of awareness generation and leadership building among the children is commendable.”
He added, “This Yatra will be a milestone and I believe that this will gain a very positive response from the masses… We need to work collectively to eliminate all the anti social elements in the society. The district administration extends its support & assistance. I also hope that the awareness generation Yatra will continue even after seven days”.

Bal Panchayat member Sarita Kumari and anti-child marriage brand ambassador Radha Pandey said, “Our aim is to spread awareness against child labour, child marriage and trafficking amongst the public. Rural people are not aware that child marriage also leads to trafficking”.
Jawaharlal said, “We are together in this. Only with collective efforts of administration, police and social organisations can we end the menace of child trafficking and child labour. Earlier RPF was limited to its jurisdiction under the railways, but after joining hands with KSCF, it is happy to extend its jurisdiction, reaching the remotest villages of the state generating mass awareness. This Yatra will only be successful when every citizen joins in”.
Several BMG officials, including Manoj Kumar, Amit Kumar, Chandan, Mintu among other Bal Panchayat members and representatives were present during the event. Also BMG district co-ordinator Surendra Pandit and manager Subir Roy and state co-ordinator of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), Shyam Kumar, were present.
BMG is a novel concept conceived by KSCF, in which children don the leadership role to spread awareness amongst the rural population about child labour and to promote quality education for children.
Gobind Khanal, programme manager of BMG, said, “This Rath is intended to travel around Koderma and Giridih for a week covering villages, panchayats, block headquarters, schools and markets. Pamphlets would be distributed at all these places, street plays, night choupals and songs will be organized to spread awareness in these areas”.

Comments

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Health Day ads spark row as NAPi targets Britannia campaign, criticizes celebrity endorsement

By A Representative The advocacy group Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi) has raised concerns over what it describes as misleading advertising of ultra-processed food products (UPFs), particularly those high in sugar, fat and salt, calling for stricter regulations and an end to such promotions across media platforms.

Search This Blog