ISLAMABAD - Residents of twin cities demanded to check child labour as the number of underage working children at various work places is increasing day by day.
The children of school going age were witnessed working at hotels, auto workshops, stores, malls and other work places at different localities of the twin cities.
A number of children 8 to 17 age are also involve in beggary, shoes polishing and selling food edibles at bus stops while many others were indulged in collecting cardboard, papers, packets, bottles at roadside and markets.
Talking to APP a slum dweller of Pir Wadai, Bilal Akhtar said that they could not afford the expenditures for ensuring education for their children as they had to meet the other basic needs of life. He said that unemployment, poverty and price hike were also main cause for indulging their children in different business.
Another resident of sector G/7, Taimoor said that people were encouraging their children in learning different skills to increase their family income.
He said that poor people also desired to send their children schools but could not afford the expenditures.
He said that a mechanism should also be devised to check the incidents of child abuse at work places. The residents of the twin cities demanded the government to introduce scholarships for ensuring education for children.
Punishment and other penalties should be set for those people not sending children schools and involving them in business activities, they added.
A storekeeper of G/9 Markaz told this agency that hotel owners and others preferred children to manage their works as they were available against low cost.
Director National Child Protection Center, Sajjad Ahmed told on contact that legislation needed to stop child labor in capital areas.
He said that National Child Protection Bill for stopping under age child work in capital was under process, saying that without the presence of laws this activity could not be end.
He said that after the 18th amendment in constitution the subject was shifted to provinces and every province had child protection acts.