Activists irked over delay in taking action against actor

Virgil D Sami from the NGO Arunodhaya, a former member of Child Welfare Committee, alleged that the Labour Department that is in charge of taking action has been ineffective in this regard. “This is not an isolated case; the department has to take strict action to set an example. They are creating awareness but any amount of awareness is futile if the perpetrators are left free,” she added. 

Andrew Sesuraj, State convenor of the Tamil Nadu Child Rights Observatory (TNCRO) noted that though the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, has been around for 32 years, the society is still grappling with the issue, looking at ways to end it. “The problem here is the lack of strong will to fight the issue. At least that is the image that has been created because of the lack of action by the Labour Department.” 

The activist added that the dearth of officials working on it was another factor. “There are so many vacancies in the department and until they are given priority, nothing is possible,” he said. However, Labour Department officials maintained that they are doing their part by taking action those found flouting the rules. Denying the allegation that they were probing whether the minor girl stole as being charged by the actor, an official added: “we are only concerned about law being flouted. We are planning to  take action against the actor soon.”