About 40 children, out of work due to the recently enacted law banning children working below 14 years of age, on Friday staged a demonstration before the residence of the union minister of state for Labour Chandrasekhar Sahu.
The children raised slogans against the minister demanded their rehabilitation.
Slogans like 'Manmohan Singh Hai Hai' and 'Labour Minister Hai Hai' reverberated as local Congress leaders and workers tried to pacify the children who sat down in front of the minister's residence in the Gosani-Nuagan area of the city.
The minister, however, was not present in the house.
Eleven year old Muna Das, whose father Ramesh Das is an invalid man, said he and his two other brothers were working in a welding shop to earn their daily bread.
"Since October 10, we are out of work. How will our family live ? Who will look after us ?", he asked.
The children, however, were persuaded to disperse by party workers.
Though the ban on employment of children as domestic helps, in eateries and non-hazardous units was imposed, it was not accompanied by a comprehensive rehabilitation package.
{{/usCountry}}Though the ban on employment of children as domestic helps, in eateries and non-hazardous units was imposed, it was not accompanied by a comprehensive rehabilitation package.
{{/usCountry}}Any one violating the ban could attract punishment including a jail term upto one year.