Employing children as laborers is a punishable offence under the stipulations of law and it could attract up to three years of imprisonment and fines up to Rs.50,000 said District collector T.N.Hariharan.
Distributing prizes to the students who participated in the anti-child labour awareness competitions, the Collector said "National Child Labour Project is being implemented in the district since 1995, and all steps have been initiated to abolish child labour in the district with the active coordination of various government departments including, heath, labour department and child help line".
“While it is crime to employ children in 6-14 age category, it is a crime to employ children in hazardous industries in 14-18 age category and awareness against child labour is being created through various channels including, street plays, flex boards, short films and door to door propaganda”, the collector said.
NCLP Project Director Vijayakumar and RDO Chinnasamy took part in the meeting.