Hyderabad students conduct rally against child labour, dowry

Hyderabad: The Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA), in collaboration with the education department of the Government of Telangana, organised a program called “Walk to Wake Up Society” on Saturday, March 2, to bring awareness on social problems among people on child labour, care of elders, dowry, and budget management.

COVA is a national network of voluntary organisations working for communal harmony and community empowerment in India.

The program, which was attended by students from various schools in Hyderabad, was flagged off from Charminar.

As per the press release, the volunteers raised placards and slogans addressing various social issues. They brought awareness about the issues as well as their punishments among the public.

• There are over 6 crore children in India who are forced into labour, and the punishment for employing child labour is Rs 50,000 and up to 2 years of imprisonment.
• Every 90 minutes, a woman dies due to dowry violence, and the punishment for dowry death is 7 years of lifetime imprisonment.
• There are 14 crore elderly people in India, of whom 9 crore are working to survive and 5 crore are below the poverty line. Meanwhile, the punishment for ill-treating parents is 3 months imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 5,000 under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

The students carried out the rally with slogans urging people to take responsibility and bring about change in society.

Later, they divided into small sub-groups and rallied through different localities around Charminar, interacted with people, and distributed pamphlets to make them aware of these problems.