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Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Friday appealed the government to have higher budgetary allocation on education, something which he said, would help the youth of this country in establishing leadership positions in whatever fields they are. Satyarthi, who is an activist against child labour, also said that the absence of a law to put a total ban on child labour in all forms contradicts the real purpose of ‘Right to Education’ law that assures guaranteed education up to the age of 14.
“While it is inspiring to see the rising number of Indian entrepreneurs, I still feel that we have to invest more on education. The new budget session is going to come. So I make an appeal that bigger budgetary allocation should be made for education,” Satyarthi said addressing media persons on the sidelines of an event organised by Deshpande Foundation to promote social entrepreneurship.
Satyarthi who won Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 reiterated his stance on the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment bill, which has been stuck in parliament for past couple of years. He said the current Child Labour law, which was formulated in 1986, has become obsolete now since it has not keep pace with the time that has seen the emergence of new laws like Right to Education.
“There is a law that is pending for quite some time from the time of the previous government, which calls for a total ban on child labour in all forms up to the age group of 14. The present child labour law of 1986 is quite obsolete now and since then several new laws related to allied fields have been made,” Satyarthi said appealing for its speedy passage.
