January 19,2019:
Prayagraj, 16th Jan 2019: With the aim of making Kumbh a child friendly Mela, Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF), founded by Nobel Peace Laureate Shri Kailash Satyarthi and the Mayor of Prayagraj today jointly launched Mukti Caravan, a grassroots campaign on wheels to free children from all forms of exploitation.
Launched from Subhas Chowk, this campaign is part of the nationwide movement of the Foundation and aims to generate awareness among masses on issues of child trafficking, child abuse and child labour.
The Mukti Caravan campaign which demonstrated great impact in Bihar and Jharkhand, will be replicated in Prayagraj along with the support of the district administration. The campaign will act as a safety net for the children and will keep a tab on incidents of inter-state trafficking.
“The campaign is part of the nationwide campaign. It will mobilise people on issues of child trafficking and child labour. The aim of Mukti Caravan here is to make the religious gathering a Child Friendly Kumbh (Bal Mitra Kumbh),” said Mr.Bidhan Chandra Singh, Executive Director, KSCF.
“Mukti Caravan, first launched in 1997 by Shri. Satyarthi in many Indian states, has been re-launched here with the aim of making people aware about the preventive measures already in place to fight child trafficking, child labour and child abuse,” he said.
“Millions of children would be visiting the Mela with their parents and there is a high potential of children going missing or getting lost in the large gathering. Mukti Caravan would be extending its safety net to the children so that they are reunited with their parents,” he added. As per news reports, in the 2013 Kumbh Mela, nearly three lakh people, including thousands of children had gone missing.
The volunteers associated with KSCF will be running a campaign in the Mela premises and in the city of Prayagraj this year with the help of wall posters, banners, folk songs and camps to spread awareness about safety and education of children. KSCF will be making running these activities to help the authorities in making Kumbh, a child friendly Mela.
The awareness campaigns will ensure that people are extra cautious of the exploitative forces that pose a threat to children and be proactive in reporting any such suspicious activities.
Ms. Abhilasha Gupta, Mayor of Prayagraj said “KSCF has launched Mukti Caravan to spread awareness on the issues of safety of children. Due to such a large gathering at Kumbh, there are fears of thousands of children getting separated from their parents and landing in the hands of traffickers.
The Mukti Caravan will be extending a security cover to such vulnerable children. It will also curb inter-state trafficking of children.”
Ms. Gupta flagged off the Mukti Caravan and said, “Children are the future of our country and they will take this country and society to new heights with their sheer talent. We need to simply groom them accordingly. Mukti Caravan has been doing a great service for the cause of children and this campaign reunites the lost children with their parents.
The government and the Foundation have come together for the cause of helping and aiding the children for ensuring safety of children in Kumbh.”
She further added, “I congratulate Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation for their services to the cause of vulnerable children and empathising with their parents. I once again appeal to the foundation to step up their good work for the cause of children and keep up the intervention in Kumbh by taking care of children to make this event a success.”
ABOUT MUKTI CARAVAN
Mukti Caravan was launched by Nobel Peace Laureate Shri Kailash Satyarthi in 1997 in many Indian states with the aim of emancipating children from traffickers and saving them other forms of exploitation. The movement has travelled more than 4 lakh kilometres and reached out to millions of people.
It has been spreading awareness in states with highest incidents of trafficking. The volunteers travel in a group of 10 to 15 people in towns and villages.
They engage with people, spread awareness about trafficking, sexual exploitation of children and child labour with the help of poster campaigns, rallies and small camps. This has been re-launched at the Kumbh Mela to support the government in ensuring safety of children.
ABOUT KSCF
Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF), founded by Nobel Peace Laureate Mr. Kailash Satyarthi. KSCF envisions a world where all children are free, safe, healthy, in school, and have the opportunity to realize her/his potential. Our mission is to end slavery and child labour and ultimately end violence against children.
To make our vision of a child friendly world a reality, we are scaling Mr. Satyarthi’s almost four decades of work at both the grassroots and global policy level.
His lessons learned guide the foundation’s work to engage children and youth as part of the solution, build greater collaboration between governments, business and communities, ensure effective national and international laws, scale know-how and successful practice and create partnerships with key stakeholders.
For details please contact:
Mr Bidhan Chandra Singh, Executive Director, KSCF: 9650111855
Ms. Safia Abbas : 9839014420
