Nabarangpur: A day-long meeting titled “A Day for Children” was organized at the local Mission Shakti Conference Hall through the joint efforts of the District Administration, District Labour Department, and District Child Protection Unit.
The meeting focused on child protection, rehabilitation, and education continuity for children. Discussions were held on linking various government schemes to ensure children remain in school and are protected from exploitation. The meeting was chaired by Additional District Collector (Revenue) Bishwajit Barman, who emphasized making Nabarangpur a child labour-free and child marriage-free district.
The joint meeting included committees working on child protection and development such as:
District-Level Child Protection Committee
Adolescent Empowerment and Child Marriage Prevention Task Force
Child Labour Elimination Committee
Childline Advisory Committee
During the meeting, it was decided to collect and maintain data on migrant labourers’ children at all Anganwadi centres. Information on vulnerable and orphaned children in the district will also be gathered, for which the responsibility has been assigned to the District Social Welfare Officer.
District Child Protection Officer Suresh Pattnaik informed that training sessions had already been held in all blocks and 189 Gram Panchayats of the district on child marriage laws and the roles of Child Marriage Prohibition Officers.
District Social Welfare Officer Draupadi highlighted the importance of coordinated efforts from Anganwadi centres up to the district level. She also noted that the DCPU (District Child Protection Unit), District Social Welfare Department, and District Education Department are collaboratively preparing a planned program.
Awareness campaigns have been initiated in schools and villages, particularly targeting adolescent girls and boys, encouraging discussions on preventing child marriage. These are being held in schools and hostels.
So far, 1,058 villages in the district have been declared child marriage-free.
The session also included presentations via PPT on topics like adoption through foster care, rescue of orphaned children, the “Ashirbad” scheme, and institutional care.
District Advisor of Angan NGO, Prabhasini Pattnaik, presented the district’s ongoing and upcoming initiatives to ensure child safety and end child marriages. She also outlined future action plans using PPT.
Other notable participants included:
Additional District Medical Officer Dr. Malay Kumar Tripathy
District Education Officer Tanmaya Kumar Meher
Additional Police Officer B.K. Mishra
District Labour Officer Chhota Ray Tudu
District Information and Public Relations Officer Manoj Kumar Behera
District Child Welfare Committee Chairperson Alanta Subhadrashini
All CDPOs, Child Marriage Prohibition Officers, and Sakhi Centre staff
District Childline officials also shared inputs, especially on orphaned and single-parent children and ending child marriage.
Through this meeting, the District Administration and partner departments reiterated their collective commitment to creating a safe, secure, and educational environment for children. This was recognized as the primary goal of the initiative.