On World Day Against Child Labour, actor Ayushmann Khurrana has expressed his concern about children who are working in roadside stores, stations, and factories, among other places.
Children belong in schools and playgrounds, not workshops, factories, agricultural fields or as domestic labourers. Child labour violates their rights and deprives them of their education, growth and opportunities. It also makes them vulnerable to injuries, exploitation and abuse, he said.
Ayushmann added, Children who have the opportunity to go to school regularly, have a better earning potential in the future, helping end the intergenerational cycle of poverty. Each one of us has a role to play to end child labour. We can take action to end child labour from our businesses, our homes and our communities.
Ayushmann, who has been roped in as Celebrity Advocate for the global campaign Ending Violence Against Children (EVAC) by UNICEF, feels children at risk need to be protected at any cost. Support vulnerable children and their families to access education and social protection schemes. Raise awareness around the lasting negative impact of child labour. Call CHILDLINE 1098 if you see child labour or any other child in distress, he emphasised.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Ayushmann will be seen in Anubhuti Kashyap’s Doctor G, which also stars Rakul Preet Singh and Shefali Shah. He is also a part of filmmaker Aanand L. Rai’s Action Hero being directed by debutant Anirudh Iyer.