Liberation Caravan Favorite 

Mukti Caravan, the Campaign on Wheels, is a mobile cultural group of former child bonded labourers. Started by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement), a movement started by now Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi, it involves activists visiting villages to create awareness about need for education, emphasizing on the need for improving access to education and quality of education, to completely eradicate child labour from the society.

BBA chairperson Kailash Satyarthi welcomed the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement expressing Government’s resolve to eliminate child labour as a major step forward in recognition of the “invisible” slavery of the child domestic labourers and a movement to end all forms of child labour by the government. Bachpan Bachao Andolan is committed to join all the forces, especially with Government in realizing the objectives. Satyarthi called upon the Government to ensure effective implementation of law by empowering and training the labour inspectors to verify and identify the child labourers in the houses and other places. The law does not permit them to do so. Kailash Satyarthi also asked for a coherence policy and action between various government agencies and schemes including Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid Day Meal scheme, NCLP, Indus etc. to enforce effective law enforcement and rehabilitation of children. The Government must also seek cooperation of all stakeholders in providing rehabilitation and education to children.

The Caravan is run by former child bonded labourers as they have themselves bear the pain of being a child labour. So, they are best suited to explain to the villagers the kind of life a child labour is forced to lead and the hardships they face.

The activists along with the mobile unit (caravan van equipped with campaign materials and audio-video equipments) are deployed in rural areas where they perform street plays, sing folk songs infused with social messages, distribute pamphlets, organize public meetings and awareness camps on the issue of exploitation of children. They also make audio-visual presentation for a greater impact on the villagers.

link policies for eradicating child labour, providing education to all and reducing poverty.

The activists use simple language and rely mostly on the local lingua to make the villagers understand the issues more easily and effectively. The first hand testimony by these former child labourers plays an important role in informing the parents about various tactics used by the traffickers for persuading them (parents) to send their children along.

The use of local dialect also supports the Mukti caravan in their efforts towards creating awareness about child labour and highlighting the importance of education for their children.

The sensitization among children is also immense as the Mukti Caravan helps in the formation of Bal Mitra Grams.

The Mukti Caravan activities also focus on girl child highlighting the need for girls’ education. It also engages in organizing awareness generation camps on child servitude for children, parents, teachers, panchayat office bearers, students, and influential local personalities.

For holistic development of the children, the Mukti Caravan also advocates for better infrastructure like schools, hospitals, roads and communication system with the local administration