Hundreds of men, women and children participated in the End Child Labour (ECL) Marathon – 2016 to mark World Day Against Child Labour here on Sunday.
The marathon was organised by Fusion Media and Entertainments with National Child Labour Project (NCLP), Coimbatore, to emphasis on the need to educate children and not to force them into child labour.
The events began with Zumba warm-up. The marathon was flagged off by District Collector Archana Patnaik from the VOC Ground. The marathon was conducted in two formats, namely, five km and 10 km and covered areas such as Balasundaram Road and Nehru Stadium. A total of 20 prizes were given away to five men, women, boys and girls. A theme song to end child labour Munneri Vaa was launched at the event.
Organisers also plan to earmark funds to support children of parents who cannot afford to meet the education expenses of their children, single parents who have a big dream for their wards, orphans who want to study, children who were rescued from the clutches of child labour and differently abled children.