Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi today announced that he would go for 'Bharat Yatra' from Kanyakumari to Delhi to promote "Surakhsit Bachpan, Surakhsit Bharat" programme, touching almost every state.
"We will fix a date soon after August 15 and end the two-month long Yatra a day before Diwali," Satyarthi told a press conference here.
While the number of students was increasing in schools and child labour decreasing, they were subjected to sexual exploitation and violence in houses, localities and schools, he said explaining the reason behind the programme.
He said that this fear was increasing in parents who were worried whether their wards would return safely.
"This (yatra) will become the biggest agitation in the world," Satyarthi said, adding social media, mainstream media, religious organizations, governments, NGOs, teachers, schools, colleges, universities, religious bodies and corporate sectors interested in helping children would take part in the yatra.
Every day, eight to 10 public meetings would be held and street plays would be enacted, he said.
At the end of the yatra, at least 1 crore people would take oath saying they would neither engage in violence or sexual exploitation nor would tolerate them, Satyarthi said.
The aim was to bring the issues out of the closed doors with participation of common people, he said adding one of the big demands of the yatra was enactment of a strong act against child/human trafficking.
There were people who used children in creating religious tension, made them extremist or Maoist and "we appeal to them to spare the children and let them lead their life and acquire education," Satyarthi said.
"We have to work more on the security of children. Wherever children are protected, change had come," he said.
Earlier addressing a programme on "Surakshit Bachpan, Surakshit Bharat", he said that there are 131 'Baal Mitra' centres in 131 villages of Jharkhand and pledged to take the number to 500 to prevent exploitation, child marriage and ensure education. The children, ahead of in their career, could learn leadership skills at village level.
Satyarthi, whose organization works in 140 countries, urged MLAs to make at least one 'Baal Mitra' in one village in which he would work with them.
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