The Ore Mines & Quarries (OMQ) Division of Tata Steel recently organised an awareness workshop on child abuse titled “Surakshit Bachpan” for school teachers in and around its areas of operation.

The workshop was organised with an objective to sensitise teachers on child abuse and provide a safer environment for children in schools. Mr Waseem Iqbal, Director, Aim for the Awareness of Society (AAs) conducted the workshop.

AAs is an NGO based out of Indore spreading awareness towards diverse social problems like HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Infection, drug de-addiction, blood donation, water and sanitation, etc.

In his opening remarks, Mr Pankaj Satija, General Manager (OMQ) said: “Children are the future of tomorrow and we have to make sure that their childhood is happy. This is for the first time that we are conducting a workshop on child abuse. The objective is to sensitise people on this serious issue and to come up with solutions to prevent child abuse. Teachers can be a good medium to channel such information to children and I believe this will be a good learning curve for all of us.”

Addressing the teachers, Mr Iqbal said:"There are thousands of unheard cries trapped behind the four walls of our society. We need to hear these silent cries before it plagues the innocent childhood. Educating children about child abuse at school and at home will not only help prevent misdeeds from occurring but will also develop a sense of alertness among them. "

The workshop focused on different forms of child abuse and highlighted the concerning legal aspect in this context. Mr Iqbal conducted a small experiment with teachers to convey the gravity of child abuse in India.

Total 110 teachers from Padmavati Jain Shishu Mandir, Tata DAV, St. Mary's and ME School from Noamundi along with teachers from Tata DAV and St. Teresa from Joda attended the workshop.

Sharing his learnings from the workshop, Mr Raj Kumar Das, Maths teacher from St Teresa said: “ We should spend quality time with our children and make sure that they share their daily happenings with us. We should also give them ample space to open up and speak their heart out. By creating friendly atmosphere both at home and in school, we can inculcate a sense of confidence in them. Schools have been using mediums like drama and mime to communicate such issues. But it will all work when we as parents and teachers begin to spend more time with our children.”

About Tata Steel

Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 27.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as on March 31, 2017. It is the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $18.12 billion (INR 117,420 crore) in FY17. Tata Steel Group is spread across five continents with an employee base of nearly 74,000. Having bagged the Deming Application Prize and Deming Grand Prize for continuous improvement in 2008 and 2012 respectively, Tata Steel has now been recognised as the global ‘Industry Leader’ in ‘Steel category’ by Dow Jones Sustainability Index (2015). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has also been felicitated with several awards including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2013-14 (received in 2017), Best Risk Management by CNBC TV18 (2016), ‘Best-in-class Manufacturing’ award from TIME India (2016) and the ‘Most Ethical Company’ award from the Ethisphere Institute (2016), IIM Sustainability Award (2015), among several others.

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Kulvin Suri
Chief, Corporate Communications, India & SEA
Tata Steel
E-mail: kulvinsuri@tatasteel.com