A farmer can never expect a high yield if sown seeds are diseased. Then why do we expect our future, our country to prosper at unprecedented rate when we are not protecting our seeds and allowing them to rot like they is some unwanted shrubs?
Every political party prepare a list of hot agendas for their election campaign, promises of development, insurance at cheap rate, pension plans for senior citizens, inflation, over hauling of defence system, caste based reservation, building temples, mosques, metro lines, cheap homes and what not. One thing that most of us don’t notice is that, they never make promises about abolishing child labour completely. They never keep this high on their agenda that they would work hard for the freedom and liberation of children who are forced into the hell of child labour. Have we ever given it a thought why is that so? Its simple, because Right to Vote is given after 18 years, so all the schemes are for them.
But who is to take care about those initial 18 years of the underprivileged children which define the rest of the life? Seldom this topic of child labour is debated, even in media, mostly when there is nothing much happening in the country. And when it is questioned, the robotic answer that is distributed is “laws are there, system is there and its working. We will further enhance it because children are our future and prime target and blah blah… “. Do we still buy those words?
First of all, various Acts and laws which are prevalent in the country are extremely weak and vague. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that they are combination of loop holes, which are too easily distorted and misused. Whatever a little effectiveness it can create is lost due to secondary importance given to its implementation, personal relations of the culprit with the caretakers of law and last but not the least – greed, insensitivity and carelessness of common people, including me and you!
Child labour is an act of crime constitutionally which we break and allow others to break religiously. Government has excuse that they don’t get complaints against it. Are they really serious? The children selling newapaper on streets, serving food and water in dhabas and restaurants, polishing shoes, begging on streets and stations, selling flowers, working as slaves right at their neighbourhood, are those not children? Or do they expect those very kids to come to them and complain themselves? Height of negligence is that child labour can be seen frequently in the premises of Court of Law.
Isn’t it our responsibility to report these incidences? Our one courageous step could save a life. Every child is innocent and has right to respectable life. It is our carelessness and government’s negligence which is responsible for all the miseries and humiliations that those human beings bear for the rest of their life. Why do we have lakhs of crores to spend on defence projects when there’s no war, crores to spend on celebrating Yoga Day and other occasion when these children are struggling and working for survival. Child labour is not always forced, but sometime by choice for the survival. Probably this is the reason sometimes we resist complaining. But who is responsible in the end? Surely not those kids.
There are numerous laws and Acts in India which restricts child labour. Some of them are:
The Factories Act of 1948: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in any factory. The law also placed rules on who, when and how long can pre-adults aged 15–18 years be employed in any factory.
The Mines Act of 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of children below 18 years of age in a mine.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in hazardous occupations identified in a list by the law. The list was expanded in 2006, and again in 2008.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000: This law made it a crime, punishable with a prison term, for anyone to procure or employ a child in any hazardous employment or in bondage.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009: The law mandates free and compulsory education to all children aged 6 to 14 years. This legislation also mandated that 25 percent of seats in every private school must be allocated for children from disadvantaged groups and physically challenged children.
There are many more. Despite these laws, according to recent census, there are more than 5 million child labours currently in India, and we all know how honest and true these government figures are!
These laws concentrate more on restricting child labour in hazardous places, which is good, that should be the first priority. But why there are less and ambiguous rules for others working in non hazardous areas? Child labour irrespective of type or work, destroys not only childhood but the entire life. Moreover, these laws lay down various conditions like the age, health, type of work etc. to classify whether a child can work on not, but this completely lacks a reliable framework which could provide honest collection of information about these parameters.
A child, suggests UNICEF, is involved in child labour activities if between 5 to 11 years of age, he or she did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work in a week, and in case of children between 12 to 14 years of age, he or she did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work per week. Who is calculating these hours or who is monitoring? A kid of age around 10 don’t even have the knowledge nor the courage to file a complaint if he is made to over work, then who?
What are the root causes of child labour? If we suppose in our “virtual” world that people start reporting incidences of child labour and police start taking expected actions, will everything improve? No!
The situation will improve when government prepare plans to eradicate the root causes of child labour, which are poverty, corruption, lack of schools, basic facilities to children etc. Thousands of schools are opened every year, but most of them survive only on paper. Which successfully make their way up to reality don’t have teacher. The teachers which are employed at high wages by the government are either virtually attending the classes or are not qualified enough. The mid day meal, a well appreciated initiative of Indian Government could not withstand the cancer of corruption. The food grains supplied for the schools are either of lowest possible quality, or is sold away by the very administration and teacher of the schools which were endowed with the responsibility to feed the students. Â Apart from schools, the financial conditions of the guardians are so awful sometimes that the child has to grow faster than nature allows him. In order to feed, children are forced to work and earn. There are ration shops to supply cheap sugar, rice, kerosene etc., but nothing in India can escape from corruption.
But its not dark everywhere. The NGOs have worked exceptionally well in last decade towards the eradication of child labour. Hats off to them, but we cannot leave everything to them. There is little service that we can do for these gifts of god :
From today onwards, every time you leave a tip in restaurant, or every time you eat unwillingly, very time you leave food on your plate, every time you give away your change to a professional beggar, every time you spend even a single penny which is not necessary, just give a thought what that extra change or that extra food or that extra clothe would mean to a child who sacrifices his/her childhood and work day and night to earn two square meals and fundamental rights which have been promised by the Constitution as birth right. Donate that extra penny to help these under privileged children overcome their poverty and go to a school. You are not expected to give away your property, but you are also not expected to give away your honesty, at least for these kids.
Lets not forget, all of us who are able to read this, have been brought up like a flower in a nursery, that does not mean, flowers outside have lesser potential or lesser right to survive or blossom and spread fragrance all around.
The First Opinion 