The world may have advanced into the 21st century, yet it would not be wrong to say that even today most countries lag behind in certain socio-economic standards. One such factor is child labour.
Child labour is prevalent and widespread even in this age,not only in rural India,but also urban India.Working in hotels,shops and factories,children can be seen near open furnaces,wearing tattered clothes, and not in schools or playgrounds, which is their rightful place.
Most of these children hail from families that are so poor that even thinking about one square meal a day is a forbidden and unfulfilled dream to them.It is estimated that crores of children in India sleep hungry, not knowing whether they can even hope for a tomorrow,let alone one that promises a sweet and promising childhood. To escape this pathetic situation, parents send their children to work at small road-side hotels,fireworks and textiles factories,shops and if they can somehow manage it, then to cities as domestic help.
These children are forced to live in miserable conditions for wages so low that almost nothing can be availed out of it. Yet this money is sent to the village, for the child knows that the responsibility of feeding his sick mother and hungry brothers and sisters lies on his tender shoulders.
Quite often the children are not even paid.They are only given accommodation,and are fed once a day.This,in return,of putting more than 12-16 hours of work a day.Yet,the child cannot complain, for in this shattered situation he finds a security with the shelter and the food.
It is doubtless that the government has worked a lot in the child development field. However, their efforts are quite futile.Although there are many government initiatives under which a child can obtain free education, such institutions are yet not easily accessible to every child.often even though there are institutions that impart free education, parents are not willing to wait for a few years for that.It is right from their point of view too - they need to fulfil their basic needs like food and shelter immediately, for these cannot wait until later.
The government's ban on any child under fourteen years of age was rather unsuccessful.This will never work in a country like India where employment is limited,and there are a thousand poor fighting to get such a job,meagre as it may be.
Domestic help is a sector where a lot of children are sent.Many times, they are abused - mentally,physically and emotionally - by their masters. The fireworks industry is infamous for hiring children as young as five or six. Visit a hotel and you will find at least one little young boy washing the dishes or cleaning the table.Why must the hands of young children, who have probably never known the daily comforts we enjoy, be used to make fireworks,to clean someone else's rubbish?
However,a glimmer of hope is still there.The United Nations agency - UNICEF-and many other NGO's like CRY and 'Akanksha' are working for the welfare of these children. They are rescued from the evil hands of child labour and are taught basic things, that just might secure a better future.We,as educated people should also realise the gravity of the situation, and can protest against it by boycotting those goods that are made by children.
Next Diwali if you burst crackers and you see a million beautiful colours light up the sky, try to remember that some child was stuck in a dark room making those, and he would probably never see those lights that you enjoy. This is the pathetic situation of child labour and we must work to end it.
