Visakhapatnam: Jan-2007
“I need to take care of my old mother, how can I study when I have to earn money to run the house? “
This is the question that was shot furiously or rather helplessly towards me when I asked Raju about his ambitions regarding his education, clearly expressing his strong desire to study, which were amputated by his current situation like a flower that were plucked even before it blossomed, halting the inflorescence, hence smouldering by his situation responsible for not enabling him to pursue his desires. Indeed The savior of his family.
It was a regular evening in Visakhapatnam and I happened to visit an Irani tea stall near my home where I met Raju, who descended from his town Machilipatnam along with his brother to Visakhapatnam in search of work. Raju was around 14 when his destiny fled him from his home to the city of destiny. He now works as a Tea server in this Irani Teashop serving hot tea cups to the costumers and washing them after being used. Raju works from dusk till dawn, from 6 in the morning to 7 in the evening. He then sleeps in the shop itself and wakes up the next day to get back in to his routine duty. Raju is an example of the devilish practice that prevails in India and most parts of the world, The Child labour that prevails in every look and corner of the country.
Child labour, or child labour, refers to the employment of children at regular and sustained labour. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations and is illegal in many countries (courtesy: Wikipedia.org)
Child labour and improvisation of labouring children is indeed insane but the question that arises here and which I would like to point out is that ” why would any kid in this world, be it rich or poor, would want to indulge himself in to activities which, demands extreme physical strain working from dusk till dawn, subjects them to weathering to all types of seasons from humid summers to chilly winters , subjects them to all kinds of stress, getting beaten here and then and being forced in to dirty waters and also importantly preventing them rather depriving them from enjoying the best part of human cycle i.e. the childhood.
The answer is known to all, a crystal clear NO.
Well even the street children or the so called child labours wouldn’t want to do what they are doing but are unfortunately made to. Not by their employers but their circumstances. Their circumstances make them choose this sort of hard life. A hard life in which there is nothing else but pain suffering and regret. For the mistakes and wrong decisions made by their parents or due to the bad fate given by god, these children are forced to chose this sort of life , which no one would never even think of in dreams.
Childhood is the era in which every individual enjoys to the maximum limits. The fun filled days where every individuals gets a chance to experience the nascent joys that springs from their experiences with nature, the fun filled days where every individual experiences a huge amount of love care and attention from their parents friends and loved ones, are the essence of childhood era. Indeed a common wish to god from every individual is to retrieve them back their childhood.
But, for these child labours, Childhood is one phase of life which they would never want to retrieve back and indeed regret for what they undergo. The sole desire to survive in this world is what drives these children in to working at the age of studying or having a good time.
So what could be the possible solution for solving their problems? A simple dabbing incomplete survey and then chucking the children out of work isn’t going to solve all the problems. Thanks to the child labour rights personnel who hurriedly bail the child out of the job and file a case on the employer. These things would only add to the woes of these children and do little to solve them permanently. They would remain jobless for some time and again get in to another job or would remain jobless for the rest of the time and then divert themselves in to anti social activities, after all it is the matter of hunger, survival and family.
One must be sure that before cutting ones form of income, another should be shown to them.
The permanent solution is what is to be desired and it lies with the roots. The root of the problem is at the places from where they heir.
According to my survey, child labours are of three main varieties.
Firstly, the child may be an orphan. If so he should be properly counselled regarding the dangers of what he is getting himself in to and then explain him the benefits of going to a hostel and getting himself educated. This can be done by anyone amongst us. It doesn’t take much time have a simple chat with these kids where ever you find them. He may not listen to you in the first instance but on a longer note you may surely bring a change to his lives.
Secondly, most child labours are run away from homes. The same as the above process applies to these but also effort should be made to send them back home. Also importantly, further fleeing of children should be checked. This can be done by putting a check at the root, the villages from where most children flee. As in the above post, I mentioned about bablu yadav, who fleed from bihar, hence many bablu yadavs flee everyday and this should be checked and it can only be done by counselling repeatedly the importance of education and about the stress they would be undergoing had they ran away from home listening to some negative elements and running away.
Thirdly, some Child labours are responsibility acceptors. Like Raju, many children indulge themselves in to works so they can run their family. Efforts should be made by government and society for making education available to these children along with safe work and also a source of income should be made available to their elders in the family. This problem is not something that could be eradicated overnight, it should be tackled strategically with patience and it should be met as our countries future lies with these children.
These children may not be related to us by blood, but they are our brothers and sisters by nation and certainly one should remember that our nation’s future is decided by the state of these children’s growth. By neglecting them we are indirectly neglecting ourselves.
Well at the end of the day, it is up to you to decide whether you take up this problem seriously or as a super hero tale but i urge you to think for a moment and take up your decision and plan of action.
