Jawaharlal Nehru was born 125 years ago. The country’s first Prime Minister was known for his love for children his work for their development and education. Although contradicting his ideology several Nehru’s children face an unspoken wart – Child Labor.
Nehru died 50 years ago; there has been development en route for children since then however few stagnant issues such Child Labor still haunt the society.
In the city of heritage – Mysuru – Child labour has been prevalent. Children are taken for construction by prime builders in the area, while few sell products in the Campus of Manasa Gangothri, Mysuru University.
Besides, several children from North India, who have migrated to this place, have quit schooling to work. Child labour is connected to the the issue of poverty.
While, few child right activists claim that the government’s programmes and policies to attract students to school has not reached many.
Apart from this some kids also get into non- hazardous work such as selling products or working at a hotel and so on.
According to the Supreme Court’s order a child may be employed in an un-harmful occupation if he is above the age of 14 – “though his mental, physical as well as educational aspects are circumcised”, proclaim several activist working in the field of Child Welfare.
Successive government has played their part eradicating this social evil drawn through dearth, but the reach is least. Despite the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which covers children in the 6-14 age group, and laws against child labour, challenges remain.
Challenging the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012, which seeks to ban all forms of child labour until the age of 14, Child rights activists demand that a child be defined as any person under the age of 18, as per the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which India has ratified, they say.
While child labour continues to be unacceptably high, it has also seen a sharp drop in the decade to 2011. According to Census data, only about one in 100 children between the age of five and 14 years are still working. However, it must be noted that Census follows a much narrower definition of child labour than the UN, which estimates the same number at nearly 11%.
India is placed a lowly seventh among the 11 countries compared, showing that there is still a long way to go.
While most children in the city will mark Children’s Day in school with gaiety, several unprivileged kids will stand by uncertainty and curiosity – not knowing the importance of the day or what the future holds.
Since the seventh decade after independence from the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, India has changed, however let’s make an extra effort on the occasion of Children’s Day, let’s make a gaiety day for these unprivileged as well, let’s stand against “Child Labour”.
