Article 32 of the UNCRC (United nations convention of rights of children) talks about abolition of child labor. Children out of school also come under the category of child labor since the basic right of a child means his/her right to be educated.
There are so many of us who unknowingly contribute to child labor without realizing the consequences it could have on a child's future. This reality is all around us and I'am amazed at the blatant way in which we ignore it particularly when we see children being employed as domestic workers or children working in dhabas, restaurants, road side shops.
During my field work experience, in Bangalore I came across a case, wherein a young girl was hired as a maid in one of the houses in BTM layout from an agency which was dealing in giving employment to domestic workers. This little girl who was about 13 years old had eloped from her village in Andhra Pradesh and was later taken in by traffickers who were majorly dealing with 'selling of girls' to such agencies. The employer who hired the girl was a doctor who (as per his story) tried to put her in school alongside doing all the household work and looking after his two year old daughter. This girl later ran from his house and was tracked by the child welfare committee and put in a juvenile home. Currently her family is still being tracked and the employer is penalized with an amount that has to be paid to the juvenile court.
The employer during the interrogation also mentioned that the girl's grandfather living in Andhra Pradesh somehow got to know that the girl had been brought to Bangalore by that agency and that he had made an attempt to contact him. But contact could only be made when a missing report was filed in the police station by the employer the night this little girl ran away.
Now while I sat there listening to this man along with my field work supervisor, I felt like asking him why, in the first place did you hire a 'child' as a maid? and how on earth could you even approach an agency which was employing little girls as domestic workers?
Either such people lack basic common sense despite being educated or they choose to ignore such realities as its the easier way out.
THE CHILD LABOUR (PROHIBITION AND REGULATION) ACT, 1986 ACT prohibits the occupation of children in certain occupation and processes. According to it,
No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the occupations set forth in Part A of the Schedule which restricts the employment of a child :
How many times have we seen children working in road side eatiers? but the real question is do we anything about it? We really can't call ourselves empowered if we, given the position we are in, can't do or rather won't do anything to change the existing realities of our social set-up. Next time you see a child working at a construction site, or begging, or employed as a servant PLEASE call the Childline 1098. It was invented for a purpose.
One last message to readers with new apartments-Kindly do not higher children as your domestic workers(when i say children, I mean Children who are 18 years and below). The only thing that they should be doing at that age is to be going to schools.
There are so many of us who unknowingly contribute to child labor without realizing the consequences it could have on a child's future. This reality is all around us and I'am amazed at the blatant way in which we ignore it particularly when we see children being employed as domestic workers or children working in dhabas, restaurants, road side shops.
During my field work experience, in Bangalore I came across a case, wherein a young girl was hired as a maid in one of the houses in BTM layout from an agency which was dealing in giving employment to domestic workers. This little girl who was about 13 years old had eloped from her village in Andhra Pradesh and was later taken in by traffickers who were majorly dealing with 'selling of girls' to such agencies. The employer who hired the girl was a doctor who (as per his story) tried to put her in school alongside doing all the household work and looking after his two year old daughter. This girl later ran from his house and was tracked by the child welfare committee and put in a juvenile home. Currently her family is still being tracked and the employer is penalized with an amount that has to be paid to the juvenile court.
The employer during the interrogation also mentioned that the girl's grandfather living in Andhra Pradesh somehow got to know that the girl had been brought to Bangalore by that agency and that he had made an attempt to contact him. But contact could only be made when a missing report was filed in the police station by the employer the night this little girl ran away.
Now while I sat there listening to this man along with my field work supervisor, I felt like asking him why, in the first place did you hire a 'child' as a maid? and how on earth could you even approach an agency which was employing little girls as domestic workers?
Either such people lack basic common sense despite being educated or they choose to ignore such realities as its the easier way out.
THE CHILD LABOUR (PROHIBITION AND REGULATION) ACT, 1986 ACT prohibits the occupation of children in certain occupation and processes. According to it,
No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the occupations set forth in Part A of the Schedule which restricts the employment of a child :
- as a domestic worker or a servant,
- in dhabas, road side eateries, restaurants etc
How many times have we seen children working in road side eatiers? but the real question is do we anything about it? We really can't call ourselves empowered if we, given the position we are in, can't do or rather won't do anything to change the existing realities of our social set-up. Next time you see a child working at a construction site, or begging, or employed as a servant PLEASE call the Childline 1098. It was invented for a purpose.
One last message to readers with new apartments-Kindly do not higher children as your domestic workers(when i say children, I mean Children who are 18 years and below). The only thing that they should be doing at that age is to be going to schools.
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