Child labourers at large despite the ban

Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 11

A malnourished and starved appearance suitably illustrates a child who has been made an article of trade. Such is the gloomy plight of most children whose upbringing is not a period of pleasure but of exhaustion, while trying make ends meet.

The reason behind many children working as labourers may be credited mainly to illiteracy and poverty, as a result of which many children are compelled to take up jobs and toil like adults, stealing away their early days. The unhealthy conditions, late working hours and on top of it all, being subjected to the atrocities of employers, also have a grave psychological effect on these children.

“A child labourer is inexpensive and the employers make use of their innocence and make them work for many hours at a stretch. The environment is not hospitable and these children are given jobs in dangerous sectors,” points out Mukibur Rahman, who works with an NGO. He asserts that the life of a child is determined by the socioeconomic conditions of the family and continues that “a child in a rich family enjoys all privileges, whereas a child born into a poor family suffers, and cannot even enjoy childhood”.

“Children are mostly employed in small-scale industries and for domestic uses. The employers adopt children simply because they can be paid a smaller amount when compared to adult labourers,” highlights Rahman. He says, “Child labourers are looked upon as slaves and not even as labourers,” and informs that it is common to see children working as helpers in shops, agricultural fields and as rag-pickers, in spite of the ban.

In this regard, Rahman explains that a mere ban will not serve the purpose. He maintained that children labour to feed themselves or to earn for the household. A concerned Rahman expressed hope that the government would provide substitute means of living to these children and try to improve their socioeconomic condition.