The first phase of demonetisation will make lakhs of crores of black money redundant. It is a good beginning, but it is not the only solution to eliminate black money. I have welcomed this idea but an area of creation of black money is largely unnoticed. That is human trafficking, child labour, issue of missing children, etc. Because every single rupee earned though these crimes against children is black money. All these transactions in such crimes are made in notes of Rs 500 or Rs 1,000. That way, this initiative is a big assault on their earnings. Also, prostitution and other forms of sex trade, including pornography, are big sources of black money.
The government’s initiative is a kind of breaking the backbone of the traffickers and slave masters. However, more efforts are needed in terms of good laws and implementation of those against trafficking and child labour so that new black money is not generated. The government is going to propose the new law in Parliament. I don’t know whether it will come in this session. But it is needed and it should be properly enforced to get the desired results.
If political parties were serious and convinced that these child-related crimes have to be stopped in priority then this situation would not have continued. So, we need strong political will. It should be not only from the government but also from all the major political parties at state as well as national levels.
I have appealed to all the party leaderships that they should spare at least one full day in Parliament in both the Houses to discuss on the issues of children, the hardships and problems they are facing, and how this could be resolved. But that does not happen and it has never happened in the Parliamentary history of India. These children may not be voters, but they are future voters for those political parties. Moreover, there has never been any serious discussion or conference by these political parties on this issue. Never has any all-party meeting been held on the issues concerning children who constitute 41 per cent population of India.
But only political will is not enough in solving the issue. There is a need of social will that begins with social consciousness and social concern of the society. It has been seen that the children belonging to the marginalised section of society or poor children are not in our social radar. Collective efforts are needed to protect these children. Therefore, social efforts are indispensable for long-term solutions to problems concerning marginalized children. Whosoever is the government, they can’t do the policing to protect the children. We need to create safer environment for children in our houses, neighbourhood, schools, etc., which perhaps the police cannot do.
Equally important is some sort of concerns from religious leaders belonging to all faiths. I have been making an appeal to them again and again that you have so much mass following, but you hardly speak on children’s issues. When a message comes from religious leaders, it generates much more impact. So I would again call upon them to speak out on these issues. Though these children can’t give you anything now, they will certainly help in shaping the future of the country.
Launching a moral platform of Nobel laureates and noble leaders that I called ‘Laureates and Leaders for Children’, which would be inaugurated by the President on December 10 at Rashtrapati Bhawan, will be the strongest moral voice on behalf of the world’s deprived children. Then it would be followed the next day (December 11) by launching ‘100 Million for 100 Million’ campaign, a kind of youth-for-youth initiative where the young people who are better off in schools, colleges, universities and professions can be the change-makers for another millions of children who are left out. This is also like harnessing the power of youth and giving them a better objective in life to engage themselves and help others.
“Education is essential for children like us to recover from our problems” - Ravi D, 16, rescued from a construction site in Bengaluru, Karnataka
Ravi worked as a construction labourer. He didn’t want to do manual labour, but didn’t have any other option. “If children are allowed to work, they will be subservient to their masters,” he says. “Even when children are employed as labourers, they do not enjoy the work. All I thought about when I was forced to do physical labour was to run away. It was torture.” He wants the government to stop children from working and offer assistance to let them study.
“I want to fly. I don’t want to work, but I have to.”- Rintu Kumari, 8, brick kiln labourer in Midnapore, West Bengal
Rintu and his family are caught in a debt circle in a brick kiln of West Bengal, for which they have to return every year for five months to work. “I want to fly,” says Rintu, pointing at a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet zooming over her ‘work place’. “I don’t want to work, but I have to.” Says her father Raju Prasad, “I can’t leave my family in the village. The more hands I have, the faster I can pay off the debts.” His wife Devika and three children, aged 8 to 11, work with him in the brick kiln. Back home, they work as farm labourers and earn between Rs 120-150 a day.
“Supporting my family is my goal” - Mohammed Illyas, 13, works in a graveyard in New Delhi
“I have been working here since my father died six months ago. I was the replacement for him; my elder brother also works here,” says Illyas, who gets Rs 2,000 per month for maintaining the graveyard and helping dig graves. Illyas lives in Bawana Police colony with four siblings, of whom one is sick. He was in Class VIII in a government school when his family asked him to start earning. “Some of my friends go to school. I have no interest in going to school now. What I had to learn I have learnt, now supporting my family is my goal,” he says.
“Me and many others from my caste want to study, but we are not allowed to” - Sonu, 12, brick kiln labourer in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
There is a huge playground adjacent to the brick kiln in Lakhapur in Varanasi. On the other side is a school. A Musahar by caste, Sonu works at the kiln. He has never been to school. He earns Rs 250 a day for casting 1,000 bricks. “Me and many others from my caste want to study, but we are not allowed to. Our family responsibilities, and beating and bullying by upper caste children turn us away from schools. Even the teachers don’t stop this harassment,” he says. His meagre earning is not enough for his family. He is the only earning member to support his sister and widowed mother. There is hardly any money left for books, a school uniform or even clean clothes. So, no studies and no school.
“I worked with my father in the fields and never wanted to go to school” - Rahul Kumar, 15, paan shop worker in Mumbai, Maharashtra
Rahul came to Mumbai from Muzaffarpur in Bihar a month ago, and works at one of the many paan shops owned by his uncle. He has never gone to school, even though his younger siblings do. He helped his father at their ancestral tobacco farm. “Many people in our village have made fortunes by growing tobacco. I worked with my father in the fields and never felt like going to school,” he says. “We are used to tobacco ever since we started knowing the world around us. We can make all kinds of paan and mawa. My uncle trusts me with all operations of this shop.” Rahul wants his own paan shop in a couple of years. Three of his friends from Muzzaffarpur also work in paan shops in Mumbai.
“I would like to study, but that is not possible as I need money for my family” - Gautam Kumar, 13, plastic cartoon characters seller in Patna, Bihar
In a makeshift shop near Patna Junction railway station, Gautam sells glitzy plastic frames of cartoon characters. His demeanour reflects the quiet anguish of a normal childhood snatched away. Gautam is a farmer’s son from Gaya. His family: parents, two younger sisters, and himself. “There was a crop failure due to lack of water. My father was unwell for long,” he says. “He earns Rs 3,000 a month and the shop owner provides him meals and a corner of his house to live. “I would like to study, but that is not possible for me as I need money for my family,” he says. “I want to complete my education some day.”
“I wanted to study, but my father wanted me to work” - Suraj, 15, grocery shop worker in Guwahati, Assam
Suraj was studying in Class V in a Bihar government school when his father, Dinesh Kumar, brought him to Guwahati in 2013. Dinesh, a daily-wage earner, wanted his son to earn some money for the family of five. Suraj started working at a grocery shop, and now earns Rs 3,000 a month. “I wanted to study, but my father wanted me to work. Before I dropped out to work in the grocery shop, my father was finding it very tough to run the family. Things have improved now. I stay at the house of my shop owner and eat there. My salary is doing my father a world of good,” says Suraj.
“I wanted to go to school, but our poverty didn’t let it happen” - Imran Ahmad, 13, helper at a roadside tea stall in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Son of a poor labourer, Imran has three brothers and two younger sisters. He has never gone to school. “I wanted to study to earn a decent and honourable livelihood, but our poverty did not let it happen. I have been working as helper in tea stalls for many years to help my family meet the two ends,” he says. Imran’s elder brother is a mechanic at an automobile workshop. “By working as a helper and earning Rs 2,000 per month, I am helping my family to survive,” says Imran. “My sisters go to school. I want them to study so that they can achieve their goals. I’ll ensure they don’t end up as illiterates.”
“Children shouldn’t work in family business because it is forced. It is more important in today’s competitive world for them to study to cope with the pressures of school. They also need time to play, for their physical and mental well-being.” - Manvi Teki, 15, Student, daughter of Vishy Teki and Manisha Agarwal in Hyderabad
MANVI’S SOLUTIONS:
* As the provision in law says children can work in family business, it is important that the government helps parents and families market their businesses so that there is sufficient earning and the child does not have to work.
* Government should ensure better employment opportunities to their families. If parents earn sufficiently, then there is no need for the children to work.
* Parents need to be made aware how important education is for their children.
* Schools should encourage learning for children in a particular skill besides studies to ensure that they can be self-employed.