If posh buildings, hi-fi malls, healthy teenagers and school-going kids are one face of Chennai city, there is another face which remains hidden inside this fine image. Girl child labour is rampant in South Chennai, where it exists in the form of domestic work.
Most of these girls are brought from the southern districts of Tamil Nadu or some other States, like Archana, 16, who was brought to Chennai by a relative from her native Madurai.
Well-off families mostly prefer girls to take care of their kids. Some girls can also be found working along with their mothers to lessen their burden.
According to the Child Helpline, there is little or no data regarding this as very little complaints are registered.
‘‘It is true that many girls are employed as domestic labourers in South Chennai, but we are not able to concentrate on that area as we are yet to address the entire issue,’’ says Sylvia, project-coordinator for Childline, Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW), Chennai.
One of the main reasons that the issue remains largely unaddressed is that none is willing to come forward to file a complaint, adds Sylvia.
While many organisations in Chennai work towards eradication of child labour, it has been a challenge to identify these domestic workers because girls work in residential areas where volunteers cannot step in without permission.
‘‘We first identify children in that area and then inform the Child Helpline, which intervenes and rescues them. But in these residential areas, the security guard alerts the houses and by the time we enter, there is no one,” says Mala, zonal coordinator, Kodambakkam branch, Arunodhaya Centre for Street and Working Children.
The organisation functions in North Chennai, where they had been successful in fighting child labour. Between 2009 and 2013, nearly 200 children have been identified by the Arunodhaya Centre as domestic labourers in areas like Kodambakkam, T Nagar, Choolaimedu and TP Chathram. Among them, more than 85 per cent were girls, says Mala.
According to the organisation, this can be addressed only if awareness is created among parents and employers about the punishment, which is a year’s imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000.