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Don't be wild, child is mild
, it is very true that the child labour problem is assuming alarming proportion.There are several factors like poverty, illiteracy, lack of social awareness, over-population and unemployment which have been contributing to the flare-up of the social scourge. India is the second largest populated country in the world and also has the highest percentage of illiteracy. This leads to unemployment and the hunger-driven children are forced to go out and fend for themselves and their families as well.
It is impossible to think of economic development without wiping out social maladies like child labour system in the society. On the one hand, there is an urgent need to improve productivity while on the other, we need to focus on improving basic amenities like food, clothing, health and education.
It is rather distressing to see that even after 50 years of independence, over 35 per cent of the Indian population continues to languish below poverty line. There are thousands of children working as child labourers across the country. It is the responsibility of the government to make people aware and pave way for all-round development.
K.Kiran Kumar
Westin College of
Hotel Management,
Vijayawada.
An unending greed on part of the owners of small factories and shops, especially in industrial areas, is a major factor contributing to the rise in the problem. Children can be made easy scapegoats by dumping heavy works on them for paltry wages. It is a matter of shame on our part to employ children of tender age to do household works. A number of cases saw light wherein child labourers were found to be victimized by their cruel masters in a most inhuman way. But failure of the authorities concerned to bring culprits to book only emboldens others to continue the evil practice which thrives right under the nose of the government machinery.
N.Swathi,
Loyola Institute ofTechnology and Management, Guntur.
The ever-increasing population of the country has pushed a vast section of the society below the poverty line. Prevelance of illiteracy on a large scale across the nation is the key factor responsible to the growing number of child labourers. Unable to go to schools, these children, instead, opt for utilising their time in working in small factories or shops which in turn, earns them pocket-money or enough to extend a helping hand to their toiling parents.
The problem continues to be a major stumbling block in achieving development in its true sense despite constant efforts by the successive governments mainly due to paucity of funds. A check on the burgeoning population and awareness among trade unions could go a long way in reducing the menace.
M.Prathibha Buealah
St. Joseph's College of Education for women,
Guntur.
Yes , I think the problem of child labour is steadily on the rise. Population explosion, growing poverty and illiteracy are the major contributing factors. Parents in the economically poor households force their children to work so their income could be a helping factor in supporting the family's financial position. Their first priority is to employ their children rather than educating them at a school, as it could help them run the house. This is the primary reason for school dropouts. Employers of child labour cash in on their hapless situation and employ children for low wages and overburden them with
heavy work. It is important for the government to introduce welfare schemes for their upliftment and ensure that the fruits reached genuine beneficiaries.
M.Kranthi Kumar
Physiotherapist
Guntur.
There exists a group which cannot fight back or demonstrate in support of its constitutionally accomplished rights but works like slaves with no guarantee even for their lives. They are the hapless child labourers. They have no inkling about the knitty-gritty of this big bad world and only know that they must earn money to reduce the burden of the elders in the family. They work in factories making fireworks but never enjoy them. They mould chalks and slates but are not fortune enough to use them. Their childhood is snatched from them by the greedy seths who cash in on their helpless condition.
The government should act tough and get cracking on those employing children of tender age in their shops and factories. The newly-introduced 2 per cent tax is a welcome move as it would help improving the education scenario.
Aleen.k,
Guntur.
Even after 57 years of Independence, the dismal state of the country's children is a cause of major worry.There are 400 crore children who belong to the group of below18 years in our country. Children constitute42.6 per cent of India's population.The country adopted a national policy for children in 1974 declaring them as the most prized asset.
Children of poorer families in rural areas are stuck in vortex of child and bonded labour. We have failed to prove ourselves to be a child-friendly society. The NSS datafor the year 1991 shows 24.44 million child workersin the age group of 5-14 years. There are hundredsand thousands of children on streets who are exposed to dangerous hazards like sexual abuse, physical torture, hunger, oppression and exploitation of the worst order.
How long will the children suffer?
The newly-formed government at the Centre needs to take urgent measures to put an end to this menace.
Nadendla Yateesh Parikshit
Vignan School of PG Studies,
Guntur.
The issue of child labour has come into sharp focus and has attracted global concern of late. In spite of strictures passed against child labour by UN's child rights convention of 1989, Article 45 of Indian Constitution, the country's Child Labour Act of 1986 and a number of Constitutional provisions and directives protecting and guaranteeing children from economic exploitation and recommending free and compulsory education to children below 14 years since 1986 onwards, statistics show that the incidence of child labour in 1981 was 7.6 per cent while the NWC was as high as 52.9 per cent, nearly 7 times greater. The governments, both at the Centre and in the States, should undertake vigorous literacy drives to ward away evils like child labour system.
Ms.Esther J.Saritha, Vijayawada.
Proper upbringing of a child is necessary to ensure a bright future for him. For, after all, today's child is tomorrow's citizen. It is quite disturbing to see kids toiling all through the day exposing themselves to unhygienic and dangerous surroundings. Most of them comprise orphans or kids drawn from financially backward households. The Government should try to rope in corporate bodies for proper maintenance of orphanages. Those found employing young kids should be stringently punished. Prominent senior citizens could be engaged to monitor the whole exercise. The objective should be to prevent these children from deviating from the right path and taking to anti-social activities.
A.Bhaskara Kirshna,
Novodaya Colony,
Vijayawada.
Strictly speaking, there is no child labour in India but the ugly face of the modern civic society could be dubbed as `child-slavery'. When parents are unable to afford education to their children, there is no other way for the latter but to earn their own living. Unlike in the developed nations, the plight of children here is a neglected lot. It is time the Government woke up to the seriousness of the problem and promulgated laws to nip the menace in the bud.
P.Manasa,
Ayodya Nagar,
Vijayawada.
India has earned a dubious distinction of being the nation with the largest number of child labourers in the world. Whether they are sweating it out in the heat of quarries, working in the fields 16-hours-a-day, picking rags in the streets or engaged as domestic servants, these children endure miserable and difficult lives. They earn little but are prone to constant abuses and still the struggle to eke a livelihood continues. A positive change in the scenario could be brought about only through a reform. The government needs to evolve methods to contain .
Kongara Shruti,
Guntur.
William Wordsworth has said "Heaven lies about us in our infancy". The innocence and the carefree attitude attached tochildhood cannot be enjoyed at a later stage. Poverty is the root cause for the alarming rise in the number of child labourers. Many laws were brought in to abolish child labour but we continue to witness scores of rag-pickers in every nook and corner of the country. I strongly feel that each individual in the society has a significant role to play in eradication of child labour from society.
Sameera Kadiyala,
Guntur
No, child labour problem has not reached alarming proportions. It is unfortunate to find young kids engaged in menial jobs in big cities like Hyderabad and Madras. Though the government has been doing its best by releasing additional funds and launching effective literacy drives to motivate these kids to get their names enrolled in schools, not much has been witnessed on the progress front. It is for we individuals to take a serious note of this unhealthy trend and share the responsibility by trying to make people involved in this aware of its hazards.
M.Appaji,
RVR & JC College,
Guntur.
Child labour is a crime which has become the order of the day. The recent wherein a child labourer died in the Sangi Industry was only the tip of the ice-berg while there is more to the problem than what meets the eye. Parents have a crucial role to play in wiping out this social problem. School drop-outs comprise a major chunk of the existing number of child labourers across the country. The President of India has aptly pointed out that children are the future of country. It is for us to mould them properly today in order to see them as responsible citizens tomorrow.
D.Deekshit,
Sri Kakatiya High School,
Vijayawada.
Food, shelter and clothing are the primary needs of the mankind. Mere implementation of schemes like mid-day meal programme will not solve a serious problem like child labour. The government, thus, should concentrate on steps which could root out the problem at its very originating point. Parents, teachers and those placed at the helm of affairs in the society have a pivotal role to play in putting an end to the problem. The slogan of education for all should become a reality and those encouraging the unhealthy practice should be dealt with firmly.
Bijimol Mathew,
Pamarru.
Millions of children across the world live and work in hazardous conditions in their battle against poverty. They do not have access to basic amenities like food, shelter and clothing and thus, are forced to depend on menial jobs for meagre wages. Since what the head of the family earns is far from adequate to secure two square meals a day, the children are also sent to work as domestic servants or industrial and agricultural labour. Andhra Pradesh has a very high number of child labourers languishing in dingy shops and factories. Children who work in factories stand exposed to health hazards. If the ban on child labour cannot be implemented in its right perspective, the Government should take steps to provide education to the child at his or her work place.
Sree Hari Bandi,
Labbipeta, Vijayawada.
Yes, the increasing problem of child labour is a matter of serious concern. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, was promulgated to end the problem but nothing much has come of it ever since then. In our country, we find children working in dangerous surroundings like quarries and other industrial units. In some places, we find existence of bonded child labour system wherein parents of young children hand them over to the land-lords to enable them to utilise the services of their kids in lieu of the money borrowed from them. Deprived of school and education, they are forced to spend their childhood serving their usually cruel and selfish landlords. This is a very unfortunate situation and deserves to be condemned by the right thinking people.
V.Sravani,
Maris Stella College,
Vijayawada.
The problem is a serious one and needs to be tackled with an equal degree of seriousness. Most of the child labourers are left at the mercy of their masters who exploit them for their selfish motives. Recently in Mahabub Nagar district, six children escaped from the clutches of their masters and expressed their desire to go to school. The problem is that a large section of the illiterate population is not even aware of the several welfare programmes initiated for rehabilitation of child labourers like schools and hostels. The government, thus should ensure that all its programmes are given publicity to make sure that the fruits reach the genuine section of the people.
V.Sireesha Kumari,
Javahar Vidyalaya,
Veleru.
Child labour is a curse. The fact that the practice is rampant in India is a matter of shame for the Government, the scores of non-government organisations which boast of doing a commendable job in eradication of social evils and each individual for having failed to wipe out a problem of such magnitude even after over 50 years of Independence. Poverty and illiteracy resulting from perennial drought conditions have been wreaking havoc with the lives of people, especially in the rural pockets. Programmes such as `chaduvula panduga', `mid-day meal scheme' in government schools and `back to school' remained confined to papers and failed to improve the status of the poor children.
P.Sowmya,
ICFAI National College
Vijayawada.
In my view, the problem of child labour is reaching dangerous proportion. We see children working as domestic servants, collecting papers on roads, helpers for mechanics, vendors etc. The main cause for this is poverty or orphanage. Leaving them on the footpaths to fend for themselves at such a tender age is the biggest responsibility thrusted on them.
It is unfortunate that the several schemes introduced by the Government have not been implemented properly. Strictures should be passed making it mandatory for the authorities concerned to effectively implement abolition of child labour.
N.Suhitha,
ICFAI National College,
Vijayawada.
Human beings react to incidents on the spur of the moment and forget the issue as time passes. Many slogans were raised time and again but nothing concrete has been done to eradicate the problem. The recent incident where two children were freed from the shackles of bonded labour has put all of us to shame. It is indeed disheartening to note that our state has the highest number of child labourers.
D.V.Rama Rao,
Vijayawada.
Child labour is one of the major problems that restricts the development of a country. It is increasing due to unfulfillment of basic needs. It means the parents who are poor and unable to provide proper food and clothing are forced to make their children work to earn money for the family. Sometimes orphans are also becoming child labourers. They work for low wages and they are definitely not in a position to go to school. This results in lack of knowledge about the society and don't bother about their future. Many a time, it makes they becomes criminals and anti social elements. In order to minimize the rate of child labour the government should take necessary steps like encouraging the children to come to school, providing basic needs etc.
P.M.Krishna,
MBA-I,
ICFAI National College,
Vijayawada.
In may opinion poverty is the main reason for the child labour (irrespective of sex). Children are forced to seek some employment to live. To my knowledge boys are working in various firms or workshops and girls are working in houses. Recently we have also seen in the newspapers that even the most famous and reliable companies are engaging children in their firms. To eradicate this child labour there must be some law to enforce the abolishing of child labour. In my opinion to abolish child labour is to force children go to schools and study, so that they will be able to read, write, speak and learn s ome language. And when they are educated, they themselves will abandon child labour and become self employed and try to earn their livelihood. So I oppose the system of child labour and propose compulsory education to all the children (age group 4-14 years).
M.Durga Srinivas,
MBA Ist Year,
ICFAI National College,
Vijayawada.
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