Child labour | 16 Nov, 2019

Child labor in our society is a shame that refuses to go away. Right to elementary education has been given the status of a fundamental right to keep children, particularly those from poor families, in school during their formative years. But a visit to any urban slum area or rural pocket shows how children must toil for pittances to try keeping their families afloat. Eateries, sweatshops, brick kilns, tea gardens, small unregulated factories and many trades operate on the backs of child laborers. Then there is a large number of children working as domestic help. Governments have various schemes for children's welfare, but many children remain out of coverage. NGOs alone cannot be left to fight battles on their behalf. The government needs to be proactive to penalize anyone employing child labor. If we can dream of our country as a major economy in terms of size and growth rate, surely we can spare a thought to properly educating, skilling and grooming future workers when they will be ready to take over. Lest we forget, the Indian workforce has a high proportion of child workers, while Assam has many more child workers compared to States like Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Chhattisgarh as shown by Census 2011 figures.

Manisha Swargiary,

Guwahati.also the call of a modern democracy. (IANS)