Shame on Parle-G

Shame on Parle-G

A news-item on the front page of this newspaper on Sunday said as many as 26 children have been rescued from a factory in Chattisgarh that manufactures a popular brand of biscuit called Parle-G. On page 8, on the other hand, there is another news item, this one from Silchar in southern Assam, which says that the Cachar district administration led by deputy commissioner Laya Madduri has rescued seven children from different dhabas, roadside eateries and motor-repair garages. Both the news-items have come within less than three days of observing World Day Against Child Labour. While other children of their age are attending school, these unfortunate children were forced to work for 12 to 13 hours a day, and that too at a meagre sum as wages. These two news-items prove that engaging children as labourers has been going on almost unabated across the country. The 2011 Census of India had found that the total number of child labourers in the age-group of 5 to 14 years stood at around 10.1 million. UNICEF has identified several factors that contribute to child labour – including “hazardous” child labour. These include the poverty and illiteracy of a child’s parents, the family’s social and economic circumstances, lack of awareness about the harmful effects of child labour, lack of access to basic and meaningful quality education and skills training, high rates of adult unemployment and under-employment, and the cultural values of the family and surrounding society. But then what the manufacturers of Parle-G biscuit have done is unpardonable, and the owners should be shamed in public in addition to imposing of penalty and arrest of the officials concerned. According to UNICEF, Uttar Pradesh tops the list as far as engaging child labour is concerned, followed by Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The situation in Assam is also no better. While seven children were rescued in Cachar, there have been at least half a dozen incidents in the current year in which about at least two dozen children have been rescued from different districts. One must accept that most officers responsible for checking and rescuing children engaged in various kinds of work do not do their work sincerely. Just a peep into any of the numerous tea stalls in Bokakhat is enough to prove this point.

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