Page 35 - Tehelka Issue 13 - July 15, 2018

About 6.53 child labour
million boys and
5.19 million girls
n the occasion of are engaged in with the promise of jobs in cities like
World Day Against some form of Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and
Child Labour, on June even Nepal.
12, this year, Assam main or marginal Nearly 100 adolescent boys have
O took a leap forward been rescued by railway police
to curb the growing problem of work or who and Childline India this year. So far
child labour in the state which is are available many have been taken out for work
nearly five per cent, higher than in the construction industry (a haz-
states like Tamil Nadu, Punjab and for employment ardous industry) in Nepal. Most of
Chhattisgarh. them belong to Lakhimpur, Sonit-
As the world took out rallies and Child labour is a serious issue in pur, Udalguri, Barpeta and Kamrup
awareness drives to mark the day, Assam, particularly those working districts where flood, poverty and
Assam government employees did in tea gardens or as domestic help. long militancy have taken a toll on
something concrete. More than four The Census 2011 revealed that As- the people’s livelihoods. Girls traf-
lakh employees signed a pledge for sam has 3,47,353 children between ficked out with the promise of jobs
not engaging a child below 14 years the age group of 5-14 years who are often fall prey to sexual exploitation
or those between 14 to 18 years in engaged in some form of main or and land in brothels.
hazardous work, as stipulated by marginal work or who are seeking/ The Census 2011 also had an-
the Child Labour (Prohibition and available for work. A total of 2,11,548 other significant finding: child la-
Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016. such children are boys. The figure bour in Assam decreased in rural
Not just that, they also promised is more than states like Tamil Nadu areas whereas it increased in urban
in writing that they would use the (3,21,002), Chattisgarh (2,97,535) and centres. NGOs says the problem is
Childline toll-free helpline number Punjab (2,05,847). more serious in Guwahati, the state
(1098) if they come across any such The step taken by Assam gov- capital with the Childline Guwahati
violation. ernment can be emulated by states alone rescuing over 350 child la-
“This was a very significant like Uttar Pradesh having 25,40,375 bour in the past one year.
achievement for all of us. For mak- child labour (2011), Bihar (12,88,321), “Children working in tea stalls,
ing a change by the government, it Rajasthan (9,60,549) and West Ben- shops or factories are visible and
was decided that the government gal (7,16,576). can be easily rescued but those
employees must take the first step India is one of the few countries working as domestic help is tough
and lead people against child la- having the largest number of child to be tracked. So,we are request-
bour,” an official from Assam Labour labour. According to Census of India, ing people to use the 1098 helpline
and Employment Department said. 2011, there are11.72 million working number and inform us if they come
Even students and teachers in all children in the age group of 5-14 across child domestic help. The
government schools in Guwahati years, with 6.53 million boys and identity of the informers is always
took the pledge on June 12 during 5.19 million girls engaged in some kept a secret,” said Nirmal Deka, co-
the school assembly. form of main or marginal work or ordinator of Childline, Guwahati.
“This is really a very positive step who are seeking/ available for work. Utsah, an NGO working for chil-
taken by the government. Once we Thus, 4.5 per cent of all children dren in Guwahati said domestic
first stop doing something illegal or who are between 5- 14 years of age child labourers is the most com-
unethical, we can ask others to do are engaged as child labour in the plex and difficult to identify. “Since
the same with conviction,” said Rak- country. However, most of the ado- domestic child labourers are often
tim Phukan, an employee of Assam lescent workers are above 14 years hidden within the private apart-
State Warehousing Corporation in and below 19 years of age. About ment and residential blocks, it be-
Guwahati. “We see many children 36.72 million of these adolescents comes difficult to gauge its magni-
working in tea stalls or as domestic are engaged in some form of main tude in the cities and towns. Now,
help in our apartment. From now or marginal work or who are seek- we are trying to aware the apart-
onwards, I have decided to inform ing/ available for work. This means ment dwellers and the district ad-
the Childline to rescue such chil- a significant 30.5 per cent of Indian ministration, Unicef and the labour
dren so that they can be enrolled in adolescents between 15 to 19 years department will offer a child labour
schools run by the government un- are engaged in some form of work free certificates to the apartments
der the National Child Labour Pro- or are seeking/ available for work. after going through some param-
ject. Most of these children belong Most of the children, who drop eters,” founder of the NGO, Miguel
to economically weaker section and out of school and look for employ- Das Queah said.
they drop out as their parents can- ment often fall prey to the network
not afford their education,” he said. of traffickers, who take them out letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 15 july 2018 35 www.Tehelka.com

34-35 Nandita Sengupta.indd 3 03/07/18 3:58 PM