Child labour ban comes into force
Sampad Mahapatra
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 (Bhubaneswar):
http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?category=National&slug=Child+labour+ban+comes+into+force&id=94550
The Central government's ban on employing children below the age of 14
in homes, hotels and restaurants comes into effect on Tuesday.
Children's
rights activists say there are between 10 and 15 million children
across the country who work, which will make the enforcement of this
ban a nightmare.
What's even worse is the absence of a rehabilitation package for the children who lose their jobs because of the ban.
Mania
Panda, a domestic servant, has reason to be in tears. Last year, both
his parents died after which he had to give up school in Bhadrak and
come to Bhubaneswar looking for work.
A roadside dhaba where he was working till recently was the only place he found work, food and shelter.
Now, after the centre's ban he has lost even that.
"He
has been crying since morning. He says he has no one at home. Where
will he go if he is thrown out of the dhaba?," Ashok, a dhaba worker.
Owners helpless
The dhaba owner says there's not much he can do now.
"The
government has ordered the ban. So, I can no longer keep him here. In
any case this is a footpath hotel and can be demolished anytime. So he
has to fend for himself. Why can't the government take care of the
boy?" Bhagirathi Prusty, dhaba owner.
Mania suffers from Plexiform Neurofibroma a disfigurement that can be cured by plastic surgery.
After
a report in NDTV last August several doctors offered to treat him for
free. And in the first week of November a local surgeon will operate on
him.
But now Mania's homelessness is a bigger problem for him than his face.
"If
the government takes my job it should make arrangements for me and
admit me to a school. I want to study," said Mania Panda, Dhaba worker.
Rehabilitation package
Child Rights activists say the ban should have been followed up with a rehabilitation package for these children.
"It's
estimated that there are over 13 million children in the domestic
sector. Where will the children go if we are not going to provide them
with the alternative," said Ranjan Mohanty, National Convenor, Campaign
Against Child Labour.
Overnight, Mania has lost whatever little support he had been given after he lost his parents.
And
he's not the only one, thousands of such children will soon be starving
and destitute thanks to the government's lack of foresight.
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"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
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