Condemning The Innocent - A Labor Of Lost Innocence

By Author: manish sharma
Total Articles: 1
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I still remember him vividly. He was a little boy, maybe 10 or 11 years old, who navigated the streets of New Delhi by lying, stomach-down, on an old skateboard, and pulling his body along with his arms. He didn’t have any legs. He rolled over to me, looked into my eyes, and asked for money. Struggling not to cry, I reached into my pocket and handed over 10 INR, less than what I spend on tea each day. Giving him those 10 INR might be among the most destructive things I’ve ever done. Many of us already know that when we give money, we perpetuate a cycle of poverty and give children a strong incentive to stay out of school. Experience shows that deeprooted social norms, the violation of workers’ rights, discrimination against certain groups, and a poorly-functioning education system are the main reasons why children aren’t attending school. Organized begging is one of the most visible forms of human trafficking—and it’s largely financed and enabled by good-hearted people who just want to help. We just don’t realize that we are being that interlink between this chain and causing even more suffering to those l’il ...
... toddlers.
I hope you’d connect to the following Hindi Shayari to understand my notion in a better manner

Ek parinda jo udna chahta tha aasman mei kho gaya,
Lachai is kadar badhi in parindo ka bachpan hi kho gaya

The Workhouse Legacy -
Another loophole in this chain is the presence of Child labor, which is illegally practiced throughout the country - blamelessly and shamelessly. Child labor refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful. This practice is considered exploitative by many international organizations.
Poverty is often cited as the main cause of child labor. It is widely believed that families will not be able to cope if their children do not work. In practice, however, the poverty argument does not hold water. Precisely the opposite is true: child labor maintains poverty. Because children are easy to exploit and are cheap laborers, they are hired in preference to adults. Child labor thus leads to lower wages and higher unemployment among adults. Children who work and do not go to school will end up in low paid jobs later, and so will their children – and so the vicious cycle of poverty is perpetuated.
I’d like to stress my point by quoting a Hindi Shayari written by an amateur writer Anushka Verma I read on NOJOTO - a network-based application where you can also find other relatable shayaris on child labour or anything under the sky -

Kandho par auro ka bhojha utha kar chalta hoon,
Tab main kuch yun apne hi paiso par palta hoon,
Man chahta hai sabki tarah kitabe uthana,
Par majburi mei majduri ka paath mei padhta hoon

The following Hindi quote well explains the pain a child faces in both the conditions of begging or laboring in an all-time play age.

Too Much, Too Soon -
There are 1.01 crore children between the ages of 5-14 being made to work as child labourers in India, as per the Government of India’s Children In India 2018 report based on Census 2011 data. The Census 2011 data for children in labour, states that 6.5 million children in India in the age group of 5 to 14 years work in agriculture and household industries. This makes a staggering 64.1% of child labourers in this age group. CRY’s on-ground experience reveals that a large number of children engaged in these occupations are working with their families, thus exempting them from the proposed ban. Allowing children to work in family enterprises is likely to have far-reaching implications affecting not only their education and learning outcomes but also their health and overall development. Instead of being in school or at play or other constructive activities, what are these children being condemned to do? They are put to work on a range of activities that span repetitive low-skill work that doesn’t aid development for future employment opportunities, they are forced to be exposed to conditions devastating to health and safety.
So when we, well-intentioned passers-by give money directly to child beggars, there’s a decent chance we’re actually lining the pockets of criminals who will turn around and use that money to abduct, enslave, rape, torture, and maim even more kids. It’s a devastating pill to swallow since enslaved children who return to their captors without money might be beaten, tortured, or worse. But by giving them money, we only encourage the cycle, finance a horrific business model, and put future children in grave danger. When we give directly to children, we hurt more than we help. So how can we know if a child beggar is a victim of trafficking? Actually, we don’t need to know: Even in the best scenarios, giving money or gifts directly to kids is always a bad idea.

No Rest or Recess -
The children of today are assets of tomorrow. Yet education, which is a fundamental right to every child in our country, is still a dream for many children in India, especially the ones who are poor, downtrodden and in dire need. Poverty and lack of education are the major factors that lead to desperate acts like child begging, which is one of the most heartbreaking and pertinent problems prevalent in our country. This act of child begging and child labour has terribly plagued the lives of thousands of children who have lost their beautiful and innocent childhood by becoming slaves.
Children are always considered next to the pious versions of the Almighty who always strive to inculcate happiness, joy, innocence, and hope. The future of a nation is determined by the way it treats its children and its women, after all, children imply a hope, a hope to strengthen not only the economy of the country but also to provide the country with skilled human resources who have access to the basic amenities essential for the existence coupled with the tenets of the education in India. It is the moral duty of every citizen for the country to ensure that the childhood of our children is protected and not marred with instances like that of child labour and begging which arise out of poverty and helplessness.

The children shouldn’t work in fields, but their dreams!!

writer at Nojoto - https://nojoto.com/