Every city has its own good and bad things, we can’t ignore any of them, but being a resident of the city, our duty is to eliminate the bad ones. In the similar manner, Udaipur, the city of lakes, god has flourished it with immense natural beauty, one of the example is the Fatehsagar lake, it is the most wanted place of Udaipur, everyone finds his/her own way to enjoy the breeze of the lake, say with a cup of coffee, popcorns, chats. But this is also a place where one can easily find the small kids involved in laborous activities.
Every corner of Udaipur is having the child labours, it may be the fatehsagar pal, surajpol , udaipol, Delhi gate or any area, we can see the small kids in the super hot summer or chilly cold or in the rain, they work hard to earn just a small amount of money.
Besides these, these kids are being used as domestic servants and workers at hotels and restaurants. A lot many are engaged in making plastic toys, leather shoes and hand bags.
Childhood – the most precious age in one’s life that never return back. Games, comics, chocolates, cycle, school and home make their whole world. Far away from responsibilities and the constant race for survival, children are the most innocent creation of god. But, these creations of God are being destroyed. These are being exploited by child labour.
Child labour is a major problem of today’s world. According to the Child labour (prohibition and regulation) act 1986, a child labour is the one who is made to work (paid or unpaid), within or outside the family or is deprived of the right of education and childhood, belonging to the age less than fourteen years.
It is a form of child exploitation. The causes behind it are the illiteracy and poverty of parents, large families with additional need of food and money cause the child labour. Due to this, the child face health problems, their proper development of body and mind may suffer. And above all, their childhood is also suffering.
In 2007, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Federal Government, states and union territories, seeking a complete ban on child labour, which included children working as domestic servants, at eateries, restaurants, hotels, tea-shops, or in recreational centers.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment notified the ban on August 1 and it came into effect on October 10. The new provision in the Act made it mandatory for the government to rescue children from streets, restaurants and homes and produce them before the Child Welfare Committee before they are sent to shelter homes.
But, merely passing the Law is not the solution to the problem. The problem lies in the implementation of these laws and country has a poor track record in this regard. It is now up to we people to consciously take a decision to stop this practice and motivate others also, else the mission to eliminate the child labour will be fail.
Lets take a pledge to abolish Child Labour and complain if you find it happening… !!
Inputs by : Mujtaba R.G. | Photos By: Yash Sharma