Child Labour And Poverty!

Child labour is one of the biggest problems of the society. Specially in the underdeveloped countries and nations that are in a development stage, it is a cause of major concern for the government. Though in other countries, governments are quite serios about eradicating child labour, the rate is very high in India, despite the promises, that the ministers make during election campaigns and public rallies. Actually child labour is not such a simple issue that can solved in a flash. It is an outcome of the pathetic poverty that a major percentage of the Indian population suffers from. No matter how much the country has advanced in industrialization, education and agriculture, billions of countrymen and women still belongs to section of the society, which is termed as BPL (below poverty level) in economics. Neither any father nor any mother wants to see his/her their children working like servants but accept the fact because there’s no way out. It’s poverty that forces them to push their young kids into the gallows because at the end of the day, its money that matter to them. In a nutshell, child labour and poverty are just two sides of a coin. Poverty is the head and child labour is the tail. If the tail has to be cut then the head needs to be chopped off first.

Ministers often suggest poor people to get their children admitted in schools so that they can get the required education. Certainly a noble thought but a stupid solution to the critical problem. For people who fail to arrange a plate full of rice twice a day cannot afford to spend money for buying books for their kids. Yes, there are schools that provide study materials and everything to the poor kids, but that does not seem to be enough. For the poor people, who depends entirely on their efforts in the croplands still prefer their next generation to get involved in farming, because that’s how they have grown up. That’s where the challenge lies. This thought, this concept needs ton be changed. The government needs to make efforts to create awareness among poor people that proper education is the only thing that can create a bright future for their next generation. But in India, the performance of the government in this sector has been so disappointing that poor people now ignore these campaigns. They much more worried about the continuous rise in price of everything which is making survival a struggle for them.

Opening schools in villages, offering mid-day meals and creating awareness among the BPL people are not solutions to child labour. Serious steps are needed to be taken to ensure a better livelihood for the poor people of the country. Things have to be done to improve the earning capacity of the people living in poverty so that they stop thinking about investing the physical energies of their young kids for earning some extra money. When it happens, there will be no need for awareness campaigns for education in villages. Once the poor people get plate full of rice they will automatically understand the need of education. Once they start earning money required to run their family normally they will start sending their kids to schools and factories because every parent dream of a bright future for their kid/s

By: Prabir Das

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