Despite of 72 years of independence, Indian children haven’t got freedom yet. Child labour still persists in India with over 80 lakh children in the age group 5-14 years toiling away in factories, construction sites, mines, fields etc.
Child labour eats away the childhood which is supposed to be something memorable. And the not sending of these kids to school further destroys their life because, without education, there’s no meaning in life.
How can it be stopped?
- More stringent laws need to be implemented by the government. Those who employ children must be fined and jailed. By ignoring child labour, the country only invites underdevelopment with open hands.
- Spread Awareness: Parents need to be made aware that child labour is NOT another income for them, it is only the destruction of their child. However, illiteracy of parents in rural areas leads to unemployment, which obviously leads them to take heavy loans and finally end up sending their kids to work to repay the moneylender.
- Sending more children to school: Literacy should spread widely in India and every kid must go to school. The laws are just made, and India has not seen it implemented yet. Ministers and politcians find time for everything but abolishing child labour.
- Schools must also take the initiative. They should bring back school-dropouts, and also never-been-to-school-kids so that they might get educated well and not fall into the trap of child labour.
- Even the child labourers must be aware that what suffering they are subjected to is illegal, so that they might get a driving mind to overcome it.
It is such a shame that in this computer-smartphone era, problems such as child labour even exist. We Indians must take up the initiative to eradicate this awful feature of our country.
Child Labour: How Can We Prevent it?