Bread or Books! A Difficult Choice for Some

The headlines in leading news dailies, a few days back was "Children below fourteen years of age cannot be made to work". It was a victory for all those who advocated the theory against child labour and also felt like a deemed victory for those hapless children who had to forego the joys of childhood and work long hours, day in and day out. However, there is a flip side to this, as with most theories and judgements.

There is no doubt about the fact that a majority of the children who work in restaurants, roadside dhabas and as domestic aides, were being exploited by their employers. But has anyone tried to get a larger picture of the real story behind these issues. Why do the children start working so early? Why they don't get any education and a proper life as a child of his age gets elsewhere? Children who work as labourers in factories, domestic aides etc, more often than not have to drop school and help their parents to get a two-piece meal; hand-to-mouth stuff. He has got no other option. Education and other things take a backseat, when the question is on getting the basic needs of life i.e food clothing and shelter.

These children have got no other way out apart from becoming a bread-earner themselves along with their father. So whats is the solution to this "Catch-22" situation?

As long as the district and state authorities don't wake up to this problem, this can never be solved. The above mentioned authorities need to work with various non-profit organizations, NGOs like "SOS Children's Villages of India", CRY and lots more, at the grassroot level and try to uplift the the country's future. This requires a lot of dedication, selflessness and also a lot of planning and strategising. If this is done, then the day is not far from what was envisioned by the contemporary leaders of India...