Child labourers: Compromising with life to earn a living

SHILLONG: “I wash clothes at people’s homes for a living and earn Rs.180. After I come home from school, I have to rush to work…sometimes I wonder when can I go out and play like other children.”
This was the honest confession of a 13 year old girl who was forced to compromise on a normal childhood to eke out a living. What is unknown to the little girl is that she falls in the category of a ‘child labourer’.
Amidst cries of harassment and condemnation from several quarters calling for a blanket ban on child labour, it is a hard truth to swallow that small hands are used to clean people’s clothes or homes, and on most occasions these child labourers are vulnerable to abuse, especially of the sexual kind.
With the need to bring child labourers under one umbrella, the North Eastern Regional Domestic Workers’ Movement-Meghalaya organised an ‘Anti-Child Labour Day on Friday’ in a different tone where five children representing different areas under Shillong city were chosen to speak their mind on    the problems faced by them.
One by the one the children spoke and revealed to everyone present there – including Minister for Labour Ampareen Lyngdoh – the grim reality of their hard life and of their sufferings.
Ironically, despite all their hardships, the children are enrolled in schools but have little or no time to study or to indulge in their favourite pastime or games.
“When my mother is unwell, I have to go to the shop where she works,” said one child.
The minister revealed that she was taken aback on hearing their stories.
When it was her turn to speak, Ampareen tried to clear her doubts and asked the children whether they really worked at peoples’ homes, and expressed happiness that they were being sent to school.
Pointing to a child, Lyngdoh said “You are too young to think of poverty. You have to know your rights and be aware that no one can force you to work.”
“We have to seek the parents’ opinions and create awareness among them and enquire of their conditions, especially their backgrounds,” she added.
The minister assured the gathering that a follow up will be done and a complete study will be made along with a meeting with parents and further stated that the government will step in for the welfare of the children.
“It is a complete violation of child rights and the society has lost its conscience,” she said, at the same time encouraging the children to approach the police if they are harassed.
It is learnt that there are over 780 child labourers registered with the North Eastern Regional Domestic Workers’ Movement-Meghalaya.