WASTE IS WASTING CHILDHOOD OF MANY

When you wake up every morning and see that there is no garbage in your street, you are delighted but did you know who does the painful task for you?



Well the task doers are the Rag pickers. These people roam around the streets and pick up the garbage that we throw.

All of us are well acquainted about child labour, child trafficking and sexual exploitation of a child. Study shows that about 40% of rag pickers are children. This shocking result must make everyone wonder that why at this age instead of going to a school to get an education for a bright future, are the children performing the role of a rag picker? It is extremely regretful that in a democratic land like India, such violation of human rights is happening.







International Labour Organization (ILO) in their recent study estimated that nearly about 215 million children in the entire world were involved in some kind of child labour, and more than half of them are found in terrible conditions. It was estimated, that India alone has 17 million child workers – the highest child labour worker in the world. Moreover, UNICEF in its report mentioned that about 12 percent of children in India aged 5-14 are engaged in child labour activities, including Rag Picking.







Now the question arises that what forces these children to work at an early stage of their life. The factors which are responsible are:

Poverty – Poverty is the main reason behind the early labour for the children. Since the income of the family is not so great the children of that family also start working.

– Poverty is the main reason behind the early labour for the children. Since the income of the family is not so great the children of that family also start working. Huge demand for unskilled labours - the demand for unskilled labourers is another cause of child labour. Children are mostly unskilled and provide a cheap source of labour, making them an attractive option for many greedy employers.

- the demand for unskilled labourers is another cause of child labour. Children are mostly unskilled and provide a cheap source of labour, making them an attractive option for many greedy employers. Illiteracy – due to illiteracy people do not understand the importance of educating their children. They prioritize children contributing to the upkeep of the family over going to school.

– due to illiteracy people do not understand the importance of educating their children. They prioritize children contributing to the upkeep of the family over going to school. Population growth – due to the population explosion, poor people cannot earn the livelihood to feed their children. This is the reason why they send their children for work.

EXPLOITATION OF CHILD RAG PICKERS







But these children are not working happily as they are exploited and underpaid by the contractors. In today’s world child labour and child trafficking has become one of the major social and legal concerns across the globe. Most of the children start working at a very young age and these children are exposed to various forms of exploitation and abuse.

Our society has not only failed to prevent children from becoming rag pickers but also has failed in treating them nicely. People silent even though these poor children are repeatedly being flagellated. The average earning of a child rag picker is just 15-20 rupees per day. Due to survival the journey of their exploitation, engagement with criminals, drug addiction begins, which is neither good for their development nor for the society where they are living.