CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD

Child labour has become a serious problem before many countries in the world. Photo: scannepal.blogspot.com

By LB THAPA 

(This article was originally published in The Rising Nepal)

It is quite unfortunate that despite spending so much money and time, the child related cases such as exploitation, physical torture, child trafficking, sexual abuse and so on are on the rise. In recent time the cases of child exploitation has dramatically increased in urban areas. However, the situation of child labor and their exploitation in rural areas is also not good. This presents a bleak picture of the future of Nepali working children.

It seems that either the government has taken the matter of child labor for granted; or the government has not put all its efforts to battle against child labor. The matter of child labor should be taken with utmost seriousness, because children are physically weak and therefore they are susceptible to all kinds of exploitation.

Most of the children, who live in rural areas, are more likely to drop out after a few years of schooling. Many parents, who live below the poverty line in rural areas, have to struggle to make both ends meet. In a situation like this, they are unable to provide financial support to their children. So, some children leave schools and help their parents in the field.  Others leave homes and go to nearby cities to live an independent life---some of them end up becoming just street children.  

               

According to a report, 41 percent of the total population of the country is constituted of children. It indicates that a big portion of the population is comprised of children. The welfare of the children is not only the responsibility of their parents, but the state should also play a key role in creating an environment where children can grow and prosper.

Today child labor has become a global issue. In recent years, the movements of various countries have shown their keen interest in curbing child labor, but with very little success. At a time when many countries are vociferously talking about child rights, things are not rosy here in Nepal. Child-related cases have unexpectedly surged in the last decade in the country. In fact, statistics indicate that the cases of child labor and child abuse have not increased alarmingly. However, many scholars do not agree with such data. According to the situation of child labor is more serious in the country than it seems, because most of the child-related cases go unreported.   

Various studies have confirmed that a large number of children are working under precarious conditions. Under such an environment, these children are exposed to serious health hazards---this cannot go without our notice. It is however believed that about twenty-six hundred thousand children are currently being exploited in various forms in the country. Among them, about one hundred fifty thousand children are engaged in hazardous works.

Much has been done to eradicate child labor from the face of the world but without much success. The overall condition of child labor in Asia is much more deplorable than in some other parts of the world. It does not mean that concerted efforts have not been made to eliminate child labor. There are several national and international organizations, which have taken up the cudgels against child labor, but the ghost of child labor remains as elusive as ever.

Despite the government’s claims to achieving some major success in curving child labor, the overall situation of child labor in Nepal has not improved much. Many critics even say the situation of child labor has turned bad for worse in recent years. In the past, the decade-old Maoists' armed struggle against the state had further dragged the situation to a very miserable condition. The bloody war took a heavy toll on lives that only added more orphans in the country. Due to the lackluster attitude of the state, many of these children had become the victims of child trafficking, domestic violence, child labor, sexual abuse and many of them turned to become street children.  

Now the onus is on the incumbent government to tackle the problem of hundreds of children who do not go to schools. Due to abject poverty, these children do different types of works to make a meager sum of money. If the government still shows a lethargic attitude to tackle the present state of child labor, the additional number of working children might make the situation even more complicated. Thus, timely action from the government is the need of the hour.  

There are many NGOs and INGOs that work independently in the country. These organizations leave no opportunity to boast themselves of achieving unprecedented success. However, in reality, they talk more but work less.  Over the years, many organizations have come into existence with the purpose of child welfare activities. However, looking at their activities it seems that their main purpose is not to serve but to earn.

According to a report presented by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) Nepal, “According to the Nepal Labour Force Survey 2008, there were about 7.77 million children in Nepal between 5 and 17 years of age, of which 50.7 percent were boys and 49.3 percent girls. That number has grown steadily as families have been broken apart by economic hardship, leaving children to fend for themselves. Children are often seen begging, or working in the streets, cafes, petrol stations, sometimes even late into the night. Children, especially girls, are also sexually exploited for commercial purposes, especially in prostitution and pornography. Trafficking of children is a regular phenomenon to which the thousands of children living in street and orphanages are particularly prone”.

Nepal being an agricultural country most of the children are involved in the agricultural field. They are also used in other sectors such as construction sites, hotels, and restaurants, houses, transportation sector, shops, etc. Moreover, over five thousand children live on the streets. They are popularly known as khate. These khate children live hazardous life as they are constantly exposed to drugs and violence. About four thousand such street children spend most of their time collecting plastic bags and rubbish. The number of boys is greater than girls.

Girl children are always an easy target for girl traffickers. According to various news reports, every year about twelve thousand girls are trafficked to India. Among them, most of the girls are aged below sixteen years. In fact, several efforts have been made both at the private and government levels to curb girls trafficking, but the success is relatively far below than expected.

Social inequality, unemployment, lack of education, superstition, and family feud are a few to name which have created bottlenecks in the efforts of fighting against child labor.

So far, most of the efforts of the government have merely fizzled out due to lack of proper co-operation between different organizations. It is therefore advisable that private and government organizations must work in unison so that the working condition of children can be improved to a respectable standard.

Recently, the government has formed National Child Labor Elimination Committee (NCEC) to study child labor and to establish a National Master Plan to eliminate child labor. This committee has determined to root out child labor by 2022 and all forms of child labor by 2025. It is also known that the government has launched a Decent Work Country Program and the Social Security Fund Program. The prime intention of these programs is to support workers and their families and to fight against child labor.

Only catchy slogans and forming special committees cannot yield desired success. Such things have already been done in the past and we have seen how those efforts fizzled out unceremoniously. However, to achieve noticeable success in the battle of child labor is never possible without true commitment. The political leaders must rise above their party politics and join their hands to fight against the battle of child labor---there is no question of failing to get success.

Thank you very much for reading this article. I hope you liked this article. I will be glad if you take a little time and make a comment about this article. Your comment is highly appreciated.

I was with the kids of Antighar Mauja, Nepal. I was there on a mountain bike tour. Photo: By a naughty village kid.

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