Helping the helping hands

Heartening to read first thing in the morning – Mumbai frees its child workers – On Saturday night, 100 child zari workers from different slums of Mumbai went home to their villages in Bihar in a special bogie arranged by the railways, and more importantly, after their employers volunteered to let them go. Not out of any misguided sense of what is right, but because employers of child laboureres are now clear that the government means business – however, first causes are immaterial in this case.

However, read on… some of the children are not happy at the thought of going back home… what awaits them is what they left years ago when they came to Bombay in search of work…

Some spoke of families of 12 and very little food to subsist. Others told stories of crops destroyed in yearly floods and of dead parents. “I don’t want to go back to school. The teacher used to hit me and he didn’t teach anything,” said Mohammed Alamgir (10).

Which brings me to the real point – is rescuing children and sending them back to their villages and families enough – does the state’s responsibility end there – what about rehabilitation? What happens to these children now back in their own villages will they be forced to go somewhere else in search of labour and income? And what happens to the families dependent on this income?

And before you jump in indignation all ready to tear me to pieces, please think… In the absence of a child-friendly education system and an alternative source of income to the families, in what way is the life of these children better at home?

I was in Kanchipuram last year to document some efforts by a large development organisation working in the area of child labour – and there, much of my preconception about this issue of child labour was turned on its head…

Children were working in the silk looms part-time and going to school in the mornings. I visited their schools and found excellent bridge courses being conducted for children who had dropped out earlier and were now back in school – or children who have not been able to cope with regular school schedules. I visited their homes and saw parents who were so happy their children were back in school – from now I am willing to do anything to make sure he goes to school and gets a good job – en pillai periya aala aavanum – ‘my son should become a big shot’ was a common refrain I heard throughout- I saw parents and school teachers being threatened by a loom owner. ‘enakku enna aanalum parava illai – en pillai school poganum’ (I don’t care what happens to me – my child should go to school)

Ten year old Janaki told me – School has made me better – earlier I never used to be concerned about my appearance – I used to get up early in the morning and go to work even without even combing my hair – now I wash and comb my hair and wash my face everyday – they taught us in school how to be clean

And along with this, women were being mobilised into self help groups – many of them were now earning enough to take their children out of the looms and send them back to school – and they were also paying-it-forward by getting other women into the movement and working as cleaners / helpers at the local school… Read about the INDUS project here… their efforts involve not just mainstreaming efforts and bridge schools but also vocational training for older children…

While this was happening in Tamilnadu, in some other states which my colleague visited, children who had been rescued from work actually preferred to go back to work – their faith in the education system had collapsed.

Child labour in any form is to be condemned – I am NOT in any way speaking for child labour – but there are situations where we must understand it makes sense for the child to be employed in some form of work – when the child goes to school and earns money to support his/her family, is it fair to deny the child and the family this? More importantly, in cases where the child works in the family business – usually traditional hand craft or farming – so long as the child also goes to school, is it fair to condemn this practice in totality? I had written about Invisible Child Labour – about my maid’s daughter who goes to school and helps her mother part-time.

Economic rehabilitation for the family and mainstreaming the child back into the education system are equally, if not more important steps in this process – in their absence, ‘rescue operations’ become meaningless token gestures by the state – here is hoping for a better future for the Bihari children…

Update on June 1st: City cops rescue 446 child labourers – from mid day