Patna Child Labourers Demand Education!

Hordes of child labourers here took to the streets demanding education and protesting the role forced on them.

Children lamented that they are being forced to work against their will and said that their fundamental right to education should be fulfilled.

Children Take To Streets In Patna Against Child Labour
Hordes of children took to the streets here last evening protesting against child labour and exploitation.

"We want to say that school should be built for us. We should not be allowed to work. We want that all facilities for our education should be provided to us," said Anshu Kumar, a child labour.

Children, who work in factories, hotel and restaurants, raised slogans demanding education.

"We don't want work, we want education. Our parents force us to work and take the money that we earn. They don't let us study. But we want education." Nisha Kumari, another child labour.

Child Labour? Blame It on Physicians!
Doctors in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh provide false age qualification certificate to under-aged workers, government suspects.

Despite the 1986 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, child labour is still rampant in India due to extreme poverty.

Millions of children in India work in dangerous conditions making firecrackers, textile ancillaries, hand-rolled cigarettes and glass and are exposed to hazardous chemicals and open furnaces spewing toxic gases.

Child Labor Age Limit To Be Raised From Fourteen To Eighteen
According to official sources the Central Government of India is planning to increase the age bar on child labor from 14 years to 18 years.

Human rights groups say many children have been working since the age of four or five, and by the time they reach adulthood, they may be irrevocably sick or deformed.

"The main objective of this rally is to focus the attention of authorities that school should be built for these children who are busy working at home or in factories and restaurants. They should be studying in school rather than staying at home," said Deep Shikha, organiser of the rally.

Exploitation of Slum Children in Patna Causes Protest
'Condemn child labour and allow us to pursue education', protest slum children of Patna

International agencies contend that there are far too many loopholes in the law on trafficking in children, making it difficult to root out child labour.

Source-ANI
PRI/S