NO to Child Labour

The slogan, “Say NO to Child Labour” is dulcet to ear and sonorous, as well. It rings in ears like a melodious song. On the contrary, this sounds like coming from what appears to be an empty (hollow) drum. It sounds discordant. The slogan alone does not feed millions of hungry children, who are bound to work hard just for two times’ meal at restaurants, bus stops and in the homes of high-profile and highly-placed people. In this light, can you and I alone root out the social evil?  Of course, we can’t. How long do you feed such children? How long will a country feed the children? All the men and the women – poor or rich – want children. And, what will the children born to poor parents do when their parents themselves can’t eke out a living for all? Where will then they go? They are either lured by human traffickers or pedophiles, or end up at restaurants as helps or end up as rag-pickers or pick-pockets.

As the saying goes: “Half a loaf is better than none,” the campaign, kick-started in right earnest, should be continued towards making people aware of this social evil and giving more emphasis on controlling population, instead of walking in the streets holding banners in the sweltering heat. No one out there is ready to stretch his/her ear to hear what the whisper is about and widen eye just to read what the banners emblazon.

Commitment to transform the society is required on the part of all who are really into making the campaign a success. We have to change our mind-set, spread the message on a larger scale, ban the hiring of tiny-tots for household work and take legal action against whoever hires a child in contravention of laws of the country.