New Delhi: With two days left for the enforcement of the order banning child labour, the under-age workers seem to be confused and scared about their future after the implementation of the well-meaning legislation.
"What will happen to me? And if I leave this place, where does the government want me to go," asks Najib, who does not want to admit that he is less than 14 due to fear of losing his job at an eatery in Paharganj.
Najib hopes this legislation will not have any impact, "Laws have been hardly a part of our living and hence I feel that this would also pass through," he says.
Najib and three others were inmates in a juvenile home in Haryana and were said to have run away from there to reach Delhi.
Working with a transporter in Kamla Nagar and earning well, Mukund and Kannan, two friends, are ready to go to the extent of potraying themselves as 'sons' of their employer.
All these child workers were unaware of the enforcement of the legislation and reacted only after being informed by this reporter.
There are also children like Sam and his siser Shivani who sell small items like pencils and staplers at the Janpath traffic light.
Though Sam reveals that they are employed by someone called Shekhar, his street-smart mother interrupts saying, "These children have their own business and are not employed by anyone."
Experts believe that the greatest challenge the authorities could face in implementing the legislation would be to establish the age of a child worker.
Even if the government established that these workers are under 14, would they be able to guarantee a better living for them than the market places where they dwell?, ask their employers.
Comments
0 comment