A Child is Meant to Learn, Not Earn- A CRY Initiative to Eliminate Child Labor

“A child is meant to learn, not to earn; Do them a favour, avoid child labour.” Undeniably, our heads nod in unison in concurrence with these lines, in the most involuntary manner. All of us have witnessed, if not participated, in debates and news-shows discussing the social evil that child labour is, aggressively advocating for the end of this practice. And while most of us very conveniently go to our homes and scold the little ‘Chotuus’ working in our homes to complete their work properly, the volunteers of Saksham in collaboration with CRY (Child Rights & You), a foundation for protection of the children’s rights, performed a street play to highlight this very issue, forcing the onlookers to question themselves – What can I do to curb this besetting sin?

Child labour is undeniably an extremely grave issue regarding the ill-effects of which, awareness needs to be spread among the masses. People who still send their children to work and also the people who employ these children, must be made aware of what exactly child labour is and how it violates a child’s basic rights - their right to formal education, while robbing them of their childhood at the same time. These children are forced by their parents to take up household chores and work in industries so that they can supplement the family income. The conditions in which they are made to work in factories and industries are inhumane and against human rights, leave alone children rights. In these conditions, children suffer serious health hazards and get afflicted with many diseases. According to Census data, there are over 82 lakh child labourers aged between 8 to 14 in India. That agreeably is not a small number. Though in the recent years, child labour has decreased, but efforts have to be taken to completely eliminate it from our society. This was the theme of the street-play performed by CRY volunteers.

“Chotu chotu karte hain aap, kya kabhi aapne yehh janne ki koshish kari hai ki iss chotu ka naam kya hai ? Kya yehh jaanne ki koshish kari kya chotu school jaata hai ya nahi? (You keep referring to the children working in shops as chotu chotu, have you ever made an effort to know his name or whether he attends school or not?).” This question being put up by the enthusiastic volunteers of CRY could be heard on the streets of Badli Industrial Area & Badli Market Area, where the team vehemently performed a street-play before the crowd, stupefying them with the underlying message.

The Saksham volunteers team consisted of college students and working professionals belonging to various fields that are interning/ volunteering with them. They decided a venue which is quite infamous for child labour and used street play as a medium of communication to address the crowd about this inhumane practice. The play was addressed to both- parents who force their children into employment and employers who employ them in their factories and shops. In order to pull the crowd, the team passed through the streets and asked people to come and watch the play. Initially the show did not have much audience, but as the team progressed with the play, many more people joined the crowd.

Even though paucity of time didn’t allow the volunteers to rehearse much but the team’s effort and enthusiasm still ensured that they came out with a script which delivered a strong message to the community. Through the play, the team showcased the dismal state of a boy who is polishing shoes at the railway station, a child selling balloons and a boy working at a tea stall among other things. The play also showcased the story of a boy who was working in a highly hazardous fire factory. Being untrained & uneducated, he committed some mistake which resulted in a grave physical injury and loss of his eyesight. Another story depicted a responsible citizen who spotted a boy cleaning vehicles on street asked him whether he attends school or not. When the boy denied, the man offered to get him admitted to a school and asked him to accompany the old man as he was going to school to get his daughter admitted. The team also presented a song in which children were looking towards their bright future and asking for their rights. The play and the song, accompanied by the music of dafli kept the audience quite involved throughout the show, which further boosted the morale of the team.

At the end of the street play, the team questioned the audience if they have received the underlying message from the play with a request to support Saksham and CRY in eliminating child labour in all forms.

- Shubhi Mittal

  Research Associate- S&P Global Market Intelligence