Jose K Joseph
post news network
Bhubaneswar, June 12: Child labour is not an insurmountable problem and it cannot take roots and flourish in this land for ever. Children who have escaped the clutches of this menace and are leading better lives today are pointers to the future.
Orissa POST met some such children and has tales of resilience and hope to share, though the paper has had to mask names to keep the kids from further reminders of their past and any trauma thereof.
Reshma (name changed) is doing Plus II in a city college today and nurtures the dream of becoming a doctor. It might not sound an unusual or unique dream or a place to be for a child her age; but for Reshma the journey to school was arduous and passed through a phase of working as a domestic help.
Happy today as she spends time with teachers and friends, Reshma’s ordeal had started when she was in Class III. She was returning home with results for the year hoping that her parents would congratulate her for clearing the exams with good grades. But banishment to life as a domestic help awaited her at home.
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“I did not know then what was happening to me. I had no inkling what the future held, who was doing what and what was happening around me. I had no control over decisions being taken for me,” she said.
The future of her family rested on her tiny shoulders and she started life as a domestic help. Reshma would have stayed that way had it not been for the kindness of her master’s daughter. She got in touch with an NGO working with children like Reshma and through the non-profit organisation got her life back on track. “I had never given up hope and that has helped me and I am sure it will help others, too,” Reshma said.
Nikhil, too, would have lost his childhood in a bicycle repair shop had it not been for some timely help. The boy, too, had been forced to work in the shop to help his family earn. Nikhil had been passionate about studies and dreamt of becoming a police officer. A friend proved to be the proverbial port in a storm for him.
The friend led him to an NGO which works with children and his association with the organisation has taken him back to schooling full-time. Pursuing Plus III in a city college, Nikhil has revived his dream of becoming a police officer.
“I am sure God will help me complete studies and achieve my dreams,” he said.
Child rights activists such as Anuradha Mohanty, the executive director of People’s Cultural Centre (PECUC) believe in the possibility of eradicating child labour from the state and the country. “We have rescued more than 30,000 child labourers till date and will continue to be there for children such as Reshma and Nikhil,” she said.
