Hello Friends,
It's been a while since I met you all here in my blog. Finally, found some time to check a draft blog from past and decided to post it here for my friends to read, comment and criticize... :)
In the recent past, I've heard far too many people crying out loud against "Child Labor".... They all convey their views, criticisms, opinions and demand everyone to avoid child labor. Great thought... Will genuinely appreciate anybody who takes a step to get children into school and to educate them and better their lifestyle and future. But will definitely not appreciate just propaganda against child labor without any action...
What's the point in protesting against a problem without solution? There's a saying that more than 95% of people know the problem and can talk about it... But only 5% can offer a solution for the problem rather than talking about the problem itself...
Personally, I've never given much thought about child labor and have never been encouraging or discouraging it. I realize there are child labor in this society just because of the living conditions and other social reasons.
If we want to abolish child labor, what's that family going to do for that extra income? How are they going to feed themselves? Are we intending to abolish child labor and put a entire family out of streets hungry? I don't think that's the right path or decision.
Also, increasingly I see anti-child labor slogans against the fireworks industry. Even my nephew told me couple of years back that he will not buy crackers for Diwali anymore since there are child labor in that industry.... Good job... Good decision.
Now, let us assume we all stand united and boycott buying fireworks for Diwali and other occasions. What will all the employees employed by these fireworks industry do for their living? Beg on the streets? By doing such abolition, we are not eradicating a problem called child labor... But, we are creating far more new problems like unemployment, economic slowdown (as this industry brings considerable % of foreign currency and revenue in other forms), loss of money to government through central excise and taxes, which will increase the other tax % in future, which is going to increase the burden on everybody else!!!!
Also, I do not understand targeting one specific industry like fireworks or match industry. Many people who are against child labor in fireworks and match industry, completely forget other industries / business which employ child labor. Some examples I could think of are below:
(A) Our friend, who boycotted buying match box and fireworks, goes to a tea shop and says "Thambi... strong-a oru tea kuduppa" to a 10 year old boy working there... Why not boycott drinking tea than ordering your tea through a child?
(B) We go to a shopping mall (or a shop) and we cannot carry our own shopping bags (this can be seen widely in big textile stores). So, our 'thambi' working there, who could be only 12 or 14 year old will carry our bags to our car and we will generously tip him for helping us. Why do we buy things which we cannot carry? Why not we shout against child labor there and stop buying clothes from such shops?
(C) We ride our motorcycle and unfortunately end-up with a flat tyre... We struggle to push the two wheeler to the nearest shop. There's a 10 year old sitting their managing the business. We tell him "Thambi... Urgent-a puncture seri pannuppa... I have important work"... We don't mind child labor there... Why not abandon our vehicle there and go find a shop which does not employ a child?
(D) We have seen many of our friends and neighbors employing small girl or a boy as their house maid. How many of us have protested against it? How is that right when employing child labor by fireworks/match industry is wrong? Why not we boycott such friends and neighbors?
Is our concern when we protest against fireworks industry and matches industry really about child labor or is it because of increasing prices of fireworks and reduced dependency on match boxes? I honestly feel we target these industries because many of us are hurt with increasing prices every year for fireworks. Also, I don't think many houses use match boxes anymore. Most of the smokers use lighters and match boxes are used at home only in pooja room!!!
In my humble opinion, above is the fact. But honestly, I've never fought against child labor. Because it is not the fault of the businessmen to employ young children. It is the need the family has to run their livelihood that they send their children to work. I believe, if we completely abolish child labor, we will end-up with far more social problems than a simple child labor problem.
As stated earlier, I don't want to be in the 95% mass of talking only about problems... I would love to be in the 5% (or at least try to work towards reaching into that 5%). I think below are the basic steps that needs to be taken in order to avoid child labor.
- Any family sending their children to work, should be compensated by the Government for children's education and better employment opportunity (to compensate the earning of the child) to the family so that they can earn their livelihood.
- Increased access to education and other facilities right throughout the country and increased awareness and assurance to the parents that they will have access to their necessities when they send their children to school.
Above are the couple of thoughts / ideas which immediately came to my mind... These are not entirely possible by individuals and social working groups. This needs a much better and bigger set-up like the governments themselves working towards this and funding this.
Also, this may result in little more of tax from us so that government can achieve these objectives.
How many of us are willing to bear extra expense/tax in order to achieve this? We all should... and then we can talk about abolishing child labor.
When Indian Government came-up with Education Cess, how many of us happily paid it? We don't even question the government on how they are spending millions of rupees collected... Shouldn't we all start from there?
As always, I look forward to comments and criticisms from my friends.... :)
It's been a while since I met you all here in my blog. Finally, found some time to check a draft blog from past and decided to post it here for my friends to read, comment and criticize... :)
In the recent past, I've heard far too many people crying out loud against "Child Labor".... They all convey their views, criticisms, opinions and demand everyone to avoid child labor. Great thought... Will genuinely appreciate anybody who takes a step to get children into school and to educate them and better their lifestyle and future. But will definitely not appreciate just propaganda against child labor without any action...
What's the point in protesting against a problem without solution? There's a saying that more than 95% of people know the problem and can talk about it... But only 5% can offer a solution for the problem rather than talking about the problem itself...
Personally, I've never given much thought about child labor and have never been encouraging or discouraging it. I realize there are child labor in this society just because of the living conditions and other social reasons.
If we want to abolish child labor, what's that family going to do for that extra income? How are they going to feed themselves? Are we intending to abolish child labor and put a entire family out of streets hungry? I don't think that's the right path or decision.
Also, increasingly I see anti-child labor slogans against the fireworks industry. Even my nephew told me couple of years back that he will not buy crackers for Diwali anymore since there are child labor in that industry.... Good job... Good decision.
Now, let us assume we all stand united and boycott buying fireworks for Diwali and other occasions. What will all the employees employed by these fireworks industry do for their living? Beg on the streets? By doing such abolition, we are not eradicating a problem called child labor... But, we are creating far more new problems like unemployment, economic slowdown (as this industry brings considerable % of foreign currency and revenue in other forms), loss of money to government through central excise and taxes, which will increase the other tax % in future, which is going to increase the burden on everybody else!!!!
Also, I do not understand targeting one specific industry like fireworks or match industry. Many people who are against child labor in fireworks and match industry, completely forget other industries / business which employ child labor. Some examples I could think of are below:
(A) Our friend, who boycotted buying match box and fireworks, goes to a tea shop and says "Thambi... strong-a oru tea kuduppa" to a 10 year old boy working there... Why not boycott drinking tea than ordering your tea through a child?
(B) We go to a shopping mall (or a shop) and we cannot carry our own shopping bags (this can be seen widely in big textile stores). So, our 'thambi' working there, who could be only 12 or 14 year old will carry our bags to our car and we will generously tip him for helping us. Why do we buy things which we cannot carry? Why not we shout against child labor there and stop buying clothes from such shops?
(C) We ride our motorcycle and unfortunately end-up with a flat tyre... We struggle to push the two wheeler to the nearest shop. There's a 10 year old sitting their managing the business. We tell him "Thambi... Urgent-a puncture seri pannuppa... I have important work"... We don't mind child labor there... Why not abandon our vehicle there and go find a shop which does not employ a child?
(D) We have seen many of our friends and neighbors employing small girl or a boy as their house maid. How many of us have protested against it? How is that right when employing child labor by fireworks/match industry is wrong? Why not we boycott such friends and neighbors?
Is our concern when we protest against fireworks industry and matches industry really about child labor or is it because of increasing prices of fireworks and reduced dependency on match boxes? I honestly feel we target these industries because many of us are hurt with increasing prices every year for fireworks. Also, I don't think many houses use match boxes anymore. Most of the smokers use lighters and match boxes are used at home only in pooja room!!!
In my humble opinion, above is the fact. But honestly, I've never fought against child labor. Because it is not the fault of the businessmen to employ young children. It is the need the family has to run their livelihood that they send their children to work. I believe, if we completely abolish child labor, we will end-up with far more social problems than a simple child labor problem.
As stated earlier, I don't want to be in the 95% mass of talking only about problems... I would love to be in the 5% (or at least try to work towards reaching into that 5%). I think below are the basic steps that needs to be taken in order to avoid child labor.
- Any family sending their children to work, should be compensated by the Government for children's education and better employment opportunity (to compensate the earning of the child) to the family so that they can earn their livelihood.
- Increased access to education and other facilities right throughout the country and increased awareness and assurance to the parents that they will have access to their necessities when they send their children to school.
Above are the couple of thoughts / ideas which immediately came to my mind... These are not entirely possible by individuals and social working groups. This needs a much better and bigger set-up like the governments themselves working towards this and funding this.
Also, this may result in little more of tax from us so that government can achieve these objectives.
How many of us are willing to bear extra expense/tax in order to achieve this? We all should... and then we can talk about abolishing child labor.
When Indian Government came-up with Education Cess, how many of us happily paid it? We don't even question the government on how they are spending millions of rupees collected... Shouldn't we all start from there?
As always, I look forward to comments and criticisms from my friends.... :)
@SK - As u say child labor is there in lot more places, and trying to completely avoid or boycott them without proper solution is no good. Government should take up and work on those. I would not mind paying more tax, but only thing is we should be clear that it is spent in rightful way... I am sure lot of people out there would have the same feel.
ReplyDeleteBut in all those scenarios I would pay that Thambi and move on... as it is his/her livelihood and would not affect that when I am not going to do anything seriously...
I have heard that in those days wanderers were fed by lot of households and food was donated, this was done with simple reason, if a person is fed he would not indulge in activities that would affect the society.
@ Anu - From your comment in FB, I strongly disagree with your view on using similar policy as in China of one child. Why should the government force and decide how many child someone should have...
Instead awareness should be created on good and peaceful living.This holds good for all problems in this world.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSriram... I agree with you on your first paragraph of comments... About your second part, I disagree.
ReplyDeleteWe all should be concerned about children not going to school and getting educated. This will end-up in a serious social problem at a later stage...
Look at this scenario: Let us assume a village of 500 people have 50% educated today. Children start to work and as a habit, when they grow-up and have children of their own, they will also work.
So, probably after couple of generations, the village may have about 90 to 95% uneducated population. Is this what we want?
As you said, I would also pay the "thambi" and keep moving, but if we start to think about society and future of the society, it is not good for children to be uneducated and work. An individual or a group cannot accomplish this task. That's why the Governments should get involved and start to look at it as a long term project which is beneficial for the country...
Even my blogs have started attracting spam mails (contents I've removed)... Should I be happy that spammers are targeting my blog?? :)
ReplyDeleteSriram,
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
@ Anu - From your comment in FB, I strongly disagree with your view on using similar policy as in China of one child. Why should the government force and decide how many child someone should have...
In my opinion at some stage the government should get involved. China is try to reduce their population so that everybody can be taken care of... So, they don't want couples having more than one child. Singapore encourages more children because their expat population is much more than local citizens.... So, every government has to plan for future and take steps.
Another important factor to consider is - How are we going to feed all this population with natural resources being depleted so fast? If India's population increases at the current rate, we will have to start importing food grains to feed. How will we manage that situation? There's a lot of issues associated with unpredictable rapid population growth...
A lot of economical issues are associated with population growth... I can remember one saying from Economics (forgot the author of this saying) - "When a child is born in developed nations, it is looked at as 2 more extra hands to work. In a developing or under developed nation, it is looked at as one more mouth to feed"...
This is the problem government has to look at and work!!!
@SK - Can u pls share the purpose of avoiding child labor and educating...
ReplyDeleteSriram, I thought my answers to your queries are already there in my blog and my comment(s).
ReplyDeleteIn countries like India, where the unemployment rate among the adult workforce is high, why employ children and add to a bigger problem in future.
We need to get the younger generation educated, so that in future they will have better job opportunities in this competitive world. It is the responsibility of every society (read Government) to ensure that every child gets access to education.
I hope I have answered your queries/doubts.
A very nice post.. Personally I have always felt bad when I see kids working at tea shops and mechanic shops.. But i never thought of it the way you did.. You have a point.. But i will agree if the parents are in such a health condition that they will not be able to work.. If not, then it is a crime for sure, sitting at home and drinking while their kids go out and make money.. If the parents are not in a position to earn their living, the kids can work and the Government or Charitable Organisations can always help in giving the child some basic education..
ReplyDeleteIt is a good thought that the Government should do something abt this.. But I don't think they will.. And I agree with Sriram to an extent where he says the Government decided how many children one should have.. There are so many couples without a child..
A very thought provoking blog..
Thanks Sangeetha...
ReplyDeleteMy point above is not regarding exceptions (where the parents sit at home and drink, gamble and children work). It is the NEED of the family that everyone has to work so that they can feed themselves... In these cases, we cannot blame the employers of these children. We have to blame the society and the government.
The reason mid-day meal scheme (Sathunavu) introduced in schools by the great leader Kamarajar and then later re-introduced by MGR was to assure the family that the children will get food if they go to school. But lack of supervision and too many other administrative mishaps have made this scheme a failure.
Both Kamarajar and MGR were not academically highly qualified and that's the reason they realized the values of children being educated.
IMHO, only Government can do this... As an individual and as a group through social organizations, there's only a limit to which we can help. But we cannot eradicate the problem completely to give better future to these children and society.
Instead of our people fighting for unwanted things and staging protests / fasts against government, they can start a movement forcing the government to invest in future (younger generation). That will be more meaningful.
I have written so much for a new blog but in all likelihood, I will not post it here since it has more political information :)
Once again, thanks for your positive comments and being such a nice Ko Pa Se!!! :)
:-) Ko pa se - Anytime!!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those typical problems where is no one correct solution ! A problem where there is a trade-off. Trade-off between what is correct and what is practical. (and where "correct" itself is not clearly definable). Maybe if the law is strictly enforced, the fathers will spend more time outside the liquor shops ! (yes, I am generalizing and exaggerating, but that is part of addressing the problem). - M S Sriram
ReplyDeleteSriram, I do agree there's no concrete / correct solution for this problem. This has to be a joint effort, firstly from parents, then Government and then other social groups/general public.
ReplyDeleteMy only frustration, which resulted in this blog, is that people see only fireworks industry as child labor oriented...
Fireworks industry is just a symbolic reference point to highlight the issue. In any case, it is a major employer of child labour. - M S Sriram
Delete