Child Labor....

Child labor is punishable, says the law. Yet we see many small boys and girls being employed in hotels, offices and houses. It is pitiable to see the tender hands of a small boy cleaning and wiping the tables in a hotel instead of holding a book, pen/pencil in a school.

Similarly small girls are made to earn their living by doing household chores at an age when they should be enjoying their childhood days with friends of their age at school.

Kidnapping children, luring their parents with a few thousands of rupees to sell their kids, have become a flourishing trade. Such kids who are sent to other states are made to work hard and often beaten and ill treated. They are given meager meals and are either underpaid or not paid at all.

We also read of such children managing to escape from the clutches of their masters only to land in a stranger place, narrating their plight to unknown faces and unable to tell their home addresses...

Matchstick industry and fireworks industry often employ children. Child labor is cheap for the employers and hence they make the best use of it.

Stricter laws should be enforced making it compulsory for parents to send their children to schools. Basic education is a must for children for their brighter future. Employers engaging children to work should be severely punished.