Minors to be rescued from the Mica Belt region

Childhood is the time when an individual blooms. It's the time when we observe, discover the new aspects of life and instill in us the qualities that are crucial to help us in the future. Just as without the right foundation, a building is unable to be constructed, without a proper healthy childhood, the future of that child is bound to full of hardships that could've been easily overcome. Fortunate or unfortunate, each and every child has the right to a childhood of learning, socializing and growing. Not a childhood plagued with the ideas of money earning and labor.

Thus, came forth the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which closely surveyed the mica belt region if Jharkhand to eradicate child labor from the areas of Koderma and the Giridih district, where minors were prone to be mine workers and were also comprised the market traders. Their strategy to provide these children with proper education in the government schools is to increase the surveillance so as to keep a record of student attendance.

The NCPCR has collaborated with other organizations such as the Bachpan Bachao Amdolan, an NGO working to abolish Child Labor since 2005. A BBA program, Bal Samvad (Children's Voice) was attended by the representatives of NCPCR showing good faith in the cause. This program was attended by the Jharkhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (JSCPCR), the district collector, education officer, block development officers, gram panchayat members, and over 1,000 mica mine workers and their children from across 150 villages.

The program by BBA highlighted that over 60,000 children were at risk of being absorbed in the mica trading markets. However, the organization has managed to completely root out child labor from 105 Bal Mitra Grams by providing financial help to families using government schemes. One of the success stories for BBA is Ranjit Kumar who has been elected as the sarpanch in his village's first Bal Pamchayat and has inspired children within and across several other villages.

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Child labor is one of the greatest evils that still prevail in our country today and it is essential that it is expunged from the face of this nation if there is any hope for the progress of this country.

Image Courtesy: kennedylive