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A minor boy working in a tea stall in Dimapur.[/caption]
Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, April 30: Meet Ajay—though he looks younger, he claims to be 14 years of age. Since migrating from Badarpur in Assam, he has been looking after a tea stall in Dimapur town since January.
Ajay’s father is sick while his mother works
as a housekeeper at Badarpur. He is the youngest among four children. The owner of the stall is a friend of his parents. His earning is sent to his mother, who uses it to buy medicine for the father.
“All I want now is to earn so that I can help my parents,” he told Eastern Mirror on Tuesday. He is no exception. According to the latest census (2011) data, there are 10.1 million child workers under the age of 14 in India.
May 1 is observed across the globe as Labour Day or May Day. Child labour among Naga tribes, in truth, is not a new thing. For ages, Naga kids have aided their parents in farming and other household works—albeit, never through force.
However, in the modern context, Dimapur, the commercial nerve centre of Nagaland, is no stranger to the abuse of child labour.
Besides Ajay, another child by the name of Salman collects carton boxes and plastic bottles along with his two cousins, Mohit (17) and Rahul (16). According to him, they earn INR 200 in a day (approximately INR 5000 a month).
The trio collects recyclable items from Clock Tower junction to Network bus terminal area. Mohit said that they do not mind doing the job as long as they are paid and treated well. He said that their manager is “good” and looks after them and their family too.
The trio lives in Dimapur; and has been working for nearly a year.
Gaurav, who claims to be 16 years of age, works as a bike mechanic. He migrated from Bihar seeking a job in Dimapur. His mother works as a sweeper while his father is an alcoholic. He has a younger sister who is paralysed. “My father drinks a lot. My relatives do not allow my father to be with my mother and sister since he creates inconveniences in the family. So I decided to help my mother and sister by earning myself,” he said.
Interestingly, he doesn’t work in one single place for long as he fears of being caught by the police since he is a minor. He visits one garage to another, seeking work for a single day. He usually earns INR 100-200 daily.
“He begs us to let him work for a day. Out of pity, we hire him on the condition that he does not let us pay the fines if caught,” said an owner of the garage he works at.
Gaurav said he is experienced in “minor bike repairs” like changing tires, engine oil, and chain repair. He also said that he does not like to go to school.
Another boy by the name of Roshan, aged 12, from Bihar, was installing tire in a garage. He said that he arrived in Dimapur with his uncle, who also works as a mechanic at the same garage.
Roshan said that he is currently studying in class 3 at a school in Golaghat, Assam. “The school rarely opens. Even if it does, the teacher does not come,” he complained.
Surprisingly, Roshan was well aware of the possibility of being caught by the authorities for working as a minor. He asserted that he prefers working than being in school.
According to the coordinator of Childline Centre in Dimapur, Lozua Kape, as per the Child Labour Act of 1986, a "child" is defined as any person below the age of 14; and the act prohibits employment of a child in any manner, including as a domestic help. She said that in Nagaland, ‘Child Labour Act has not been implemented.’
According to her, ‘non-local children work in commercial labour, but local children works as domestic labourer.’ “Labour department is not into it and the Childline cannot involve directly because the state has not implemented the Act. So that is where we are stuck now,” she maintained.
With regards to domestic labour, Kape said that Childline is pressuring the state government to implement ‘foster care’ Act.
“It is an act where children can be kept in homes under certain criteria. They cannot be treated as domestic helper, but they will have certain rights,” she explained.
She said that ‘foster care’ was implemented in Nagaland as a pilot project, four to five years ago. “We have stopped that since, in the national level, the foster care has been revised. So now, we are pressuring the government to implement it. If it is implemented, children will have certain rights.”
Concerning commercial labour, Kape assured that Childline is pursuing to collaborate with Dimapur Municipal Council. “We really wanted to do a study on child labour, about why children are into labour,” she said and suggested that there are over 20 National Child Labour Project schools in Dimapur alone, where children can attend if they cannot afford to study in regular schools.
“We also want to check if the children are from Dimapur or they have migrated from Assam. According to our research, most of the children are migrated from Assam,” she continued.
Additionally, the organisation is also creating awareness to ‘avoid giving money to street beggars.’ “Giving money indirectly encourages children to beg more,” she said.
Childline encourages school and college students to offer food, water, clothes, and footwear instead of giving money.
Kape reported that some children earn around INR 800-1000 per day, which amounts to INR 20, 000 a month.
“One of the girls said that her mother went back to their village to construct house out of the money they earned through begging. Her mother should support the child; instead, the child is the one supporting the mother,” she added.
(Names used in the report have been changed to protect their identity)