Millions of children are exploited for cheap labour and some of them don’t even know that they are being exploited. Many of these children are mostly forced by their families to be a helping hand to the family’s financial situation. Poverty is one major factor that ensnared into child labour.
“There is no place for child labour in society. It robs children of their future and keeps families in poverty.”
Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General
Unpaid or paid work, both deprive children of a well-deserved education. Can you imagine a child who has never seen the bright side of life but has always either worked with poisonous substances in a factory or has taken the role of a caretaker to babysit their siblings?
Over 9 million children could be pushed into child labour by 2022: International Labour Organisation (ILO)
But, is this the case only with India?
No, it is prevalent all over the world.
According to the latest report by ILO and UNICEF, the number of children has risen to a shocking number of 160 million, worldwide.
Many NGOs in India and worldwide work towards eliminating child labour at the grass-root level. What are the root causes?
There are many interlinking factors, if we do not address the root cause, then we will never be able to address the issue.
• Poverty
Without a second thought, poverty is the most powerful influence in pushing children into child labour. When basic requirements like food, shelter, health or education become luxurious commodities, children are forced to supplement their family’s income.
• Lack of quality education
It is a prevalent fact that mostly, children coming from challenging backgrounds do not get access to quality education in private institutions due to lack of funds, etc. Though you can donate to NGOs that support children’s education, there is always a gap that is difficult to bridge.
And this gap can be reduced by a simple intervention called the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDM Scheme). Education and food are the two solutions that could tackle child labour. Various states implemented this programme after its success in Tamil Nadu. After the mandate of the Supreme Court of India in 2001, all the states started implementing school meals for primary and upper primary school children.
The Mid Day Meal Scheme could work to bring children to school and help them become regular so that the social evil of child labour has no space to grow.
\To support the Government of India to feed and educate children, The Akshaya Patra Foundation – an NGO in India provides unlimited food for education to 1.8 million children in need every day.
Mid day meals relieve them of the burden of working for their daily meals. Donate to feed the children who need you the most to overcome every little hurdle in their life. Join us in our feeding initiatives.
One well-fed and educated child is one less child on the list of child labour.
