How free are our children in independent India

Meet Durgaprasad, a little boy with a pair of bright twinkling eyes, who is just like any other teen-age kid one can come across along the course of the Brahmaputra River. Durga lives at Pohari Khonia, a small village at Borboruah Block, around 15 kilometres away from Dibrugarh city, Assam. At the tender age of 14 Durga Prasad is supposed to be in school, but instead, one finds him busy with fishing all through the day along the banks of the Brahmaputra, or Lohit, as he calls it. Be it a rainy morning soggy with damp air of the river, or a chilly winter afternoon, instead of spending time with his friends within the cozy confines of the classroom, he is busy with his mundane job of fishing with a tattered net in his hands, exposed to the harsh elements. Durgaprasad is no stranger to hard work, though. Being the elder of two brothers, he was compelled to drop out of school when he was a child of 12, and start working in order to help his father Wokil Borah, who is also a fisherman by profession.

Both Nutan’s and Durga’s stories, however, take a positive turn as Disha Vihar and Bal Sakha Assam, two grassroots level organisations supported by CRY stand beside them, and after long rounds of discussion and counselling with their parents, finally manage to send them to school.

But before we start celebrating the happy ending off Nutan’s and Durga’s stories, let us just face a few ‘uncomfortable’ questions. What about the multitudes of other Nutans and Durgas all around, who are still denied of their rights, and still have to spend their childhood days working in brick kilns and fisheries, in road-side dhabas and open hearth coal pits, or in the dingy bidi rolling workshops? What about those 10 millions of kids in the Country, who are yet to count their steps to schools? If independence means freedom of choice, how free are our children in the independent India?

Not even a month has passed India ushered in its 69th Independence Day, and the jubilation is still in air. Yes, that was certainly a moment of rejoice for all of us. But let’s stop for a while and ask ourselves, what do Indian independence and the freedom it implies mean to these children? For Nutan and Durgaprasad, independence would mean freedom to go to school instead of work. Maybe they have achieved that, but what about other millions of children who are yet to enjoy their right to education? 

The circumstances and the struggle for survival these children face every day ensure that their freedom of choice is severely constrained. When faced with a situation to ease a burden off their back, would they be even left with an option to let go of their economic roles, which are so essential to their family’s survival? And in this context Nutan and Durga come to represent millions of children in India, who are grappling with similar constraints and a severe lack of choice.

Under Indian law, various attempts have been made to make these freedoms available to all children living in many diverse situations and conditions through the path of development & growth.  The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, provides access to elementary education to children in the 6 to 14 age group.  Also Through an amendment to the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, the government is proposing that children below 14 years not be in organized work scenarios. Many such progressive laws are under discussion. There are still areas of concern though – a lot is yet to done for children within the age-group of 15-18 years.  

However, we have achieved little. Inadequate budget provisioning and resource allocation, gaps in implementation of these laws at the field level, regressive societal attitudes and tolerance of child labour result in a grim scenario for Indian children.

 In this heaven of freedom, children continue to be out of school, in work situations, out of any protective framework, their lives devoid of the opportunities to learn, develop, play, discover strengths and talents that should be theirs as Indian citizens.

It is not until we give these children, all our children, the real unconditional freedom to choose their life without any restraint or economic burden, that they will truly be free and able to realize their full human potential.

 

The Author is the Regional Director (East), CRY – Child Rights and You