“CHILD LABOUR IN 21St CENTURY”

-By Harshita Chaudhary

“Lives of little ones are destroyed, when child labor is

employed”

The future of any nation is determined by how children and women are treated. Children
provide a skilled human resource to the country with the creed of education. India has
witnessed exploitative labor in British brutal regime. So it’s a moral duty of every citizen
to ensure childhood of every child is safe and not get them indulged in a dismal
phenomenon of child labor.

The typical meaning of child labor is providing employment to children and depriving
them of attending school. This issue is passed from generations to generations. Another
is bonded labor which is another cause of exploitation.

The root of all social issues is poverty here also poverty is the basic cause of child and
bonded labor. Parents are deeply submerged into debts so children are forced to work
early at a tender age. Debt trapped parents fail to understand the importance of
childhood. Sometimes uneducated parents are not aware of ill effects of child labor and
torture. Hence they throw their children into the furnace of labor. This leads to poor and
shattered mental as well as an emotional balance of child’s mind and they are not
prepared to handle better life decisions. Child labor majorly can be spotted in Sub –
Saharan Africa. Over 50% of children there are indulged in laboring activities.

People employ children because they can easily be exploited and can work more with
less pay. Thousands of villages don’t possess proper educational facilities. In the lure of
cheap labor, people engage them. Laxity of the administrative system and poor
compliance of laws are major causes. The Fundamental rights in our constitution
prohibit child drudgery like Child Labor Act (1986) and provide educational facilities to
children of age 6-14. According to Juvenile Act (2000), Child labor is considered a
punishable offense. Paradoxically, despite the long chain of laws, no improvements can
be observed so long. The acts also seem to be obscure. A lot many amendments are
required to shape the laws in a proper way. Firstly, actions should be implemented to
eradicate poverty. Unrolling the message of literacy can be a powerful tool. Child labor
is messing up country’s future. We are also grabbed in sinful activity in an indirect way
since we are not conscious citizens, many times child labor occurs near us.
Unfortunately, children are only bread earning members for their family. It is blunt for
India that some foreign countries have banned India for imports since they suspect child
labor could be involved in processing.

Prayaas Corps- is a Non-Profit Non-Governmental Organization working in the field of

Education Sector, Leprosy, Shelter, and Health Care.
With a certain motto to stir and inspire the youth’s mind in schools and colleges for
National consciousness and work for the cause of society, this independent student
organization was formed in 2013 on the day of 12th January. On the birthday of Swami
Vivekananda, Prayaas-India, as it was initially called, comprised of a few students from
Amity University Jaipur,
Rajasthan. Under the leadership of Mr. Jaspal Godara, Mr. Manish Sharma and Mr.
Aditya Gopal, they took up the initiative of working for the elation of the people of the
society in order to create a better future and children who wish to serve our Motherland.
Now, after four years and five months since formation, a few membered Prayaas- India
transformed into Prayaas Corps, with volunteers not only active in Jaipur but in cities
like Jodhpur, Kota, New Delhi, Jabalpur, Silchar etc and has branches in Chhattisgarh,
Rajasthan,
New Delhi etc. With more than 500 on the field and social media volunteers from all
over the nation, connected through www.prayaascorps.com, Facebook and Instagram
pages, the organization has extended its reach to major cities In India in a couple of
years. The intense problems prevailing in society, illiteracy, women empowerment,
environmental issues, social upliftment, every single aspect has been considered and
new ways have been constructed each time to fight the evils. Awareness programmes,
education missions, medical camps etc have contributed to eradicate mass suffering
and create a healthy and sound society.
Many more years are yet to come. Many more people are yet to be saved. Prayaas
Corps has yet to grow and it shall. With numbers of dedicated volunteers increasing, it
sure is meant to create a huge difference in society.

Our Work and Initiatives

● Shiksha Mission- Shiksha Mission is one of the most drastic and superlative
initiatives of Prayaas Corps. Realizing the hollowness of the Indian education system,
volunteers took a major step in educating children in nearby government schools which
lacks to provide children a fundamental education. Children are taught after school, not
only the syllabi but co-curricular activities too. Shiksha Mission received an
overwhelming response from villagers who were reluctant to give their children a proper
education as well as from children who were interested to learn and adopt new skills
and learnings.
● Leprosy Event-
There exists a misconception among people of our country regarding Leprosy.
Discarding such baseless concepts and to give those people hope of life, volunteers
celebrate World Leprosy
Day and Republic Day every year with Leprosy contracted people of Indra Kushta
Ashram. Apart from providing them food and delicacies, educational and entertainment
events also organized to show them that they are too, a part of this society and country.
They are encouraged to study, to learn and never lose hope so that someday they
might become dutiful citizens.
● Raahat- A gift of warmth-
Northern India is one of such part of our country which, each year, witnesses extreme
winters.
Well to do thrive, the poor and the needy suffer. It is through Raahat the volunteers
carry out a large-scale blanket and warm cloth distribution to the needy and poor to help
them sustain the extreme cold. The event is conducted in two parts. In the first part,
people in Old Age Homes are being donated blankets and in the next phase, needy
people on streets are being provided with clothes and blankets. Through years, the
growth has been substantial.

● Environmental Issues-
Volunteers of Prayaas Corps have taken steps for environmental protection as well.
Organising plantation drives, providing food and water in hanging pitchers for the birds
in summer and cleanliness drives under Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan have been the major
events which reflect the organization’s sustainable perspective towards our
environment.
These events received huge accolades as support increased.
● Health Care-
With growing support and volunteers, Prayaas Corps in association with many hospitals
have organized medical camps and blood donation events. This helped in several ways.
Blood donation cards helped volunteers to donate blood to the one in need whenever
necessary. It too gave an opportunity for many people to save as many lives by
donating their blood. Health camps are too being organized in villages with poor medical
facilities. Doctors treat villagers free of cost providing quality medicines and treatment.
About Prayaas:
Prayaas Corps is a non-profit, non-governmental organization working in the field of the social
sector. The captive initiative of Prayaas Corps is known as Shiksha Mission in which
underprivileged students are provided a class of education. Apart from it is also known for
Leprosy Event, Raahat- A gift of Warmth.

About Author’s:
The above article is framed by Harshita Chaudhary, a student from BIT, Mesra pursuing
B.E. (2017-2021) .Working as content writer at PRAYAAS CORPS, to draw public
attention towards social problems.