Child labour continues unabated at Jirkatang, Police unmoved

Senthil Kumar
Jirkatang, June 15: At an age when kids go to school and play with friends, Benedict (name changed), native of Jirkatang, works as a street hawker throughout the day to support his family earn a living. With the authorities looking the other way, violations of the provisions guarding child labour has become rampant with impunity at Jirkatang region.
Many children can be seen carrying containers on their heads loaded with banana and selling them to tourists and other ATR commuters during the scheduled convoys at the Jirkatang Post. Though various laws and acts, including the Right to Education (RTE), are in place to prevent child labour, they remain only on paper. Even the police posted at Jirkatang remain mute witnesses to the blatant violations that have earned flak for the administration from tourists, of late.
“The childhood of innocent kids is lost while working in such excruciating conditions since they have no other choice than to support their families. Child labour is widespread in mainland, but such violation of child rights is not expected from a serene territory like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Many children can be seen carrying heavy baskets of banana and trotting at the convoy to sell them for a living. God know whether they go to school or not. Such scenes of children toiling for paltry income upsets tourists who carry a dirty image of these islands back home. Even the Police present the Jirkatang post remained unmoved as child labour flourishes under their nose in the region. The top brass of the administration should immediately intervene to prevent child labour at the remote region,” said some tourists.
The Labour Commission and the Police should immediately embark on measures to prevent child labour at Jirkatang. Parents of the children should be advised to send their wards to school and refrain from employing them in income generating activities. Adequate livelihood support measures should be ensured for destitute families so as to prevent child labour in the area.