Daily Times

Pakistan has been confronting manifold hurdles of child labour for long. In the country, children are engaged in various forms of child labour as the Constitution and Labour Laws prohibit the employment of children before the age of 14. However, according to the National Child Labour Survey, approximately 3.3 million children below the age of five to 14 are working as child labourers in Pakistan, be it boys or girls.

Consequently, child labour has an inimical impact on the society, since it deprives the children from getting a quality education, taking part for the improvement of the country and it also stops the running economy.

On the other hand, in this age, children have to be at school, but unfortunately in Pakistan, half of the children are being seen in collecting garbage near the shops etc. However, recently I was on my way to the university when I was shocked on seeing some children collecting garbage near the road for a livelihood. When I saw these innocent children, many questions raised in my mind. I wondered how unjust it was to be deprived of the basic right of education. Why wasn’t the society giving these children their rights according to the Constitution? Why were these innocent children indulged in child labour?

Additionally, child labour has crushed the dreams of many children in Balochistan too. Khalid, a small boy aged 13, resident of Kolahoo wanted to read and write, but unfortunately, he couldn’t due to financial problems and today he is a shepherd and grazing the sheep for a livelihood.

Furthermore, in Pakistan we can find hundreds of thousands of children working as child labourers and all this results in mental, physical, moral and social disadvantages. Most significantly, we have to end this social malicious action for it’s killing the bright future of our innocent children.

Balochistan is fighting the centuries-old scourge of children since the beginning. The majority of children hail from the impoverished segment of society’s sufferings from this social injustice. We can see children under the age of 14 begging on streets, sweeping roads and cleaning cars at traffic signals, but still the laws needed to protect them nowhere near implementation.

The government should at least realise the pain and suffering of these children since it’s the state to provide the necessities of its dwellers.

In addition, child labour is a critical issue which demands radius solutions. There’s no better way to prevent child labour, other than educating the children and giving them the ground-laying rights.

Finally, what is more, the children are the bright future of any nation and society. Every state should better facilitate its children in acquiring a high quality of education. Child labour has spread enough; it’s high time that we deal strictly with this menace.

The writer is a part time teacher at DELTA and a student of law at Turbat University. He can be reached at munaj1gul@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, January 31^st 2019.