December 2, being the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery reminds us the date of the adoption of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (resolution 317(IV)of 2 December 1949) by the UN General Assembly. Ironically, despite passing so many decades, today, Child labour, along with trafficking of people, is the worst form of slavery known to mankind. Though, we hear lots of hue and cry with the World Bank calling the economic exploitation of children an insult to humanity. The fact is around 215 million children across the world are still trapped in child labour, according to the International Labour Organisation. Millions of them work under hazardous conditions which present dangers to their health, safety and welfare. All over the world children continue to work, putting their education, health and normal development at stake. Many are enslaved in bonded labour, isolated in domestic service, and traumatised and abused in the commercial sex trade, says the World Bank study. Amidst all the claim of India shinning and similar things, our nation is among the highest child labourers. Child labour accounts for 22 per cent of the workforce in Asia, 32 per cent in Africa, 17 per cent in Latin America, 1 per cent in the United States, Canada and Europe. With all these glaring figures available, steps though are proclaimed to be implanted, however minimal is the implementation seen on the ground, to see our country and the world free from this menace. It is still hard to predict the number of years taken to alleviate this social disorder.
Mohd Ziyaullah Khan
Nagpur, M.S.