INDIA: NEW DELHI: CHILD LABOURERS скачать в хорошем качестве

INDIA: NEW DELHI: CHILD LABOURERS

(13 Mar 1996) Hindi/English/Nat With more than 50 million child labourers, western countries are increasingly threatening India with trade embargoes on products using underage labour. But questions are now being raised about the fate of the children who are deprived of their livelihood thanks to this idealistic western view of childhood. Many voluntary agencies working among the neglected children are now focusing more on supporting child labourers rather than taking away their jobs. Prayas, meaning Endeavour, is one such organisation providing shelter, food and education to nearly three thousand working children in Delhi. Eight-year-old Noor Bano and Salim, aged 12, have been ragpicking ever since they can remember. Every morning their tiny hands rummage through the city's garbage to earn a living. But come afternoon, Noor and Salim leave the garbage and become students. They are among the hundreds and thousands of disadvantaged children who work simply to survive and have never been to a school. India has one of the highest number of out-of-school children in the world - about 80 (m) million and the majority of them are child labourers. They work as rag-pickers, shoe shine boys, vendors or beggars. An estimated 400-thousand street or working children live in Delhi slums. Here in Jahangirpuri, one of the biggest slum colonies in the Indian capital, there are more than 50-thousand such children. Driven to work by poverty , many of them are the sole bread-earners for their families. They live in abysmal conditions. Most Westerners condemn child labour. But pressure to eliminate it often pushes these children to new depths of poverty. Not working does not mean these children get to spend their days in schools or playgrounds. It just means they have to struggle more to survive. With this in mind, the voluntary group Prayas aims to improve life for the working and street children. At the very least it can provide a hearty meal. For most of these working children used to filling their stomachs with leftovers salvaged from the rubbish, a filling lunch at the Prayas centre is a big incentive. The driving force behind the project is a senior police officer in Delhi Amod Kanth. But Prayas is clear about one thing - its aim is not to stop children from working, but to complement their working life with education and training. SOUNDBITE: (English) Child labour situation cannot be weaned away like that - it can't be wished away. It is possible to remove child labour in a very systematic way. And the package that we create - the package of education , health care, vocational training programme - all of them combine and they ultimately bring about some kind of occupational shift." SUPERCAPTION: Amod Kanth, Additional Commissioner of Police, Delhi What started as a contact centre for about 25 juvenile delinquents in 1988 has today turned into a project that provides vocational training, medical services and mid-day meals. Nearly three thousand children attend its education centres located in the slum areas. Even though the children come to these centres after having earned their day's living, it's not always easy to attract them. SOUNDBITE: (English) "The parents feel that a part of their income goes away if the child comes to the centre. So convincing the parents that education and vocational training is important for the child is a very difficult aspect." SUPERCAPTION: Bulbul Bhagowalia, project co-ordinator The vocational training courses run by Prayas include candle-making for retail shops. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...