India officials red-faced over video of child cleaners
The video, broadcast on the NDTV network, showed children as young as 10 cleaning and sweeping the college grounds in Uttar Pradesh state before the arrival of its chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav.
The footage comes just weeks after India's child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi won the Nobel Peace Prize, which shone an international spotlight on India's high levels of child labour.
One of the children told the NDTV they were being paid "200 rupees" ($3.20) ahead of Yadav's arrival at the college in Kannauj city on Sunday to address a seminar.
A spokesperson for the Uttar Pradesh government told AFP the incident would be thoroughly investigated.
"Though it is not in my knowledge, it indeed is a deplorable thing. The matter will be probed and the guilty shall be punished for sure," Rajendra Chaudhary said.
The head of the college said action was already underway following the incident, adding that cleaning was conducted by a separate body which had probably outsourced Sunday's job to a private vendor.
"I would like to clarify that the college administration has nothing to do with this," said college dean VN Tripathi.
Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 204 million, has one of the country's highest levels of child labour, according to NGOs and official statistics.
Satyarthi, 60, was this month jointly awarded the Nobel prize with Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenage education campaigner shot by the Taliban in 2012.
The Indian activist, who argues that poverty should not be an excuse for child labour, was recognised for doggedly championing children's rights in his home country and worldwide for decades.
India's mega cities such as Delhi and Mumbai are a particular target for criminal gangs whom police say traffic children in much the same way they sell drugs.
Most of these children end up as construction or domestic workers. Others take up rag-picking, agricultural work or industries such as fireworks, tobacco and carpet weaving.
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There is nothing for Pakistanis to gloat over. This is a scourge that afflicts both our nations. Our leaders are too busy looking after themselves to afford time for these minor issues taht afflict our nations.
Children abuse is the worst moral and social crime of all human societies and not limited to any particular country.
On the other hand we have child abusers! It is in fact the whole society, you and me, which passively or actively participates and promote the children abuse. The root cause is the mindset of our societies and non-existence of ethical norms.
Child labor is only one form of a social crime which is widespread in our countries. Our societies promote child labor. Millions of children toil in our households, in restaurants, on the roads, in forced beggary and so on. When we give bakshish of a rupee to a beggar child, or employ one in our cosy homes, we become part of this child abuse rascality!
Then we have the disgusting sexual child abuse and pedophilia which is not only culturally deep-rooted in Pakistan, rather the whole world. Just think of the magnitude of children pornography organized rackets in internet. Anybody who Google such websites becomes part of promoting this hideous crime!
We all Pakistanis and Indians should create awareness, unite ourselves in small groups, taking Mr. Kailash Satyarthi as a role model and eradicate child labor!
We humans have a very selective perception of things in life and perceive only that which has any sense and importance for us, all rest is dark, uninteresting and does not exist for us!
May we all be united in the bond of eternal love and social equality!
@Malatesh:
Don't try to be on moral high ground. This issue was raised and highlighted because it happened in a non BJP. ruled state. Other wise this evil is rampant across all the country more so in Maharashtra and Gujarat but never highlighted. Reason is best known to every one.Apart from this Child labour is an issue existing every where in the world. it's a social menace and need to be tackled sincerely instead of trying to jump with glee by any side since none can claim to be holier than thou.
India is a great nation. They have just reached Mars. They will eradicate child labour too. And female child infanticide, and build toilets, and end abject poverty. It is just a matter of time.
@Malatesh. yes i think it will become a news, i don't know why you think such way for Pakistan
@Test: You did highlight the problem area in your dispensatios.The only thing lacking in Bharati approach is balance.
@Azi:
No one in India claims that it has no problems. Even the Indian PM in his speech on 15th. August spoke about many of India's problems. The difference is that in India one problem after another is prioritized and resolved. So India did get rid of polio for instance. In late 90s India was negotiating with Pakistan for Pakistan to sell electricity to India because Pakistan was electricity surplus and India has a peak deficit of around 13%. today, India's peak deficit has come down to 4.7% and we know what the situation is in Pakistan. Same deal with hunger. In 2004, Malnutrition among children iIndia was higher than Pakistan - now it is lower.
So yes India has problems, the prolems are discussed and resolved by prioritization within budget constraints. In Pakistan, people talking about problems are considered to be unpatrioic and foreign agents.
@ahmed:
Well if you did NOT mean all the money, please know that subsidy budget for the poor takes several forms and runs into tens of thousands of crores of rupees each year. It includes free education, NREGA - which is one job for 100 days per family, food subsidy and much more.
@ahmed: Ahmed sir, 10 year old sweeping the ground before CM function is a big news in India.. That itself shows that our society and media will not tolerate this type of treatment to our children, guilty will be punished soon.. Imagine if same 10 year old girl sweeping the ground for any vip function in Pakistan.. Will it ever became any news? You know better than us....
@Azi: Wow you really didn't spare even a blink to come down to criticism. If this is what you think real India is, then so be it. I am sure and I hope everyone in Pakistan is prosperous and there is no such social evil in Pakistan. I think that is why you are feeling grieved to see the poor in my country. Seriously sweet of you Sir.
The blind poking fun at the deaf......both of us need to grow up.
This is good news for India. More these kinds of things and people behind it are busted and exposed, the better it is for India. It is when you sweep the dirt under the carpet, problem arises. Exposure and transparency brings honesty, self-inspection, and eventually corrective actions.
Where are the self-praising, self-proclaiming shupa powa people now? This is the real India.
@ahmed So GOI should spend all money on social issues like toliets/ child labour and quit spending money on science, research, DRDO, ISRO?
A country is run by balanced approach, every problem is dealt with equal importance and all of them take time. The more important thing to consider here is the attitude, India was serious about Polio and it did it, it's now serious about Child education and employment. It surely will tackle it too.
Namaste.
i wish our and indian gov can spare some billions for these poor people from their defense budget, and people should be ashamed of getting happy on increase of their defense budgets
Child labor has to stop. No progress is good enough if we do not have human life progressing. This ills though relatively less in urban India is more prominent in village sides dominated by those who still believe in castism. These incidents are more prevalent in Northern regions where Thakurism still thrives. with no offense to my brothers from UP, but guys UP needs a serious social overhaul. So does state like Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. There is still rampant social evils such as female feticide, gender discrimination and castism which needs to be curbed and is a huge block for us to throttle ahead from developing to developed nation. Economic development is not the only development by which the development of a nation is measured. Pakistani friends, either you can mock us, or join us to voice concern about such child labor and slave culture which also exists in many south Asian countries including Pakistan. And please do not waste your mind writing about of Mars mission and toilets.