Child labour at its worst
Munir Uz Zaman / Driknews
The headline of the 13th September issue of The Daily Star 'Prisoners of ropes' caught my attention and I can not help but write this piece. It's pathetic and heartbreaking to know from that news report that minor boys are toiling hard at the rope factories in the outskirts of Keraniganj to earn livelihood. The worst is that they are subjected to inhuman physical labour and are burdened with making coils of rope, carrying huge sacks of bobbins etc without having any protection gear at all. They almost work 12 hours a day for a meagre income. At this age when they should have been enrolled at educational institutions for study, they have been engaged in such barbaric tasks. It speaks about the fate of these ill-fated children. There are many such kids here in our country who are being engaged at various workshops and enduring great hardship to support their family and it a known fact to everybody. It seems that our government and the policy makers bother little about these children. It's understandable that the government is burdened with 'Huge' tasks but at least it should look at the plight of these children. We don't expect our government to solve all the existing problems which the 'Adults' of these country are going through but at least it can pay attention to the needs of the poor children who are subjected to such harsh treatment at workplaces due to poverty. Without educating these poor children and ensuring their basic rights, how could this government expect to build the cherished 'Digital Bangladesh?'
I would urge the honourable prime minister to take some concrete measures for these poverty stricken children without further ado. Am I asking too much?
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