Underage labour in garments sector

THOUGH the labour law specifically prohibits children under the age of 18 to be used as labourers, a very large number of them are reportedly engaged in the garments sector. With little government oversight, it is not surprising to see children between ages 10 and 18 working long hours. The bulk of these children are brought to the city prior to Eid festivities to toil away at workshops which hold the lure of some fast cash and the promise to learn a new trade.
In the sweatshop-like conditions such 'work' may easily be described as modern day slavery. The argument that employing underage children provides financial gain for impoverished families also does not hold good in the face of little or as in many instances 'no pay' for children who have no say in the terms of their employment.
The sad reality is that there is no monitoring by government agencies as to how many such children are employed. Depriving them of education means that they grow up without an opportunity to enter the formal job sector. It is high time that the ministry of labour gets its act together to enforce the law and stop professing ignorance of a matter that is reaching alarming proportions.