Child Labour

Child Labour

There seems to be no end in sight to the sordid saga of child labour.

It's a haunting, jagged reality.Picture the scene: Children lying on the roads. Their small frames curled into the asphalt or dust, not out of rest, but out of sheer exhaustion...

They are ghosts of a supply chain, their bodies bucking under the weight of th sacks they carry out of mere forced labour.

A child should hold a book, not a weight on his shoulders. As of early 2026, despite significant long-term reductions since 2000, nearly 138 million children—roughly 1 in 12 worldwide—remain trapped in child labour, with the global community having missed its 2025 target to eliminate the practice.

Of this total, approximately 54 million children, or nearly 40%, are engaged in hazardous work that directly threatens their health, safety, and moral development. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the global total with 87 million children in child labour. Agriculture continues to be the dominant sector, employing 61% of all child labourers, often within family-based, informal, and unregulated settings. While boys are generally more prevalent in paid labor, girls are often disproportionately involved in hidden, unpaid domestic work, highlighting a gender-disguised crisis that, combined with the impact of conflict and poverty, requires accelerating current progress by 11 times to achieve total elimination.

When the society is clearly aware of this dilemma, then why is it neglecting it?

The little newspaper seller on the road, barely of 7 years of age, is forced to ride his rickety bicycle to each and every household on the lane. Even if the child is a minute late, he is beaten by the so-called "upper class" people while his parents simply watch without action. He is neclected his dues and is ignored.

It is not the 18th century.

It is not when the Britishers arrived in India and turned the children below the poverty line into slaves.

37% of people in India (with a population of 1.4 billion people) are born without a silver spoon. Yet the society still refuses to give them one. Why?

The female midden picker is a victim of abuse.

She is not earning enough money for food. Wearing tattered clothes and sleeping in a damp, dirty , self constructed hut. The blank look of helplessness on her face when she is forced by her own parents to carry heavy, disgusting bags of garbage on her back, ruining her posture and making her a prey of dieases; at 5 in the morning and working for 12-16 hours as slaves at the mere age of 8 is heartbreaking

We as humans are evil. Children working as street vendors have no one to look after them and are often brutally run over by vehicles and are left limp and lifeless. We make news on this topic yet do nothing to support it. We watch news on this topic yet shed no tears.If this continues, we will be seeing children huddled on the road at night, with the only light being the street lamp.

Wil there ever be freedom of choice? Will there ever be genuine care? Will there ever be acceptance? Will there ever be an end to these hellish circumstances of child labour? Will there ever be happiness?