Chennai: Children love going to school

Chennai: Ever wondered how the life of child bonded labourers is after the rescue? Traumatic, horrible and not bearable, say social workers working closely with the rescued children.

“It is a very challenging task to even make the kids realize that education is important. But the actual issue starts once that is done as 80 per cent of the kids drop out just weeks after they join the school,” said Solomon Antony, social worker, International Justice Misiion (IJM).

He further added that one of the common reasons for the dropout is that kids often feel ‘ashamed’ when their classmates call them by their caste. In a village set up, it is considered very demeaning. Coupled with teachers doing the same at times, things turn worse.

Another issue is that, most often, half their childhood, they spend being a bonded labour before starting schooling. Mostly, communities do not allow girls to continue school after they attain puberty. So, almost 98 per cent of the girls end up getting educated for not more than five years.

Most importantly, the ordeal that the kids go through while they are a bonded labour mentally weakens them.  However, at times the stories post rescue can also be happy. 

Saritha in school now
Saritha (name changed) was approximately seven years old when she worked along with her parents in Hakkim Bai Wood Cutting and Charcoal Making Unit in the district of Tiruvannamalai.

She came to work along with her parents when they borrowed an advance of just Rs 5,000 from owner Hakim Bai to conduct the funeral of her grandfather. For the advance they borrowed, they were made to work long hours at the worksite, cutting and stacking logs of wood through the week.

For all their hard work there were paid a meagre wage of Rs 100 to Rs 200 per week for the entire family. The owner took them to different villages to work but the labourers were constantly watched and made to stay at the worksite.

Kavitha and her younger brother Prakash, approximately six years at that time also worked with their parents to repay the advance for which they were not paid anything at all. For all the work they did, they were unsure if they were repaying their advance and could not track since the owner confiscated their account books. They did not have enough to eat even one meal a day.

Kavitha says a lot of nights she went to bed hungry. She just drank water to fill her empty stomach and went to sleep. She also mentioned, “My parents begged the owner to enroll me in a school but he asked me to collect wood and graze goats”. She spent very little time playing around.

The district administration rescued Kavitha and the rest of the labourers towards the end of last year. When the district administration questioned the labourers, they were disturbed and very incoherent in their stories. It was then the Revenue Divisional Officer called Kavitha to listen to her version of the story. Kavitha unhesitatingly and boldly narrated her day at the work site and answered all the questions asked by the RDO in the most genuine manner. This moved the RDO’s heart to see the occupational hazards and the childhood robbed of her.

The RDO immediately issued released certificates and also gave out the much-needed government entitlements that helped Kavitha enroll in a local school in her native village and continue her education so she can chase her dream.

Prashanth wants to become collector 
Prashanth (name changed), the second born in a family of eight, was caught in a cycle of generational bondage. He was born inside the rice mill where his father Yelumalai and grandfather Selvam worked to pay off the advance they had borrowed from the owner of the Shakunthala Ammal Rice Mill. Yelumalai said that he had worked in the same rice mill all his life; he had been born there and began working when he was just a child. He had even married his wife Selvi at the mill and all his six children-Malar, Prashanth, Kaveri, Prakash, Raja and Vaidehi-had been born within the confines of the mill.

As Prashanth grew up, he was sent to a school nearby. He used to attend school during the day and worked in the evenings, sweeping the kalam. His older sister Malar also worked at times to replace their sickly mother, who was often unable to work.

When he was in his sixth grade, the owner stopped Prashanth from attending school and he was made to work full time. His job was to sweep the kalam on which the rice was dried. He also helped his parents in the drying process. He would spread the grains out for drying, using his feet and other tools. He would then gather the rice together and pack it into sacks. He also had to stitch up the sacks of rice, load them into a cart, and push the cart before stacking the bags in a room.

The owner prevented him from playing or resting. As kids, they would jump on the sacks of rice and when the owner noticed it, he would beat them. During festivals, the owner never allowed his parents to leave the mill nor gave them money to celebrate. They had to stay inside the mill and continue working.

During Deepavali, Prashanth remembers that they did not have new clothes or money to cook something different than the rice gruel they ate twice every day. The owner and his family would celebrate by lighting up the dark sky with fireworks and bursting crackers, while the kids stared longingly at their joyous faces. Deepak yearned for the day when he could do what he wanted to without anyone controlling his day-to-day activities. After a long time, freedom finally found its way to them.

The district administration along with IJM, came to their rescue. Prashanth and his family were given release certificates and an initial rehabilitation amount of Rs 1,000 for each RC issued.

After his release, Prashanth has been able to attend school regularly in his native place, along with his other siblings. He loves his class 7 teacher, Manickam who inspires him to do well in his studies.

The teacher has explained to him the responsibilities that come with his ambition of becoming a collector. This has pushed him to remain focused on his studies. He says with pride that when he becomes a collector, he will be able to take care of everybody, irrespective of class, caste or creed. Prashanth is now a very happy little boy with big ambitions, looking forward to a future that is bright and stable.

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