Independent India after 68 years!!

Life at Government School

The first thoughts which comes up in our mind when we talk about "GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS" are " Backward, Poor education, No proper infrastructure, Poverty etc.

Its not really accepted in all the cases, there are schools which are well built with good faculty and facilities.

Though there is a lot of effort to be kept to increase the standards of living and education in Government schools.

As Nelson Mandela said "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Good Education is a birth right for every child.  

We at Human Helping Hands as a part of medical camp made a small documentary on Govt schools to clear the misconceptions over the functioning and facilities of Govt School, it was a privilege to see the activities of these pretty faces of their daily life in school.  These small children with big dreams gave us a brighter meaning of life.

Best part was the drawing competition which made us to see the creative imaginations of these children on the paper.

HYDERABAD'S VIEWS ON CHILD LABOR!!!

A small attempt to find out what hyderabadi's think about child labor and in what way we can eradicate it.

FEMALE FOETICIDE - A Disheartening Act

“ Think before killing a generation. Save a girl child and save the future ”

Female feticide is the selective abortion/elimination of the girl child in the womb itself, done deliberately by the mother, after the detection of the child’s gender through medical means. This is usually done under familial pressure from the husband or the in-laws or even the woman’s parents. Unplanned pregnancy is generally the reason behind abortion. However, female feticide is a far more heinous sin than the age old practice of killing an unwanted child, even before it’s born.

Like many societies around the world, India too is typical in nature. A set hierarchical system prevails in all tiers of the social order. The fanatic obsession with the male sex, though, is one of a kind. Right from the ancient scriptures, one finds instances where men are glowingly praised as the key to continue the family lineage. A girl is forced to undergo multiple pregnancies and (or) abortions, until she fulfills her lifelong goal of being a breeding machine that produces male offspring as per the needs of the family.

While instances of abortion aren’t newsflash in India or any other nation, the cruelty being flaunted in this particular case is, for lack of a better word, horrifying. Many measures are taken to throw light on the brutal underbelly of a supposed sophisticated society. It is a novel venture to voice the injustice that is rampant in the country, and to together as an informed community to abolish such evil acts and take actions against it. Feminine contains alignment with spirit and alignment with divine love. their perpetrators once and for all. They are a gift to the nature.

Reason behind female foeticide :

Preference for the male child:

Elimination/removal of girls from the family tree even before they are born clearly indicates the vehement desire for a boy child. Sons are seen as the main source of income. Even though women today can easily rub shoulders with men, almost in every field they set their mind to, the common misconception still remains that it is the male who will help run the house, and look after his parents

Deteriorated Status of Women:
Males are the stronger sex when it comes to the pecking order in a country, but that does not entail a curbing of rights for women. Rather than whining about the denied opportunities, women should stand up and try to grasp the chances they want for themselves. The worst enemy of a woman is the woman herself. Female feticide happens with the explicit consent of the mother. While most mothers-to be agree to this misdeed out of a sense of duty to the family, there are many who take the initiative themselves.

Foul Medical Ethics:
The opening conversation to this hub satisfactorily covers this point. With the legalization of abortion in India, illegal sex determination and termination of pregnancies has become an everyday reality. The professionals in the medical field are only too glad to help parents realize their dream of a healthy baby boy. Female feticide is openly discussed amongst many in the healing fraternity and even pin boards outside certain clinics read, ‘Pay Rs.500 today to save the expense of Rs. 500 000 in the future’. The initial meager sum is the cost of a pregnancy termination, while the bigger amount specified in comparison, is the expense that the family will be burdened with in the form of dowry for the girl.



This remains a serious issue in today’s world and some serious measures needs to be taken to curb such issues. Each one of us must join hands together against this antisocial activity. Many international and national law making bodies have come forward to stop this cruel practice. Of the numerous steps taken to curb the matter, the prominent ones are:

Cancellation/permanent termination of the doctor’s license who partakes in fulfilling a client’s demand to do away with her girl child.

• Heavy penalty imposed on companies like GE, that specialize in marketing medical equipment used for illegal sex determination and abortion in unlicensed clinics and hospitals.
• High fines and judicial action against ‘parents’ who knowingly try to kill their unborn baby. 
• Widespread campaigns and seminars for young adults and potential parents to enlighten them about the ill effects of female feticide. Ignorance is one of the major causes for the increase in the selective sex abortion cases. Spreading awareness can go a long way in saving our future sisters, mothers and wives. 

A cohesive and concerted effort by everyone can prove to be the requisite baby step in the right direction. We may not support the notion of women rising above men, or them becoming the dominant sex, or conquering the world. However, the basic humane consideration to let an innocent child live and see the world she was conceived to grow in is not too much to ask. Let’s not be murderers of our own flesh and blood.

CHILD TRAFFICKING

A gruesome word disguising a more gruesome activity, child trafficking is best described as an inhuman blight upon the civilized world. To put it in layman terms, children are used as a form of currency for various illegal activities. An apt description would define it as the "recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, and/or receipt" of a child for the purpose of exploitation. It is a rampant activity in many parts of the worlds. And an estimate by the International Labour organisation puts the number at 1.2 million annually. Even though it has been internationally recognised as a major human rights violation, only recently are the efforts to tackle it are becoming prevalent and decisive.

Well, a prominent question that arises is, why? Why is a child drawn into a savage and barbaric world, and his innocence skewered by trauma and suffering? In all cases, the intended use of the child is not always known. But the major objectives of child trafficking would be Forced child labour, child begging. Child labour refers to the employment of children under 14 years. Overall, child labour can take many forms, including domestic servitude, work in agriculture, service, and manufacturing industries.

Forced child begging is a type of begging in which boys and girls under the age of eighteen are forced to beg through psychological and physical coercion. The severity of this form of trafficking is starting to gain global recognition, with the European Union, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the United Nations, among others, beginning to emphasize its pertinence. In many instances children who are forced to beg by third parties are often removed from their families, surrender the majority of their income to their exploiter, endure unsafe work and living conditions, and are at times maimed to increase profits. To ensure that these children are fully lured into this vicious system, children are maimed so that other means of livelihood are closed to them. Furthermore, many of the gangs which run networks of forced begging have heavy drug involvement, thus the children under their control are often turned into drug addicts in order for them to become further reliant on their exploiters.

The children face abuse on a daily basis, which dents their psychological well being and also deteriorating mental and physical health. These children receive little or no education and have little hope for the future. Children who work on the streets typically have little or no knowledge of their rights, leaving them especially susceptible to exploitation both as juveniles and later as adults.

There have been many approaches defined to tackle the issue of child trafficking, but a victim-centered human rights approach to combating trafficking has been internationally renowned as the best possible strategy when addressing this issue, with recourse focusing on punishing the exploiter and rehabilitating the child. In many instances the victims are often punished for unlawful acts performed as a direct result of being trafficked. Also, the victims must be given protection and the exploiters must be prosecuted to truly have any impact. The victims, even though rescued from such a racket, must be provided with a means of sustenance. Even though a person may be rehabilitated, the effect on the mind will be felt throughout his/her life. 

Child Labor in India – A DISCOMFORTING TRUTH!

How many of us actually know “what child labor is?” Child Labor means -Children under 14 years of age, some as young as 4 or 5, toiling hard every day just to get a square meal.

In INDIA, a country with humongous population of 120 crores we often witness situations, involving a 7-year old serving chai/ an 8-year old washing cars/ 12-year old as delivery boys, and yet we conveniently choose to avoid them. Many industries, factories, small retailers and many more employ children to work because this basically gets their work done without burning a hole in their pocket. Just imagine a daily life situation where a 6-7 year old child delivers tea at your office, do you ever think what is his age was and when his last perfect meal was? No. Cause we all are too ignorant. Why do we become inhumane for that moment? Yes, this is a discomforting truth.

Absence of compulsory education at the primary level, parental ignorance regarding the bad effects of child labor, the lack of implementation of child labor laws and penalties, non-availability and non-accessibility of schools, boring and unpractical school curriculum and cheap child labor are the main factors in India which lead to child labor. Indian is home to close 13 million Child Laborers (census 2001). The Indian Constitution says that child labor is a wrong practice and standards should be set by law to eliminate it. The Child Labor Act of 1986 implemented by the government of India makes child labor illegal in many regions and sets the minimum age of employment at 14 years. Exploiters threaten kids in many ways and the child has no way out but to lie to keep his “job.”

UNICEF estimates that India with its larger population has the highest number of laborers in the world less than 14 years of age, while sub-Saharan African countries have the highest percentage of children who are deployed as child labor. Government statistics say that there are 2 crore (20 million) child laborers in India, a country that has ambitions of becoming a global superpower in a few years. Non-governmental agencies assert that the figure is more than 6 crore (60 million) including agricultural workers; some claim that the number could be 100 million, if one were to define all children out of school as child laborers.

In 2013, 920 prosecutions and 596 child labor law convictions took place. In previous years, despite rescue and rehabilitation of child laborers, prosecutions have not always taken place. In cases for which child labor prosecutions were launched, resolution has been unduly delayed because the judicial system is backlogged and overburdened. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines to all state governments on how to handle cases of child trafficking. These guidelines outline the specific steps that police and district officials must take when handling cases of child trafficking and forced child labor. In 2013, the state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Kolkata, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu provided anti-trafficking training to police officers.

Complaints about hazardous child labor can be made through a toll-free helpline, Child Line. In 2013, Child Line expanded to 67 additional cities and now operates in a total of 269 cities across India. After a complaint is received on Child Line (1098), the complaint is given to the police to investigate and rescue children.

Thousands of affluent Indians hire youngsters for household chores and to look after their own kids, under the pretext of providing some money to the parents of the child laborers and of offering a better life than he/she would normally have had. This is Bonded Child Labor. An estimated 14 percent of children in India between the ages of 5 and 14 are engaged in child labor activities, including carpet production.

Many NGOs like Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Care India, Talaash Association, Child Rights and You, etc. have been working to eradicate child labour in India. Looking at a various above-mentioned factors, we at Hcube-Human Helping Hands believe that this grotesque, abysmal, and awful practice of child labor can be eradicated from this Indian Society. We pledge to lend a helping hand to those children and admit these child labors to the nearest orphanages where they’ll be taken care of, and see to it that the person employing them will be punished.

Child abuse (­The hidden demon)

Child abuse is the physical emotional maltreatment or neglect of a child or children. Children in their early years are dependent on adults (Their parents, guardians etc). This makes them vulnerable to various forms of abuse like neglect, physical abuse, psychological or emotional abuse.  Dealing with these types of abuse should be of utmost priority to the governing bodies.

Physical abuse involves physical aggression directed at a child by an adult. Bruises, scratches, burns, broken bones, lacerations, as well as repeated "mishaps," and rough treatment that could cause physical injury, can be physical abuse. Most of the physical abuse occurs as a result of child discipline. Corporal punishment, has since then been considered as degrading treatment by the Human Rights commission of the United Nations. Our culture, unfortunately considers corporal punishment as an effective way of disciplining the child. Though it achieves the temporary goal of making a child obedient, it doesn’t make him understand why. This leads to emotional and physical trauma, which is ultimately degrading to the child.

Emotional abuse is defined as the production of psychological and social defects in the growth of a child as a result of behaviour such as loud yelling, coarse and rude attitude, inattention, harsh criticism, and denigration of the child's personality. This leads to the child distancing himself from the abuser, and trying to fight back against the abuser. All this induces a feeling of helplessness in the child.

 Child neglect is the failure of a parent or other person with responsibility for the child to provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or supervision to the degree that the child's health, safety, and well-being are threatened with harm. Neglecting a child could have serious repercussions on his ability to mingle with people socially and forming relationships.

Child abuse can result in immediate adverse physical effects but it is also strongly associated with associated with developmental issues and with many chronic physical and psychological effects. Also, maltreated children may grow up to be maltreating adults.

Effective ways to address the issue of child abuse is to eradicate child labour. Child labour is considered to be a form of exploitation and abuse of children. Paediatricians can help identify children at risk of maltreatment and intervene with the aid of a social worker or provide access to treatment that addresses potential risk factors such as maternal depression. And also awareness should be spread among adults to ensure that they do not mistreat their children, and ensure that they are not vulnerable, emotionally or physically.

Let it be a responsibility for us to stop the abuse of children, and fight back against the perpetrators of the vilest form of violation of human rights and ensure that this world is made a better place for children to grow and interact in. Let their lives bask in joy and happiness.