Monika Bhatia shares her view on slum, mentioning the current scenario of slum dwellers in Bihar. She talks about some serious issues faced by slum dwellers.
Recent estimates by the International Labour Organization ( ILO) state that about 215 million children worldwide are involved in child labour with more than half this number involved in worst forms.
India has an estimated 17 million child workers. According to a report by UNICEF, about 12 percent of children in India aged 5-14 years are engaged in child labour activities, including Rag Picking. Many children start working as Rag Pickers at the young age of 5 years.
The main reason for young children's getting involved in the job of rag picking. Is poverty that the slum families are facing.
It was found out in a study by PRIA under Democratizing Urban Governance : Promoting Participation and Social Accountability, it was revealed that in Patna and Raipur about 26 to 20% of total rag pickers in the city are children of the age 5-14 years, while 40% of the total dump site waste pickers were children, which is a huge percentage.
These are the children who don't have access to education and are subjected to health threats.
It was found out in a study by PRIA under Democratizing Urban Governance : Promoting Participation and Social Accountability, it was revealed that in Patna and Raipur about 26 to 20% of total rag pickers in the city are children of the age 5-14 years, while 40% of the total dump site waste pickers were children, which is a huge percentage.
These are the children who don't have access to education and are subjected to health threats.
Though laws have been made for compulsory education of children upto the age of 14 years, but what we see around ourselves is the reverse conditions wherby children's are forcibly made to work as Rag pickers and child labours and the sole reason behind such happenings are the loopholes existing in our societies like- lack of education, lack of awareness regarding family planning and other plans and programs. Not only this there is no direct contact of slum dwellers with the government which makes their life more miserable.
Therefore, Bihar is considered as one of the poorest states in India and Patna- the State Capital is called city with heaps of garbage, and slum neighborhoods exist right in the heart of the city. House of broken bricks, sheets and rags and cardboard boxes stretched for miles can be seen around.
As a result, we do not have proper development of our state but what we get to see around is a state with lack of basic facilities like sanitation giving rise to excreta related diseases, malnourished, physically stunned and mentally disabled children's.
As a result, we do not have proper development of our state but what we get to see around is a state with lack of basic facilities like sanitation giving rise to excreta related diseases, malnourished, physically stunned and mentally disabled children's.
Though to combat these issues residents of slums around have formed temporary toilets near to their respective households, which is not a permanent solution to the problem.
For bringing a solution to all these problems, what needs to be done is creating awareness among the slum dwellers and making them understand the importance of education in the life of a human being. A connection needs to be established between the government and slum population so that both of them can be aware and informed about the problems faced by each of them.
Communication providing Information and Education is the key solution to the problems faced by the slum
Communication providing Information and Education is the key solution to the problems faced by the slum
dwellers.
Monika Bhatia has done her masters in Mass Communication from Nalanda University. She has worked at Maurya TV as Trainer Scheduler. She loves writing. You can find her on facebook here:
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