Rajasthan accounts for nearly 10% of the total
child labour in the country with Jaipur alone having more than 50,000 child
labourers in the age group of 5-14 years. The state stands third after UP and
Andhra Pradesh as far as child labourers are concerned.(TOI, Mar 12, 2013)
One in every 11
children in India is working. (Mint, Jun12, 2015)
More than half of the 5.5 million working children in India are
concentrated in five states—Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra. (Mint, Jun12, 2015)
56% of the working
adolescents are no longer studying. And 70% of those in hazardous conditions
are not studying. (Mint, Jun12, 2015)
...........................................................................................................
“Bhatta basti in Jaipur is notorious for child labourers who work
on lac bangles within their households. Most of the adult members are either jewelers
or unskilled labourers. Substance abuse among children and adolescents is high.
Dropouts are common as children become workers early on in life”, says Magic
Bus’ Neelima, who is in charge of the programme here.
There are 500 children in the Magic Bus programme in Bhatta basti.
Do they go to school?
“Yes. A few of them work in household industries like
bangle-making, but they also go to school. Initially, when children came for
the sessions, they used foul language and were into substance abuse. This has
changed considerably. Our work is a challenging one. Consider this: If a child
spends two hours in the sessions learning the importance of education and the
disadvantages of substance abuse, she also spends the rest of her time in the
community where substance abuse is the ‘style’, with every other child being
compelled to work than study. Therefore, we also work with parents, caregivers,
community members, institutions within the community to ensure that a child
does not lose out on her formative years”.
Such is Bhatta basti. It looks a bit different from the shanties
that dot the landscape of megacities like Delhi or Mumbai. There are rows of pucca houses here – with exposed red
bricks and high ceilings. Many houses have no roof. An open drain underlines
the sorry state of hygiene in the area. People who call Bhatta basti home are
largely from a single community engaged in bangle-making, stone-cutting, and
tailoring.
Let’s walk along the meandering, narrow lanes of Bhatta basti
along a partially hilly landscape to hear the story of a 19-year-old who lives
in the area and whose story wants to be told.
“Which
class are you in?”
Chances
are, almost all of us have been asked this question at least once, or sometimes
more than once, during our lifetimes.
 |
| Mohsin Farukhi |
For
Mohsin Farukhi, this was a question he had carefully avoided since he was 13
and stopped going to school. “My father worked as a stone-cutter in a nearby
shop. My elder brother joined him after he finished his seventh standard because
we were in desperate need of money. My younger brother failed in the eighth
standard and started work at a local watch repair shop. My father stopped going
to work once both my brothers started earning. When they got married and had
their own children, they could barely spare any money to support the family. My
elder brother earns Rs. 7000 a month while my younger brother makes Rs. 8000.
This is why my parents started putting pressure on me to start working”,
explains Mohsin. Consequently, he dropped out in the seventh standard and started
assisting in a shoe shop where he was paid Rs 5 for working 12 hours in a day.
“My father dropped me to my first workplace. I could never tell him how much I
wanted him to drop me to a school instead”, Mohsin looks away as he shares the
memories of his first day at work.
He
didn’t stick to his first job for long. He soon made friends in the
neighbouring stores and found out a different place to work with better pay. “I
realised one thing: there will always be jobs available for children like us
because we can be paid less and made to work more”. While Mohsin worked for
longer hours in jobs that did not interest him, his father started working as a
priest (locally called mohzim) in a dargah. His mother is a homemaker.
 |
| Mohsin with his mother |
With
three of their children working and two of them married with children, the
family decided to build a pucca house
in a different locality. So, they shifted to Bhatta basti area. “We could only
afford a pucca house near an open
drain. Its stench is unbearable on most days, but we are used to it. Sometimes
it overflows, but we have learnt to live with that too”, Mohsin shares.
Three
years ago, Mohsin came to one of Magic Bus’ sessions. He was 16 then.
Having
never had the time to play, Mohsin took a strong liking to the activity-based session.
“The person leading the session sat us down in a circle and asked how many of
us went to school. I saw several hands in the air, and ran away”, he recounts.
Sarfaraz,
who was conducting the session that day, saw Mohsin leave in a hurry and
decided to find out more about him. He called upon him the next day while he
was leaving for work. Mohsin confided in him his eagerness to learn. “If you
want to go to school, who is stopping you?”, Sarfaraz asked. Mohsin explained
his situation. That day, Sarfaraz left Mohsin with a hope, “You can still
study. I will help you get re-enrolled”. The support he was looking for came to
him in the form of a mentor he could trust.
 |
| Mohsin with Sarfaraz |
When
Sarfaraz spoke to Mohsin’s parents, he found out about the abject condition
they were in. “Without Mohsin working, how would we manage to make ends meet? I
have no income option at all”, Mohsin’s father said. Sarfaraz approached an NGO
and mobilised funds for Mohsin’s education. Mohsin negotiated with his father
to allow him to go back to school in return of working to support the family.
After
a period of three years, Mohsin went back to school. He got enrolled in the
tenth standard in a private school. “He was concerned about which class to get
enrolled in. “I don’t look like a boy from the seventh standard. Everyone would
make fun of me in school”, he would say. We consulted the teachers at the private
school and got him enrolled in the tenth standard”, recalls Sarfaraz.
Mohsin’s
challenges were far from over. “I found the lessons difficult. After all these
years, I found it difficult to concentrate. It was exhausting to work and study
simultaneously”, he shares.
Unfortunately,
He failed the tenth examination. “His parents persuaded him to discontinue
education. They didn’t think it was a worthy investment. But, Mohsin persisted
in his attempts. And, of course, we stood by his decision”, says Sarfaraz.
Today,
Mohsin has completed his 12th standard. He aspires to become a nurse
because getting a MBBS degree would be too expensive for him. “I am, by far,
the most educated in my family. My parents never went to school and my brothers
dropped out. I don’t want to stop here. I want to study further and work in
dignity”, he shares.
 |
| Mohsin |
Regardless
of the final destination, Mohsin inspires us to continue doing our work with
the same unflinching determination.
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