Child labour is very common in Bangladesh. Ours is an agro-based country. A citizen owns a very small plot of land which is not at all sufficient for his existence. As they cannot maintain their families, they are compelled to engage their children in manual work in their very childhood. As a matter of fact, our poor socio-economic condition is one of the main reasons behind child labour.
Most of the children work as domestic servants and maid servants. Sometimes they are engaged in making gardens. They have to weed out weeds in the corn fields. Often they have to tend the cattle. It is very pathetic that sometimes children are found engaged in risky jobs.
Many children work in workshops, hotels and shops. Sometimes they have to break bricks and stones. They collect scraps of papers and ply rickshaws at this very early age. They work as street-hawkers selling chanachur, nuts and vegetables. Sometimes they carry building materials and brick on their heads. They work as porters in the platforms of stations. All these works they do are inhuman. These works are no how suitable for children.
Children have their rights to educate themselves for the preparation of life. We cannot but call child labour a crime. The employers take advantage of their helplessness and minor age. The house owners engage house-servants and maid-servants in work from dawn to late hours at night. Children have neither leisure nor recreation.
Children are ruthlessly behaved in factories, shops and workshops. Though they work for a longer period, they get less wages. They are seriously deprived of all rights they deserve. Moreover they are treated brutally.
People of all walks of life and the government together should endeavour sincerely to eradicate this problem from our society. Otherwise this child labour will drag us down to utter degradation.
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