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Child Labor cannot be eradicated as long as our society continues to view employment of children as a "not-so-serious" offence. A large majority of our population feel that it is a "social-service" to employ children as they come from very poor families who do not have any means to support their basic survival. Most of these children are orphans without any support system.

Changing the attitude of a society as a whole towards Child Labor is not easy. Educating the society may reduce to some extent the number of people who employ children, but that will not solve the problem. This will only reduce the number of avenues for children to get employed and they might end up being victims and perpetrators of physical abuse.

Why do children work at the first place? It is because our children do not have any alternative support system that takes care of them, when their parents / benefactors abandon them. We need a government that supports all underprivileged children, by taking care of their basic survival needs including education. This is easily possible for any government, provided there is a strong will to support at the first place.

The alternative support system should provide for the below necessities
1. Food, clothing, shelter and education with a monthly stipend to those children who do not have any support from their family / any benefactor.
2. Education with a monthly salary to those children who are part of a family without the means to pursue education.

In the first point above, we have considered a solution for those children who do not have a family / benefactor to support them. These children are forced to work purely to survive. Hence, if the base survival necessity is taken care by an alternative body like the government or an NGO* then a monthly stipend tied up with their education should ensure that they do not engage themselves in employment.

In the second point, we have considered a solution for those children who have a family / benefactor to support them. These children are forced to work by their family members to supplement the family income. Hence, if the government or an NGO* provides a monthly salary to these children which is tied up to their education, then the probability of these children getting into employment is remote.

Both the above schemes require hands-on supervision by a dedicated team of professionals who ensure the safety of these children and their regular upkeep.

*NGO = Non Government Organization who engage in Social / Community Service.

Learn more about this author, Raghu Menon.
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