Driving or working as a helper of locally mechanized transport ‘Leguna’ is seemed to be a feasible career for many children migrated in the city for survival of their own and families.
Twelve year old Bipul Chandra Saha, son of Polash Chandra Saha of Barisal, is one of them who is working as a Leguna helper in the capital to eke out his livelihood from the job for food and education.
Bipul, a student of Class-IV in a primary school in Mohakhali works everyday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. hanging up at the rear of passenger vehicle called ‘Leguna’, on Farmgate to Mohakhali route. He collects fare from the passengers and earns TK 200 to 300 a day.
Talking to this correspondent Bipul said his mother died when he was only two years. His father did not marry again to bring up his only child. But unfortunately he also fell sick after few years. Now as the only earning member of the family Bipul needs to look after his father.
“I go to school in the morning and return from the school at 9.30am. I do my homework at the classroom with the help of other students. I cannot go to the school every day as my father fell sick frequently due to his illness,” Bipul said adding that despite the trouble, he is continuing his education after overcoming the hurdles of hard and risky job.
Advocate Manzill Murshid, president of Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) said that the government should support the families like of Bipul to get their children back to school as at least 30 percent of children drop out before getting through Class V and is forced to enter any job.
Morshed also emphasized on increasing awareness on child labour and taking legal action against individuals and institutions employing the children in risky jobs.
As per a 2003 Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) survey, 78 lakh children were engaged in economic activities in Bangladesh, out of which 32 lakh are child labourers and 13 lakh are involved in hazardous work. Among the child workers, 17.4 percent are working in the capital city.
State Minister for Women and Children Meher Afroz Chumki said people employ children because of their cheap labour and they cannot bargain. Poverty, social norms and practices and lack of education remain as main causes of child labour, she noted.
She urged the NGOs to work with the government to find alternate ways for 6.5 lakh children now working in nine hazardous sectors in Dhaka particularly in leather and chemical factories, stone breaking, motor garages and wielding activities, hotels and restaurants, and book binding.
A 2007 survey of Unicef and ILO showed that 4.2 lakh children in the country were domestic workers and 83 percent of them are girls. According to a National Child Labour Survey in 2013, around 3.4 million children who are engaged in perilous to maintain their lives.
