Faces of Bihari child labourers say it all

Date:08/01/2008
Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad

Swathi.V

*Thirteen children rescued from paper recycling unit in city
*The young labourers did not get a single day’s wage so far
*Rs. 600 per month was deducted as food expenses from these workers

PHOTO: SWATHI.V. Innocent victims: The Bihari children rescued from a paper mill on Saturday were sheltered at a home in Petbasheerabad of Medchal. -

HYDERABAD: Weathered faces of 13 Bihari children rescued from a paper recycling unit in the city on Saturday scarcely display signs of playfulness. Having endured utter penury and social discrimination in their native State, they have learnt the ways of the world too early in life. Parents of Mohd.Naushad, 13, are tenant farmers at Pakadia village of Dharbanga district, who do not own even a bullock. His 11-member family includes three brothers and five sisters. Unable to eke out a living, his parents sent Naushad to work in Hyderabad. He was among the contingent of 30 (both children and adults), which reached here six months ago.
Though promised Rs.2,400 a month, these labourers have not received even a day’s wages. “Forced to live inside the factory premises, we worked in a 12-hour shift continuously. There was no respite on Sundays and festivals. Absence due to illness would not be brooked by the management. We did not even have money for return tickets,” Saroj Kumar, another boy relates. Measly meals
They had to cook meals from the ration given by the factory management. Rs.600 per month was to be deducted from their earnings towards food. The children are yet to reconcile to the fact that one among them is dead. Mohd. Shakeel, the boy who died after being hit by the conveyor belt, was a cousin of Naushad.
“My parents were weeping over the phone. They wanted me to come back. I will never come here again,” Naushad says.
All were not as firm, however. “What we earn at home gets dissipated for the daily needs. Only by working outside can we repay the debts and buy some property,” another child Mohan Kumar says with cold practicality. None of them display any intention of ever going to a school. While the parents of a few children arrived from Bihar on Monday, there was no trace of either the mill owner or the Labour