This afternoon, while jogging in the park, my attention was drawn to a little child playing there. She wore very dirty clothes, yet exuded a captivating beauty. The thought crossed my mind: why is she here? Why isn’t she in school? I immediately posed this question to my jogging companion, who remarked that their life is destined to be that way, beyond change. This response fueled my anger—why can’t we do anything?
Coming from Tamil Nadu, where I haven’t witnessed children begging for food, the prevalence of such scenes in Delhi perplexes me. One day, on my way to college, I encountered a begging child. Upon asking about her mother’s whereabouts, she pointed to a spot where her mom was begging. When I questioned the mother about not sending her child to school, she replied that she couldn’t afford it and emphasized that education would hinder their ability to earn. This revelation shook me to the core. The incident replayed in my mind as I observed the little girl in the park, her uncertain future flashing before my eyes.
In light of these experiences, I pose haunting questions:
Do we live in a country with laws against child labor, yet its capital city is rife with child labor?
Is ours a country where compulsory education up to the age of 14 (Article 21 A) is inaccessible for many students?
In a country awarded the Nobel Prize in 2014 for children’s causes, why do numerous children still roam the streets without basic amenities?
Can the state government’s claim of being the best government align with its inability to find solutions for these children?
Finally, can we genuinely consider ourselves a developing country when we exclude the basic rights of these vulnerable people?