Karnataka - Bangalore

Her lessons are on the busy roads

— Photo: K Gopinathan

Vasudeva Sharma, chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee, with the child worker rescued by the police and Makkala Sahaya Vani near BRV Circle in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Bangalore: The little girl is eight and says she is in the third standard.

However, what she carries is not her satchel and water bottle but a stack of newspapers.

Her world is not the classroom and the playground but the busy road on which she dodges Bangalore’s chaotic traffic.

She risks her life every minute trying to sell copies of the eveninger, Sanje Vani, to motorists on Cubbon Road near the BRV Parade Grounds, one of the busiest junctions in the city.

She was rescued by the Makkala Sahayavani Wednesday afternoon.

Vasudeva Sharma, chairperson, Child Welfare Committee (CWC), told The Hindu that he spotted two children, aged well below 14, selling the papers at the busy junction.

“I called Makkala Sahayavani and asked them to come right away and rescue the children,” he said.

The Commercial Street police, who received information from Makkala Sahayavani, came to the junction and tried to question child, who had begun to wail in fright after seeing the lawmen.

“Please let me go. I promise not to come here again,” she kept imploring them.

The girl claimed to be a student at a government school in Vasantnagar and that a man named Rajanna had asked her to sell the papers.

Later, she changed her story saying it was her mother who had asked her to sell the papers. “I go to school. Today, my mother asked me not to go and gave me the papers,” she said.

Her brother, a fourth standard student, fled after spotting the police jeep.

Mr. Sharma, who had spoken to the girl earlier, said that the two children were from Gulbarga district.

“Their case is indicative of the failure of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in ensuring all children are educated. We will now have to see if this child is a dropout,” he said.

There were many people who bought the paper from these youngsters yet no one seemed to think it was the wrong place for children to be in the first place.

“It is because of public apathy that children continue to work in hazardous conditions. The public must call Makkala Sahayavani (1098) and help us bring children back into the folds of education,” he said.

It is pertinent to note that although Makkala Sahayavani came to the spot and rescued the child, it took almost two hours for the helpline to respond.

The helpline, which ideally should function round-the-clock, works during fixed hours.

The reason: it is seriously short-staffed.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu