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Kathmandu Wednesday February 21, 2001 Falgun 10, 2057.
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Disgusting comment
Recently, I read a news report entitled
"Nepal to be free from child labour" in your newspaper. The participants in a
seminar held at Biratnagar pledged that they would be able to free Nepal from child labour
within five years. It was a very interesting piece of news report. Many a time the
so-called intellectuals and leaders have pledged to free Nepal from child labour, economic
burden, poverty and what not. Unfortunately, nothing fruitful has come up even after a
decade of restoration of democracy. Instead, the number of street children is increasing
at an alarming rate.
This is nothing but a disgusting pledge (not
impossible) of our bureaucrats and policy makers. They have not seen children actually
struggling for a few pieces of food. Thousands of hungry street children roam around the
capital in search of plastics or some trace of food. In the process, they are often bitten
by dogs and die of rabies on the streets. Passers-by kick them and some even snatch their
belongings. During winters, they literally freeze to death. They have no protection from
cold. Yet, our leaders and intellectuals have not noticed such a nasty ordeal. When can
they see and think of this? They drive expensive Pajeros and Prados, they drop their
children to expensive schools and talk of liberating the country from child labour in
seminars only. Is not this disgusting?
People attending 2-3-day long seminars will
never be able to solve the problem because the root of the problem is not among the
so-called leaders but among the citizens- citizens like you and me.
Sanjit B Pradhananga
Class Eight
St Xavier’s School |
