The lost children of Vellore

There isn't anything to distinguish Mettuparai from the other villages of Tamil Nadu's Vellore in north Arcot district. It has the same quiet, the same peacefulness and, yes, the same look of deprivation.

But, at the main entry point, you will find something unique. Prominently displayed is a warning which, translated from the native Tamil, roughly reads: 'Anyone who takes our children for bonded labour will be severely penalised.'

More than a decade ago, Mettuparai was one of the several villages which was actively engaged in beedi rolling. The industry was the villagers's mainstay. And the worst casualties, obviously, were the children. They were mortgaged to work long hours by cash-bereft parents who had no option but do that -- for, such was the poverty that plagued the locale.

But now, Mettuparai does not have even a single bonded child worker. And for this transformation, the villagers have the Indian Council for Child Welfare to thank.

In 1985, the ICCW had selected 16 villages in the district for 'adoption' under its Child Labour Relief Project. Mettuparai was one of those.

''Last year, we released 17 children from bonded labour here,'' says ICCW's honoury secretary (Vellore chapter) Tihilagavathy Ramaiah, "When we started work 11 years ago, people used to pledge their children at the slightest difficulty. But not anymore.''

It took years of patient counselling, door-to-door surveys and direct person-to-person appeals to parents and agents alike to yield this promising result.

Researcher Dr R Vidyasagar holds that the north Arcot district is home to some of the most extensive bondage of child beedi rollers in the country. Of the 150,000 beedi workers in the district, an estimated 30,000 to 45,000 are bonded child labourers.

The local administration also claims to have made a mark in efforts to erase the menace. Under the 1995-launched Child Labour Abolition Support Scheme, mothers of bonded children have been motivated to come together and form small self-help groups.

"They are given loans to buy cows," says District Collector Davidar,"They also receive revolving funds to encourage their savings.''

The scheme has also undertaken group housing for families engaged in beedi work. In Perumugai village, for instance, 63 houses have been built for such families. Since July 1996, a non-formal education school -- with 29 students -- has also been functioning there.

But unfortunately, the children continue to roll beedis at home. "There is not much we can do about it,'' says Davidar ''But at least we have got them out of the contractor-mortgage nexus.''

Though the children are encouraged to pursue further education, many parents press them to work. The logic is simple: what guarantee is there that the child will get employment if he earns a bachelor or masters degree?

Ramaiah says though her organisation has been instrumental in freeing many children from bondage, preventing them from working at home is a different matter altogether. Of the 800 children attending ICCW's 13 night schools, 350 work at home.

The Working Women's Forum, a nationally renowned union of women workers in the informal sector, has also been making inroads into this area -- they have launched night schools for children and credit schemes for mothers. The WWF project covers 160 areas in Vellore.

''Our project began in December 1983,'' says the credit-in charge Shiv, "There are 38,172 women enrolled in the scheme, but only 16,500 are credit members.''

A 1997-survery undertaken by the WWF identified 134 bonded child laborers in its area of operation in Tamil Nadu. As the credit scheme has its financial limitations, liberating all the labourers look a mammoth task.

Seventeen-year-old Vasantha's plight is a case in point. Mortgaged by her mother Rani when she was 12 for Rs 2,000, the girl has been rolling beedi ever since. For 14 hours every day. Thanks to the exorbitant rates of interest prevalent in such dealings, the initial amount has mounted to Rs 10,000 now.

''How can I ever get such a large amount,'' Rain asks, ''The credit society will give me a maximum loan of Rs 3,000. Where will I get the remaining money?''

Child workers are mostly engaged in rolling beedi, sorting and sticking on labels. Though rates vary at different units, the children generally get Rs 2 for every 1,000 beedis they roll or label. On an average day, a child would roll around 2,000 beedis.

Which means he earns all of Rs 4 for 14 hours of labour!

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