MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): Muzaffarabad child labour is a harrowing issue, as thousands of children are forced into labour due to poverty and unemployment, with the administration, authorities, and NGOs failing to intervene despite existing laws prohibiting child labour.
International regulations against child labour do not stop thousands of children in Muzaffarabad from being bound to perform exhausting labour to survive. Many young children perform difficult labour with no assistance from authorities or NGOs in hotel work and roadside stalls as well as workshops and garbage collection sites.
United Nations (UN) is very elaborate about how devastating, damaging and grievous the issue of child labour is throughout the world. However, in Pakistan, it is normal to see children running to do the labour work with sacks on their backs instead of school bags. It is condemned by the law, but the laws have been made and not implemented effectively.
Although the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly has outlawed child labour practices the existing laws are unable to prevent the widespread mistreatment of children. Schoolchildren are commonly observed collecting garbage for sale alongside their work at roadside stands which they perform under difficult working environments.
The situation becomes disturbing because it appears the ruling government along with administrative bodies and law enforcement agencies act without addressing the problem. The officials send their children to expensive educational institutions but deny poor and innocent children of the area their right to learn while they work tirelessly to survive.
The substantial financial support numerous NGOs receive yearly for their child rights and welfare activities has produced minimal outcomes. Organisations conduct their activities by hosting hotel-based seminars instead of addressing child labour problems directly. The children of Karachi maintain their labour duties at different shops welding workshops hotels and residential establishments throughout the metropolis.
The Department of Education within Azad Kashmir continues to make extensive promises regarding child enrollment in schools yet fails to adopt meaningful actions for actual implementation. The workforce of large shopping malls in Muzaffarabad includes underage children who perform labour tasks.
Children in the region perform long shifts of labour because unemployment combined with inflation and economic poverty drives them to support their families while also providing for themselves. Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq frequently discusses state justice and merit but has failed to find a solution for these innocent children’s problems.
These children face an uncertain future because authorities fail to enforce laws properly and NGOs do not take effective action combined with government officials who show no care.
