Child Labour in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is an underdeveloped country of the third world. She is beset with lots of problems. Among them, child labour is an acute one. It is because, Bangladesh being an agricultural country, has an alarming rate of population growth. As a result, cultivable land is decreasing to give way to a new residence and other facilities. So, pressure on family income is getting sore. Most families need more and more income to cope up the price hike and they send their children to work instead of sending to school. Today millions of children are engaged in various odd jobs such as working in garments factories, workshops, shops, hotels, bidi factories, battery factories and so on. Even there are thousands of children working as house servants or maidservants. They have to work round the clock without any rest. Child labour is a sin. It is a national disgrace for us. It is an alarming signal too. Today’s children are the future adult people and if a large number of our future adults are oppressed and exploited, we cannot expect anything for the nation. They will grow up with ill health and a very weak personality. The future of our country depends upon the children of today. So, we have to give serious thought to this problem. First of all, the government should stop child labour by the strict application of the law. At the same time, financial help should be made available and all these to be done gradually, in phase. Some NGO and the government are already engaged in a number of programmes to find a way out of this problem. We believe that the days are not too far when Bangladesh will be free from child labour.
Same composition collected from another book
Child labour is very common in Bangladesh. Ours is an agro-based country. A citizen owns a very small plot of land which is not at all sufficient for his existence. As they cannot maintain their families, they are compelled to engage their children in manual work in their very childhood. Most of the children work as domestic servants and maid-servants. Sometimes, they are engaged in making gardens. They have to weed out weeds in the corn fields. Often, they have to tend the cattle. Many children work in workshops. hotels and shops. Sometimes, they have to break bricks and stones. They collect scraps of papers and ply rickshaws at this very early age. They work as street hawkers selling chanachur, nuts and vegetables. Sometimes. they carry building materials and brick on their heads. They work as porters in the platforms of stations. Children have their rights to educate themselves for the preparation for life. We cannot but call child labour a crime. The employers take advantage of their helplessness and minor age. The house owners engage house servants and maid-servants to work from dawn to late hours at night. Children have neither leisure nor recreation. Children are ruthlessly behaved in factories, shops and workshops. Though they work for a longer period, they get less wages. People of all walks of life and the government together should endeavour sincerely to eradicate (সমূলে বিনাশ করা) this problem from our society. Otherwise, this child labour will drag us down to utter degradation.