Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Children found working at sites, but not listed as employed

— Photo: R.Shivaji Rao

Balaji Pandurangan in the stormwater drain on Eldams Road, where work is on, on Tuesday.

CHENNAI: In the task of retrieving children from labour, there are often many hassles. Not least of them is when the children are found to be working with their families, “helping them” sometimes even in hazardous conditions, according to Labour department officials.

Enforcement officers are stymied when they reach the spot after getting tip-offs about child labour – the child is not listed as ‘employed’ and the family claims he/she is merely helping out. The child is clearly involved in some tasks at the work spot, but the question of “rescuing” the child does not arise, as it would mean separating him or her from the family.

This was the case on Wednesday, when based on a tip-off from The Hindu, Labour Department officials went to Eldams Road, where work on a stormwater drain was on. Two of the three children who were present at the site were earlier spotted by reporters, squatting in the drain and working with the tools. However, when the officials made enquiries, they received the response that they are now used to; one that stops them in their tracks.

Officials told The Hindu that the migrant family contracted to repair the stormwater drain insisted that the children were only accompanying them and that they were not employed. This proved to be the case as the contractor, working for the Chennai Corporation, also proved that there was no employment contract or payment of salary to the children. One of the officers added that the children were probably helping their parents, but it was impossible to separate them from their family. Only a warning could be issued.

Manonmani Pandurangan, one of the workers at the site, said her son, Balaji, who had crawled into the drain with a crowbar, was actually 17 years old, though he “looked younger.” She said that he was there to help his father who had some problems in his wrist. Her other son, 14-year-old Arumugam, who was assisting the adults, she said had skipped school and had come hiding inside the van in which they came. Sathya, aged 12, was another child on the site. Her mother, Rani Chellappan, said that she did not want to leave her alone in the house, and had brought her to the worksite.

The parents said that Arumugam and Sathya were not working and that only the adults were getting paid for the work. Another boy, Pandian, whose parents were not there at the site, said that he was 17 years old. He was getting paid like the other adults. All of them came from Gandhi Nagar, near Anna Nagar, since work on the stormwater drain began about 3 months ago from Panagal Park.

Last month, during the demolition of Rajaratinam Stadium, in Egmore, Raja, 14, was seen wielding a hammer to the debris. However, when the boy was questioned, it turned out that he had come to visit his father who was the caretaker of the place during his holidays from school in Villupuram. His father was also seen repeatedly telling the boy not to get into the work area because he might hurt himself, but Raja would not listen to him. “When I turn the other side, he even drives the earthmover, what am I supposed to do?” he asked.

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