There are many social and cultural issues in Pakistan. If you look around you in the streets, in the footpath, in the towns, in the villages, in the cities and in the provinces, you will see hundreds of issues that need to be addressed. In these cases, some are important while others are less important. As a good nation, we must all play our part in minimizing and resolving these issues. In my modest view of point, the worst problem in these is Child Labor.
Child labor is a trend in which young children are forced to work in restaurants, hotels, workshops, auto shops, factories and even shops, either because of their families or because of their economic situation. The government is working hard to address this issue, and its Department of Labor is constantly working on it and playing a key role in minimizing child labor.
Almost every busy street, bazaar, mall and even Chuck's is full of children, both girls and boys, begging in different ways. Some are selling stationery while others are selling masks and books. In the name of God, we help them by buying these things and sometimes by refusing to buy goods but we give them good money.
In addition, 8-10 year olds or even less in age are standing at every traffic signal, holding bottles of soapy water and brushing to clean car windows. When you stop at any traffic signal, they jump on the vehicle's safety pad and clean / wash the mirrors without your permission. Some of the drivers refused to clean the mirror, but most of us let them. As a reward, we give them 10-50 rupees. It is also very dangerous and deadly.
In my area, a family comes daily mother having two sons on wheelchair around 10:00 AM, both sons are disable. She stay there around 7:00 to 8:00 pm. She forcibly stops every car, bike and other automobile driver and asks them for help. Many of them gave her several amount of money. I think, she collects around 1000-1500 in just 8-9 hours daily. I saw several time that her brothers are walking on street without wheelchair, and his wheelchair was parked in a nearby area.
How to stop Child Labor?
How can we stop it? It is the responsibility of both. We as a people and a government. The government is playing a small role in this but not honestly. In some areas they are blocking these activities while in others they are not doing their job effectively. The police raid them once a month, but in a matter of hours, we get the children back to work.
Why do we compensate these children as beggars, sellers or washers, we have to decide not to give them and their companions a single rupee under any circumstances. We have to discourage them. Their servants (perhaps their parents) find it easy to make a lot of money using these children.
Secondly, we have to report such businesses and beggars to the police station. In addition, it is very easy to go and register a complaint on the Citizen Portal. Each of us has a mobile, so you can take a picture or video of them and share it only on the Citizen Portal and mention the correct road, place, town and union council so the relevant authority in your area should be held responsible.
The government will have to take drastic steps in this regard. For example, the police officer of that area gets suspended if a kite is seen flying in its area. The same principle applies to child labor and child begging. Relevant government officers should be severely punished, not by replacing them but by terminating their services. Not only high rank officer but also less staff. The parents of such a child should be punished, and in terms of business, they should also be fined heavily. Even their license must be suspended or revoked indefinitely.