— Two leaves and a Bud (continued from part-1) Free English rendering : Arun Chavan Original Marathi by : Anuradha Bhosale Akshay’s granny is no longer working for a living. Age has finally caught up with her. For the past two years she is more or less tied to her hovel. I was able to persuade Saurabh […]
Pariah By Association Part 2
September 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Original Marathi by: Anuradha Bhosale English rendering: Arun Chavan For a long time the nethermost deprived sections of society were not taken notice of by the economic planners of the country. Now we are in the XII five year plan period and the 66th year of independence. Yet the special development needs of these sections, which mainly comprise nomadic […]
Pariah By Association
September 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Anuradha Bhosale continues with another story of life and the struggle to bring a better life to the nomadic children of Kolhapur India…. There was a bit of controversy about the prevalence of child labour in Kolhapur district. When I enquired of the concerned wing of the district administration about the incidence of child labour […]
Hoping Against Hope
September 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In 2005 we received heavy showers within a short time span. Kolhapur’s main river, Panchganga and its major tributary, Bhogawati, burst their banks and flooded vast areas. That year is particularly memorable for me and my co-workers because our fledgeling residential school for deprived children near the river’s high floodline at Donawade village got severely damaged. We had at that time 23 […]
Miracles Rising In Kolhapur!
August 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As GWEI president and founder, Dr. Arun Gandhi, has stated: “It is a sad commentary on our civilization that millions of children all over the world are denied basic amenities like, food, shelter, clothes and education. If civilization is measured by the way it treats its children then we are far from being a civilized […]
All children deserve a beautiful childhood
August 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Source: DNA Mumbai Sixty-five years after Independence, millions of Indian children are yet to be freed from the bondage of malnutrition, child labour, lack of education and child abuse. Their wait to enjoy their childhood and realize their full potential seems to be getting longer with every passing anniversary of our Independence. A look at […]
The Bandit Queen* of the Social Movement
July 30, 2012 by 2 Comments
Guest post by: Dr. Sunilkumar Lavate, Principal, Mahaveer College, Kolhapur *[EDITOR’S NOTE: India’s previous ‘Bandit Queen’, Phulan Devi (at right), was a seasoned bandit of north India. An ordinary village woman, she was abducted by outlaws and raped. She escaped and turned herself into a ‘bandit queen’ and avenged all of her assailants. After undergoing […]
Bangladesh Child Laborers: Victims of apathy and neglect
July 8, 2012 by 1 Comment
Bangladesh's child population (under 18), comprising 45% of the total population are virtually unnoticed. They are vast untapped wealth that could be turned into effective manpower. Born mostly of poor parents, the male children supplement the meager income of the parents, while most female children in urban areas work as domestic help. A big number […]
Nestle Child Labor Violations Continue After a Decade of Promises
July 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Chocolate maker Nestle has AGAIN been accused of failing to carry out checks on child labour and other abuses in part of its cocoa supply chain. A report by an independent auditor, the Fair Labor Association (FLA), says it found "multiple serious violations" of the company's own supplier code. Nestle signed an agreement in […]
Anuradha on the Plight of India’s Impoverished Children
May 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Ms. Anuradha Bhosale graduated from the Tata School of Social Sciences and decided to educate children living in the slums of Kolhapur, 200 miles south of Bombay (Mumbai). She found that the children could not come to a school because they had to work during the day to supplement the parent's income. Note: THIS is […]
New Delhi child slave scandal is an outrage!
April 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Last week, a 13-year-old maid was found screaming on a balcony after the couple she worked for locked her in the apartment while they went on vacation. The girl was sold to a job placement agency by her uncle and worked for the two doctors for free while being underfed and beaten. UNICEF reports India […]
Anuradha Bhosale rescues child laborers and rehabilitates them
January 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Jeevaba Nana Park, where the Avani residential home is located is 7 kilometers from Kolhapur city. Avani is working on the prevention of the many aspects of child exploitation. With scarcity of infrastructure and help of local donors is trying to support children from the deprived classes. The children are provided food, clothes, shelter, proper […]
5 Million Child Labourers in India
December 20, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Nearly 5 million children are still engaged as laborers across the country, Indian Labor Minister Mallikarjun Kharge informed the government yesterday. The Labor Minister, made it clear that the number of child laborers in the country was declining, however. “As per Census 2001, there were 5 million working children in the country in the age […]
Child labour probed in Nestle cocoa fields
November 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Source: The Hindu The world's biggest food company, Nestle SA, says it will work with a non-profit group to investigate child labour on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast that supply its factories. Little has changed in the decade since the Swiss company and other major chocolate makers signed a U.S.-brokered international agreement in September 2001 […]
53 child labourers rescued in New Delhi
October 15, 2011 by 1 Comment
53 child labourers rescued from north-west Delhi, 7 arrested Source: Bachpan Bachao Andolan 4th Oct, 2011 New Delhi: On the heals of India Action Week, 53 child labourers were rescued in simultaneous raids conducted in two areas of Sultanpuri and Mangolpuri police stations of North West district of Delhi. At least 7 employers are apprehended presently. […]